To Sex or Not To Sex, That is the Question

Sex: touchy topic *no pun intended* especially when it comes to picking out a book to read. Some enjoy it and some find it unnecessary. That is the joy about book genres, there is something out there for everyone.

When I am first asked about my book I make sure to inform them that there is profanity and intimate situations. It's a crime/romance so with that being said my characters will not be shouting "Well, gosh darn it, why did you do that you not nice person!"

Unrealistic.

Let me explain Dr. Anneliese Jamison to you. She's engaged to a debonair, successful, and loving man, Adam Whitney. However, the man who she believed she would spend the rest of her life with, Carter, vanished-presumed dead-three years earlier. Any normal person would move on, that's what she did. But imagine that person coming back in to your life, the person you gave your soul to so many years ago and then tells you that the man you are engaged to was working for a white collar crime family and was paid to murder him. 

Wouldn't that throw you in to an emotional tailspin?

Wouldn't that force you to question your own judge of character, especially being a psychiatrist?

Here's the part where some people find "messy". 

Anne is intimate with both men, wait, at different times in the book, sorry no threesomes in Deadly Deception even though I am sure some readers would love that. I wouldn't classify Anne as a slut but could you really push down those emotions towards a man that you loved and thought was dead and now you're questioning your relationship with your fiance? 

Probably not. 

Let's talk about sex: I describe my intimate scenes as "use your imagination". Do I need to explain to you the man's length or the woman's folds? I don't believe so. Let's be honest, genitalia is ugly. Plan and simple. I don't want to read in great detail about it, I prefer to use what God gave me, an imagination, therefore, I use it when I am writing sex scenes.

Adam pulled her blond strands down watching the golden cascade sweep over her shoulders and down her back. Tangling his fingers through the nape of her neck arching her face up towards his, their mouths collided in a fervent display. Their breathing was heavy but in sync which made it all the more arousing.

Clothing trailed to Anne’s bedroom. Their bodies twisted harmoniously in sheets of white. Anne wrapped her fingers through the Iron Gate headboard. Adam raked his teeth over the collarbone then repeated it with kisses of revere. The torrid sensation in Anne’s body escalated with every touch to the point of unimaginable bliss as every nerve ending imploded with euphoria.

Adam always made sure Anne was contented first. Her pleasure pleased him, then he would follow suit. They laid there in a most gratifying embrace gazing at one another. Adam gently stroked Anne’s flushed cheek then placed a chaste kiss upon her forehead.

But that's me. Plenty of people enjoy descriptive scenes, and that's great. But if you are looking for that in my book, you aren't going to find it. 

I had one reader describe them as plain. 
Fair enough.

My book wasn't for her and it isn't going to be everyone. 

I feel that sometimes books are unfairly judged for their lack of sex or intimacy. I've read reviews for a handful of books that some people wanted more. The chemistry and romance between the characters wasn't enough. But those books aren't set up for that and the heroines were not ones to go down that path. 

Are we bypassing the romance, connections, and chemistry because we want sex. We want descriptive sex scenes. I'm all for a toe curling books but why are so many authors harshly judged because the characters aren't screwing each other every chapter. 

I've seen it. I've seen it on Goodreads and Amazon. Granted, it's a small percentage but when I was judged for my plain scenes, it made me think. And then I questioned. Then I doubted. Which, shame on me. 

I am who I am. I write for the realistic factor. Anne is a hot emotional mess who is trying to figure who the hell is lying to her. How maddening would that be? That would send me over the moral compass cliff for sure. 

I write from an emotional stand point so you won't find lengths or folds in my books. 

I've read some pretty descriptive sex scenes over the years and some authors just can do it with such elegance that I don't feel like I'm reading porn so I'm all for descriptions. And again, that's the beauty of authors and books and writing, there is something out there for everyone. 

So, is sex necessary? Not in all books? Everyone measures intimacy differently. Some like it hot and steamy and sometimes rough and others like the sweet romantic gestures that build up throughout the book. 

As authors we have our own style of writing and when it's judged, it's tough to swallow. But usually the fabulous outweighs the tough and truly that is what you need to focus on.