Spice Wars

Spicy or not? Plus some of my author origin story

The word seems to be on everyone’s lips: spice! It’s a complex topic for romance readers and writers and an important one! Tell me what you think about the recent increase in media attention on spicy romance. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

You will have noticed that my free novella, Never Want to Sea You Again, has two versions: one with spice and one low-spice. This is primarily because I write BOTH, just to confuse everyone, and this goes right back to my origin story as an author.

The first novel I ever finished writing, way back in 2005, was spicy! I entertained my friends with a particularly on-trend dry-humping scene about twenty years before its time. That book (a snowed-in winter cabin thing) had a disastrous structure and lots of head hopping and was in no way ready for publication, but it was the start of a journey.

Other early books I wrote (sports romance and then romantic suspense) were also spicy. I wrote a series pitched for the Presents (Modern) line at Harlequin that went through several rounds of edits with an editor there, but we eventually decided to abandon it. This is where Never Want to Sea You Again came from actually! Part of it was the beginning of a second book I submitted to Harlequin back in 2019. It wasn’t accepted and part of the feedback was that it read too much like a romcom, which makes sense with hindsight!

In the meantime, I wrote what became my debut, My Christmas Number One (I wrote it in 2019), and I pitched it as low spice, even though it really could have gone either way, and my other books with my current publisher have continued in this way. I stumbled into this attitude to writing sex (I say it's 'emotionally described': you get character-driven foreplay and a few paragraphs of hinted sex with the feels instead of the physiology) as a sort of stab in the dark about the British market (keep scrolling for the burn-o-meter of my books).

But I think when the characters decide to sleep together is a pivotal moment for their relationship and not describing it at all feels artificial. We've heard the characters' innermost thoughts for however many pages, but here we have the door slammed in our faces right at the moment when they have to face their inhibitions and fears and take a giant step in the other person's direction. Also from a plot point of view, it doesn't make sense not to address the subject of sex in a romance. I enjoy spicy scenes and appreciate the heart-racing effect of these moments. But when I write low-spice, I still try to get across the significance of what’s happening between them, even though I don’t describe it anatomically.

I have always read steamy books (think Amanda Quick and Susan Elizabeth Phillips - they were my defining reads as a budding author). I definitely read more from the American market than the British market when I first started writing more seriously with a view to querying and eventually publishing. What's especially interesting now is how the market is changing - but possibly not as quickly as it feels.

With the advent of BookTok and the (long overdue) shedding of stigma around sex in romance novels, it’s easy to think everyone wants all the spice all the time now. But there is such a huge spectrum of spice and how it’s written, from funny awkwardness to titillation and ultimately it’s immensely personal how authors and readers approach this. There’s no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. Every reader will respond differently. I wrote my two books under the Lilo Moore pen name to experiment with spicier romance and I know Beer Fest went a little too far for some of my readers, but it’s all a learning experience.

I feel like I’m coming full circle now, with a spicy sports romance on the way (I know, I know, I keep teasing this, but it hasn’t been announced yet!) But I do hope that readers will enjoy all of my books, the spicier ones and the less spicy ones, because for me, the swoon, the romantic tension is what drives the story rather than the sexual tension.

With each book, I aim to nail the butterflies, the falling-in-love-thing, the emotional journeys, the wounds and interaction between souls to keep the story rolling, regardless of how much sex and sexual tension is described.

…the butterflies, the falling-in-love-thing, the emotional journeys, the wounds and interaction between souls… keep the story rolling…

Below you’ll find graphics showing when the first ‘intimate’ scenes come in my books!

News from my writing desk:

• In Italy For Love has been hovering in the top 200 of the UK Kindle chart for a little while, which I’m immensely proud of, especially because it’s not at the ‘price point of death’ 99p yet. It is only £1.39, but that actually makes a big difference to the share my publisher and I get from Amazon.

• I’m working on the late-stage edits of what I think we’ve titled An Italian Wedding Adventure (I’m considering asking to drop the ‘an’. What do you think? Just Italian Wedding Adventure?) This is a second chance romance and OOOOOMG the tension between these two former lovers! I’m also expecting a cover soon.

• THANK YOU to everyone who’s downloaded Never Want to Sea You Again. I’m thrilled to see you all reading it. Don’t forget to download your copy if you haven’t already. It’s a great snack-sized read. If you enjoyed it, please do SHARE the recommendation on social media, as it’s completely free to download and it would help me immensely to get the word out.

• I’m commissioning more character art for my sports romance! I’ve already commissioned one piece of digital art with a scene from that book, but it’s so fun, I decided to commission some characters for promo materials. I can’t wait to share.

Thank you so much for subscribing and I hope one day soooon, I’ll be able to share the special announcement. In the meantime, I hope my missives will contain some thoughts and insights that enhance your romance reading experience. Do reply or leave a comment to let me know what you think.

I’m posting roughly weekly at the moment to get this newsletter off the ground, but I promise I won’t clog up your inbox every week forever - only when I have something interesting to say.

Have a great day

Leonie x