My Quest to Find the Sexiest Romance Novels

Both Jupiter Magazine founderCamille Baconand writerMbiye Kasongamentioned Akwaeke Emezi’s novelYou Made A Fool of Death With Your Beauty, which follows Feyi, a young widow who is trying to find her footing following her partner’s death. She meets a man who offers her an all-expenses paid island vacation. She accepts but there’s a problem—she finds herself continuously drawn to his father. “The will they, won’t they energy was teeming,” says Bacon. Kasonga agrees: “It captivated me.” It’s also very sensual—there’s a lot of evocative descriptions of food and the lush vegetation of the island, so when the characters do finally have sex you’re fully submerged in the tension and setting.

André Aciman’s now-classic coming of age story chronicles a summer fling between an adolescent boy and a summer guest staying at his family’s Italian seaside villa. It was mentioned byEli Rallo, author ofDoes Anyone Else Feel This Way?and saysLeonor Mamanna, a deputy visuals editor at Bloomberg and founder ofTree Foot Productions. “It is the most evocative book on the planet,” says Rallo.“You can feel the heat.”

Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux is beloved for her spare, matter-of-fact style and willingness to document the vulnerability and peculiarity of all-encompassing, obsessive love.Simple Passionis about an unnamed narrator and her two year relationship with a married foreigner, chronicling every small moment and discussion. It was recommended by culture critic and fashion writer Tahirah Hairston, who also writes the newsletterRidiculous Little Things. “It’s sort of hot how vulnerable she is,” says Hairston. “She lets her desire reign free when most people would try to hide it.”

Culture critic and author ofThe WaterbearersSasha Bonétalso recommended an Ernaux title,The Use of Photography.That one offers an intimate look into Erneaux’s affair with journalist Marc Marie, which coincided with Ernaux undergoing cancer treatments, and is co-authored by the pair. “The sex scenes between her and her lover are tender and unorthodox,” says Bonét. “While she goes through chemo it’s hot because it’s not “sexy” in the typical way.” In one scene, Marie snatches a wig off a bald Ernaux’s head. “There’s something forbidden about it,” she says. She also likes that it includes photographs of their clothes on the floor before and after they’re together, which Ernaux previously said in an interview were included as “material proof of what had happened there, of love.”

In this romance novel, two writers who have spent their careers writing about each other run into each other after decades of separation. They spent a week in love as teenagers, but the break up was so earth-shattering and traumatic for both of them, they haven’t spoken since. While the romance is the central plot of the novel, it isn’t the only compelling thing. Eva Mercy, the protagonist, also battles chronic pain, motherhood, and balancing a career in the midst of it all. That multifacetedness is what Rallo finds compelling: “She has a full identity outside of sex and being sexy,” she says. I’ve also readSeven Days in Juneand agree. It has a 90s romcom feel, where two full lives collide and then the universe reorganizes itself to make sense of their connection. That nap museum scene also made me blush.

“I’m a big fan of yearning and tension and this has a lot of that,” says Mamanna.The Idea of Youis about a 39-year-old gallery owner who falls in love with a member of her daughter’s favorite boy band. What starts out as casual encounters evolves into something deeper, which brings all of their differences—including a 20 year age difference—to the surface.

Sparks Flyis about a late bloomer who hopes to kickstart her love life by going to a sex club. While there, she meets a sexy stranger, but before things can go all the way, she flees. The following day at work, she’s shocked to learn that the digital media website she works for is partnering with an AI company, and that the sexy stranger is the CEO. “I really loved the bi representation in this,” says therapist and book creatorWale Okerayi. Both people in the couple are bisexual, a rarity. “A lot of fun, a lot of flirting, a lot of sex.”

Okeyeri also likes this love story about two best friends who become something more. Cyn is a rapper on the rise and Jucee, a stripper, is her muse.“It’s very very messy,” says Okereyi. “Zero boundaries and lines are being blurred. It makes it sexy.”

Kennedy Ryan has become known for her depictions of complex women navigating the various spheres of life while also trying to show up for themselves.Reelis her 13th novel, and the first in her Hollywood Renaissance series. It follows Neevah Saint, a little-known actress who becomes famous seemingly overnight when she’s discovered by film director Canon Holt, who casts her as the lead in his Harlem Renaissance film. “Besides the incredibly sexy moments between the two love interests, the character’s strength, devotion to their family, craft and themselves make it sexy,” says creativeJamera McNeil. “Sexy can be an energy. It’s tension and anticipation.”

“One of my favorite sex scenes in recent memory lives in Liv Little’sRosewater,” says Jazzi McGilbert, founder of Los Angeles bookstoreReparations Club. “Without spoiling anything, it comes at exactly the right moment in the novel—it’s queer, emotionally earned, deeply realistic, maybe regrettable, but hot, intimate and so natural it almost sneaks up on you.”

First published in the 1980s and reissued in 2025,Jack the Modernistis about the slow erosion of a gay love affair. “It’s a heady mix of intense smut and poetic prose with an unforgettable chapter at the sauna,” says Mikey Friedman, founder of reading retreat seriesPage Break. “I devoured it.”

Friedman also mentioned Herculine, a recently-released horror novel about a woman who is haunted by her sleep paralysis demons. To escape them, she flees to Indiana to an all trans-girl commune run by her ex-girlfriend but finds once she gets there that these girls have secrets and demons of their own. “It’s dark, thrilling and there are multiple very sexy scenes that are as unforgettable as the demonic twists and turns,” he says.

“Most of the sexy I can think of comes from deep pockets of sadness,” says books creatorNic Marna, who writes the newsletterMilking It. One of his favorites isScenes From the Underground,which he describes as a weird collection of vignettes about partying, sex and the back rooms of queer nightlife in Montreal, New York and Berlin. It follows a medieval doctoral student who is stumbling through these rooms, reflecting on what he finds there as well as his own melancholic state. It also includes full-color, erotic illustrations by Jacob Pyne, which only adds to the experience.

Marna also mentioned Brandon Taylor’s debutReal Life, which is about a Black scientist navigating life at a small, predominantly white college in the Midwest. While there, he begins a relationship with a friend, which shapes the way he sees himself and the world. “There’s really sexy bits about experience, connection and the lack thereof as well as feeling like an object,” says Marna.

WhenStory of Ocame out in the 50s, it was immediately deemed controversial. It’s an erotic novel about a woman who completely submits to her lover as a way to prove her devotion. It takes a dark turn when that submission leads her to a secret society, where she’s taught to be completely servile and engage in increasingly intense sexual acts. Candace Mills, founder of cleaning serviceTeam Cleanhas read it a few times and says every read offers her a new perspective. “It explores eroticism, roleplaying and sexiness that’s only for the characters. We get to peer into their dynamic,” she says. “Maybe we get inspired to explore for ourselves.

Mills recommends George Bataille’sStory of the Eyefor similar reasons. It explores the sexual relationship between a pair of teen lovers who engage in increasingly shocking and extreme, surrealist sexual acts often involving objects, body parts, and fluids.

Kasonga also recommends Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient trilogy, which features neurodiverse main characters who are exploring love and connection. She recommends starting with the first novel,The Kiss Quotient,which is about a woman with autism who needs help figuring out how to date. She enlists the help of an escort who helps her to explore her desires. As their lessons proceed, they slowly fall in love. Ultimately though,The Heart Principleis her favorite. That one features a woman who’s a violinist that falls in love with a tattooed biker after her longtime boyfriend asks to open their relationship. “It does the whole thing well,” says Kasonga. “The sex scenes are very sexy.”

It’s like what if you had more agency in your sex dreams?” says essayist and critic Maris Kriezman, who also writes the popular books newsletterThe Maris Review. The novel follows Riko, who, after marrying her childhood sweetheart, finds herself in a relationship marred by infidelity. She then runs into an old friend who teaches her to live in her dreams. She imagines herself in different time periods—from Edo-era Japan to the 21st century. “

And for real sex stories, New York Magazine Sex Diaries columnist Alyssa Shelasky recently releasedMore, Please. This compilation of anonymous accounts features a range of people with varying levels of experience with nonmonogamy. There’s a Brooklynite hosting a porn brunch, a 67-year-old woman with lovers all around the world and a restaurant owner sexting with a married man—all of which offer an insight into the lives of people considering unique approaches to love and desire.