lizabethstucker replied to your post “Mary Jo Putney for the ask thing!”
Perhaps “Sex Free”?
That’s not bad. ^_^
Of course now I’m picturing books being labeled with a giant sticker of “Sex Free” kind of like the old “Sugar Free” and “Fat Free” foods.
There’s a part of me that’s also like… because of the whole food thing where the implication is that the “X - Free” foods are better than those with Sugar, Fat, Gluten, etc. They aren’t. But this blog is about books not food. LOL I’m glad the labels are there for people who need them. (I’m allergic to a ton of things so I am an obsessive ingredient reader.)
I do think that there should be a label for books that don’t have sex so those people who don’t want to read that don’t have to. (Maybe something standardized like the image above). Which is why I’m kind of on the fence about this suggestion.
No matter what’s chosen, it needs to be something that doesn’t disparage those books with sex in them. (I also don’t like that Sweet, Clean, Wholesome Romances can’t contain swearing. What does swearing have to do with sex? I want my characters to talk like people… some people swear like sailors but aren’t into sex while other people are very sexual but don’t swear. But this is another tangent.)
I’ve also seen suggested “Comfy Romance” and “Wholesome Romance.”
I don’t mind “Comfy” but I will fight “Wholesome” with tooth, claw, and nail.
I think, if I’m honest, Nonsexual Romance is where my vote would ultimately go. Because there is an allowance for swearing, innuendo, and adult situations just without sex scenes.
Thanks for the suggestion!
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