鈥楴o-spice鈥� romance novels trade steamy scenes for courtship, love, and respect
When Rachel Kanter first contemplated opening an all-romance bookstore two years ago, there were just a few dozen such shops across the country. Now, there are about 150. Ms. Kanter鈥檚 Lovestruck Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is riding the wave of the most popular category in publishing. In the United States last year, 44 million romance books were sold, a 3.9% increase from 2024, according to Publishers Weekly.
鈥淭here are some elements in romance that are really comforting and reassuring to people,鈥� says Ms. Kanter.
Readers 鈥� predominantly women 鈥� are no longer embarrassed to admit to reading love stories. Yet some are abashed at the steamy scenes that have become commonplace in bestselling titles.
Why We Wrote This
Just in time for Valentine鈥檚 Day, we look at the phenomenon of 鈥渘o-spice鈥� romance novels, for readers who want the swoon without the steam. It鈥檚 a subset of the ever-growing romance book genre.
鈥淭his is a conversation we have daily with customers,鈥� says the store owner. 鈥淧eople come in and say, 鈥業鈥檓 looking for something for my 13-year-old daughter. What is appropriate?鈥欌��
Lovestruck Books鈥� 12,000 wide-ranging titles include tales of chaste courtships. A number of contemporary authors are setting themselves apart from the racy mainstream. They鈥檝e created fresh labels to inform readers that their books don鈥檛 include spicy scenes. It鈥檚 become a new marketing category: 鈥渘o-spice鈥� romances.
BookTokers, Instagram influencers, and Goodreads community members have sprung up to curate and recommend such romance novels. They鈥檙e an algorithmically connected community. Preeminent authors of the genre 鈥� including Katherine Center (鈥淭he Bodyguard鈥�), Annabel Monaghan (鈥淣ora Goes Off Script鈥�), and Sarah Adams (鈥淭he Cheat Sheet鈥�) 鈥� boast robust fan bases. PG-level fare doesn鈥檛, of course, appeal to every adult reader. Yet, authors and reviewers say that what ultimately resonates in romance stories is what they reveal about great relationships 鈥� and ourselves.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 need to have sex on the page to have a great romance, and you can have a lot of sex on the page and a mediocre romance,鈥� says Jen Prokop, co-host of Fated Mates, a podcast about romance novels. 鈥淪ex is not the X factor. Feelings are.鈥�
It is common for many of the authors to come from a background of faith. Many of their readers do, too. The stories, however, are often secular and aimed at broad appeal.
Courtney Walsh, for example, compares her popular books with romantic comedy movies from the 1990s and early 2000s, such as 鈥淵ou鈥檝e Got Mail鈥� and 鈥淲hile You Were Sleeping.鈥� In Ms. Walsh鈥檚 novel 鈥淢y Phony Valentine,鈥� for instance, the protagonist tries to save her bakery by embarking on a high-profile fake relationship with a hockey player. There鈥檚 no tonsil hockey, though.
鈥淚 love the falling in love part of a romance novel more so than, like, the physical side of it,鈥� says Ms. Walsh, whose target audience is adult women, though she has teenage readers, too. She is conscious of modeling how women should have high standards and be treated well in relationships. Her stories are about valuing oneself and knowing one鈥檚 worth. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have word count going toward, you know, steamy scenes,鈥� says Ms. Walsh. 鈥淪o, all of my work has to go to building the relationship.鈥�
Young adult romance author Eva Austin says that leaving out sex scenes doesn鈥檛 affect the pacing of her stories. She self-publishes books such as 鈥淢y Favorite Color Is the Golden Hour鈥� 鈥� a finalist in the 2026 Teen Readers鈥� Choice Awards 鈥� so that she has complete authorial control. Her self-described 鈥渟weet and swoony鈥� stories are the kinds of books she鈥檇 like her own kids to read. 鈥淚t was difficult for me to find books for them, especially when my girls became interested in romance novels more recently,鈥� says Ms. Austin via email. 鈥淚 discovered I wasn鈥檛 the only parent frustrated by this.鈥�
Many no-spice novels, including those by Ms. Walsh and Ms. Austin, feature the sort of illustrated covers that have become trendy. Gone are the days of 鈥渃linch covers鈥� featuring women embracing shirtless men. They now tend to depict cartoon-y couples doing activities such as sitting at a restaurant table, walking near a lighthouse, or reading books in a library. But once you flip past the bright, primary- or pastel-colored covers, some of those stories are closer to 鈥淔ifty Shades of Grey,鈥� the erotic trilogy. That鈥檚 made it more difficult for no-spice authors to differentiate their books from, say, steamier rom-coms by Emily Henry or Ali Hazelwood.
鈥淏ooks don鈥檛 have ratings like movies or TV shows,鈥� says聽Caroline Williams, a school teacher in Indiana. The Motion Picture Association not only offers age guidelines but also lists whether movies include profanity, violence, and sex. That鈥檚 why Ms. Williams launched her website, NoSpiceBooks.com, and a related YouTube channel. She鈥檚 one of dozens of curators who review romance novels and detail exactly what鈥檚 in them. Ms. Williams, who has a faith-based perspective, says the no-spice romance community has forged connections among those who want to push back against a 鈥渟ex-obsessed culture.鈥�
鈥淥ther people see, 鈥極h, there鈥檚 other people who think the same thing as me, who don鈥檛 want to be reading this,鈥欌�� she says. 鈥淲e want more privacy, we want more simplicity, we want to just read a good story and not have to skip over or skim or whatever to get through the spice. We just want a good story.鈥�
Anne Bogel, co-host of the literary matchmaking podcast 鈥淲hat Should I Read Next?鈥� often receives requests for recommendations for low-steam romance. 鈥淚s it 鈥榦pen door,鈥� or 鈥榗losed door,鈥� or is it 鈥榝ade to black鈥�? That鈥檚 more often mentioned in the reviews in a way that it wasn鈥檛 15 years ago,鈥� says Ms. Bogel, who also writes the blog Modern Mrs Darcy. Consequently, readers have become much more confident about picking up unfamiliar books.
There鈥檚 another common label beloved by the no-spice community: 鈥淛ane Austen-esque.鈥� Becky Dean, author of books such as 鈥淟ove Unmasked鈥� and 鈥淧icture Perfect Boyfriend,鈥� says Austen understood that what sustains a relationship in the long term is who the people are inside. In Ms. Dean鈥檚 鈥渒isses only鈥� stories, one-half of the eventual couple comes to appreciate the other person by observing them doing something that they鈥檙e good at. By understanding each other in ways that no one else ever has, they鈥檙e unafraid to reveal their vulnerabilities to the other person.
鈥淚n the classic 鈥楶ride and Prejudice,鈥� Mr. Darcy [thinks] Elizabeth is barely tolerable. ... But once he sees her intelligence and her wit, and the way she loves her family, and that she truly does have good character, then he starts to think she鈥檚 beautiful,鈥� says Ms. Dean.
Today鈥檚 no-spice authors aspire to emulate Austen鈥檚 appeal.
鈥淲hat stands out to me is the number of people that want to read something with their teen or tween daughter or niece,鈥� says Ms. Kanter, the bookstore owner. Many of these books 鈥渄eal with an experience of coming-of-age, of those first relationships. It鈥檚 really special and meaningful, I think, for people to read those with their family members who are going through that.鈥�
