Lovehoney launches new book club
Lovehoney has launched Between the Sheets: A Smut Book Club after a study this year found that searches for 'smut books' rose by 78% between May 2023 and May 2024; and one series, A Court of Thorns and Roses (widely referred to as ACOTAR), was a huge driving force. #SmutTok now makes up 3% of the #BookTok universe.
On TikTok, the hashtag #Smutbook has had 68,000 posts, whilst #Spicybooks has had over 1.1 million posts. Between the Sheets is a safe space to chat, share, and connect with fellow smut-lovers serving up reads from trending genres.
To celebrate the launch, Lovehoney is giving away 100 curated bundles featuring a bestselling smut novel and a toy. The first 100 sign-ups to 'Between the Sheets' book club forum will be in with a chance of winning one.
Lovehoney's sex & relationship expert, Annabelle Knight, said: "Erotica has a unique power - it opens the door to discovering what truly excites you, in a way that feels personal and empowering. As smut books continue to rise in popularity online, they're helping people uncover more about their desires, boundaries, and turn-ons - often for the first time, and can enhance solo pleasure or intimacy with a partner. Between the Sheets is about creating a space where people can explore their fantasies, spark new conversations around pleasure, and feel confident embracing their desires.'
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The Guardian
13 hours ago
- The Guardian
Marginalia mania: how ‘annotating' books went from big no-no to Booktok's next trend
There are two kinds of readers: those who would choose death before dog-ears, keeping their beloved volumes as pristine as possible, and those whose books bear the marks of a life well read, corners folded in on favourite pages and with snarky or swoony commentary scrawled in the margins. The two rarely combine in one person, and they definitely don't lend each other books. But a new generation of readers are finding a way to combine both approaches: reviving the art and romance of marginalia, by transforming their books and reading experiences into #aesthetic artifacts. 'I keep seeing people who have books like this,' says one TikToker, their head floating over a greenscreened video of fat novels bristling with coloured sticky tabs. 'What are you doing? Explain yourselves! Because this looks like homework. But also … I do like office supplies.' In BookTok and Bookstagram communities – where social media users post reviews, recommendations and memes about reading – there are subcommunities devoted just to annotating and 'tabbing' books. The level of intensity and commitment varies; some BookTokkers have complex colour-coding systems (pink tabs and highlighters for romantic moments, blue for foreshadowing) or rules that are simply aesthetically pleasing. Some scribble in the margins to mark moments that are especially shocking or satisfying, or draw droplets or hearts around especially sexy passages. For some, annotation is as essential now as sharing shelfies or writing reviews. Marcela, a Melbourne-based Bookstagrammer originally from the US, posts about her reading habits online as @ She began doing it last year after more than a decade of being active in fantasy and young adult fandoms, as well as 'studygram' and other groups dedicated to beautiful-looking and complex notes and lists, created on nice stationery. This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'. 'Before I technically realised I was 'annotating', I would scribble little reactions and messages in the margins, so I could remember what I was thinking when I was experiencing a story or world for the first time,' Marcela recalls. Now she annotates using colour-coordinated tabs and pens, in addition to her reading journals. She's selective with which books she puts this extra work into, sticking mostly to stories she knows she'll reread – like her current annotation project, Sarah J Maas' Throne of Glass series. 'It has really helped me enjoy the rich world-building and character development even more,' Marcela says. 'You can clearly see my opinions on characters shift by following through my notes, and I love being able to refer back and see plot predictions I made at the beginning of the series either come true or be proven wrong.' The dominant fandoms represented in the annotating and tabbing communities, as they are on BookTok and Bookstagram more broadly, are the booming romance and romantasy genres. Academic and author Dr Jodi McAlister says this is in large part because of the mainstream success of bestsellers like Emily Henry, Ali Hazelwood's elevated-fanfic hit The Love Hypothesis, and Maas' A Court Of Thorns and Roses series, which has helped to dispel much of the stigma that used to exist around reading romance novels. Fans are still working out ways to perform their fandom and find community, much in the same the way sci-fi and fantasy readers have been doing for decades. 'This is a community that is still figuring out what reading romance looks like in public because they haven't had a model, and one of the ways it has manifested is this performance of love of the physical object of the book,' McAlister says; her latest romance novel, An Academic Affair, even includes a male scholar who 'annotates his books like a BookTok girlie'. 'When we think about the way that romance has been denigrated as trash for so long, what they're doing is performatively turning it into this incredibly treasured, incredibly valued object … by annotating it, you're making that your copy, you are memorialising your experience of it,' she adds. It is what her fellow scholar Jessica Pressman calls 'bookishness': a post-digital behaviour that has developed among passionate readers. But that is not to say it is purely performative: annotating a novel can allow us to retrace our first journey with a book, as well as revisit our state of mind at the time. 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Some people specifically seek out books annotated by other readers in secondhand shops – a spark of connection with the past – or even by their authors; last year, Ann Patchett released an annotated edition of her novel Bel Canto, though she warned that with 'constant interruptions' and spoilers it was not designed to be anyone's first experience. But annotating her own work, she wrote, revealed 'patterns in the book I'd scarcely been aware of … it helped me clarify the way I write'. I'm like McAlister, who says that while she annotates her academic reading, well, like an academic, she's usually too immersed in books to annotate for fun. But this week I sat down with a pencil and got stuck into a biography of John and Sunday Reed I'd been passing over for more escapist fare. And I did, in fact, find myself jotting exclamation points in the margins at salacious details and scribbling in my judgy little asides like I was whispering to a friend. If it feels a little like homework, maybe that's not a bad thing. Even reading for fun alone could still be enhanced by the intentionality and slower pace required for annotation; the extra few seconds it takes to draw a star next to an especially satisfying paragraph lets you sit in that satisfaction, just a moment longer.
NBC News
2 days ago
- NBC News
Accusations of plagiarism, AI use and author bullying: 'BookTok' rocked by recent scandals
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A handful of people speculated the authors could be the same person — because Robert's initials are Lewis' initials backward — and that the controversy could all be a PR stunt. NBC News was unable to reach Robert on Friday. Lewis declined to comment further. On BookTok, some have cited the somewhat niche controversy as yet another example of the community's shift away from lighthearted content around new releases. 'Does anyone miss just having a silly, goofy, fun time, having a bit of a laugh?' Lola Oluremi, a BookTok creator, said in a recent video discussing 'Beverly' and 'Obsessed.' 'I feel like every time I log onto BookTok now, it's something.' The online space, which has been credited for inspiring a fresh wave of interest in literature, hasn't been devoid of drama in the past. But this month, the 'Beverly' accusations followed two other separate situations that had caused some division among BookTokers online. Author Ali Hazelwood, who is behind popular novels such as 'The Love Hypothesis,' left Instagram purportedly after she was 'bullied' for a comment she made during a panel discussion at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books in April. Hazelwood weighed in on who she thought Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist of Suzanne Collins' 'Hunger Games' books, should have ended up with romantically, saying it should have been her childhood friend Gale, rather than her fellow tribute, Peeta. 'He's a terrible, mean, selfish person,' Hazelwood said of the character Peeta, a baker's son from District 12 who was reaped alongside Katniss in the books. The clip of Hazelwood's remarks was widely circulated and blasted online by people who accused her of having a bad take. Hazelwood didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Since she went dark online, several BookTokers have come to her defense, reflecting on how the community has seemingly become more prone to getting lost in meaningless discourse. 'The way y'all have lost the plot over a fictional bread boy has left me genuinely questioning the mental health of the book community,' Shelley Fleuridor, the YouTuber behind the channel 'Book Chats with Shelley,' said in a recent video delving into the Hazelwood backlash. 'We need to talk about what's happening to this community and why some of you genuinely need to be placed in a reading timeout immediately, maybe permanently.' Also this past month, Victoria Aveyard, the author of the 'Red Queen' books, sparked a wave of backlash and speculation on BookTok after she post a video alluding to another author's using generative AI in a novel without naming the purported writer. She said she didn't name the person because she didn't want to get sued. 'Using GenAI to come up with characters, plots and story ideas isn't writing. It's theft,' Aveyard said. 'Using GenAI doesn't make you a writer. It makes you a thief.' She said generative AI has been trained on copyrighted material that 'has been stolen from artists without license or compensation.' Some subsequent posts from users accuse Aveyard of being a 'mean girl' obsessed with 'drama.' In other videos, some try to guess which author she was referring to. Meanwhile, a handful of authors have also been posting videos of their writing and editing processes to prove their work isn't made with AI. With 'Beverly,' it remains unclear whether there will be consequences for Robert beyond online fallout. Robert's social media pages and her author website were no longer online Friday. 'Beverly' has also been removed from Amazon. The title remains on GoodReads, where several people have posted comments about the plagiarism accusations and given the book a one-star review. Lewis posted about the plagiarism allegations on Instagram this week, calling the situation an indie author's 'worst nightmare.' "I'm an author who does not have a big online presence and thank all who have reached out to bring this to my attention as I don't have much visibility on the social media space," she wrote. She said she has contacted Amazon to raise a copyright infringement case and hopes 'that people in the booktok space realize this author is stealing content and profiting from it.'
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Romantasy: Why it's happily ever after for romance books
Inside London's first romance-only bookshop, Sarah Maxwell stands in the "smut hut" – a section dedicated to her store's more erotic by shelves stacked with brightly coloured paperbacks – with titles including Just For the Summer, Swept Away and The Friendship Fling – young women are milling around, chatting and flicking through says she wants to challenge the critics of romance fiction - often men - who diminish what she describes as "really high-quality writing" by saying "it's just smut"."A lot of these books have really strong world-building, amazing character development and really a good plot," Sarah says.A surge in romance and fantasy sales last year pushed UK fiction revenue above £1bn for the first time, according to a report released last its popularity grows, some readers and industry experts say attitudes towards romance are changing for the better, but others believe sexism keeps the genre from the mainstream. Romance fiction spans a dizzying range of sub-genres and moods, all centred around heady love stories with a guaranteed happily ever after – or HEA to fans – lending the books a comforting, cosy – a blend of romance and fantasy – has become a reliable fixture on best-seller lists, largely due to the cult-like following it has gained among TikTok's reading community, series like Fourth Wing and A Court of Thorns and Roses see female protagonists enter high-stakes relationships set against magical, fantastic readers pick what to read based on tropes such as "enemies to lovers" and "second-chance romance", with books marketed under these banners.A book's "spice level" – or how much sex can be found between the covers – is also a major factor, often focused on female pleasure, power and emotional connection. 'Some people turn their nose up' "I'm into cowboys at the moment," says Sky, 23 from London – a reference to "cowboy romances", a growing sub-genre whose books take place in a western setting - often the American and another fan, Chantelle, 24 describe themselves as "very proud romance readers". They trace their love of the genre to reading fanfiction under their desks at school, and now get their recommendations through BookTok. But Sky and Chantelle admit not everyone reacts positively when they talk about their favourite books."Some people do turn their nose up, roll their eyes sometimes," says Chantelle, "but I just don't really care".Caroline, 29, admits she "sneered a bit" at romance in her early twenties."I used to read romances when I was a teenager," she recalls, "but I got away from it and started reading stuff I thought was really smart."Then last year, Caroline picked up Emily Henry's bestseller Book Lovers - an "enemies to lovers" story about a literary agent and a book editor, set in a picturesque small town. "I realised I hadn't consumed something guilt-free in my reading for a really long time," Caroline says, "and it was just really fun".She's since devoured the entire series of A Court of Thorns and Roses, a stalwart of bestseller lists and many readers' first taste of romantasy."It's nice to feel all the feelings with something that's just going to really entertain you," Caroline 31, has long read both romance and fantasy for much-needed escapism: "Sometimes I think we all need a little bit of a happily ever after in life."She says "chick-lit" stigma is still strong, but thinks attitudes are starting to change as people speak openly about their love of the genre online."We're talking about it in a different way," Victoria says. "Guilty pleasures? Do I need to feel guilty for loving something?" 'These are the Swifties' Both romance and fantasy saw record sales last year, according to data gathered from more than 7,000 UK & Sagas, as they are officially categorised, increased from £62m in 2023 to £69m in 2024, while Science Fiction & Fantasy saw an even bigger bump - from £59m to £ categories have seen these numbers skyrocket since the pandemic, growing year-on-year - back in 2019, romance's sales sat at £24m, and fantasy at £ under 35 years old make up more than half of romantasy purchases, figures agent Rebeka Finch, 28, says the "voracious" appetite among this demographic, largely driven by BookTok, reflects broader consumer likens romance readers to Swifties - Taylor Swift fans - known for owning multiple copies of the same album and wanting to feel a tangible connection to their favourite artist."They are the people that are so obsessive about books that they will buy a Kindle edition, they will have a hard back edition, they will have a paperback edition."They will have so many different volumes of the same book because they love it so much." Bookshop owner Sarah Maxwell says the demographic gave her the confidence to open Saucy Books in the middle of a high street downturn that has seen many independent bookshops suffer."People have this perception that's it's not good business," Sarah says, but the community is "strong" and the authors prolific, providing plenty of stock."Millennial women have the most disposable income," she adds. "Romance is serious business."Despite this commercial growth, Rebeka says broader attitudes remain derisive - particularly when it comes to "spicy" titles."'That's fairy porn' - the amount of times that I have heard that!" Rebeka exclaims."Part of me wants to be like, 'So what?' This industry has been made for the male gaze for so long."It's such a small percentage of the book and actually… it's largely portraying fairly healthy sexual relationships." 'It boils down to money' Within the publishing industry, attitudes are changing but mainly for commercial reasons, according to Katie Fraser, who writes for publishing magazine, The has been a "maligned genre" within the industry that "some people just didn't want to be associated with," she says. But as romance readers become an "economic force," publishers have had to take it more seriously and invest."Publishing is an industry, so that's what it ultimately boils down to," Katie says. Author Bea Fitzgerald, 28, says she benefitted from this commercial shift, selling her young adult fantasy rom-com Girl Goddess Queen at the peak of the romance boom."That sort of space opening up is what allowed me to move into the market," she previously worked in publishing, and recalls seeing "a lot of books that could have been published as romance [instead] published in other literary genres because they think that it will not appeal to a certain type of audience".The genre is nothing new, she quips, having long been "championed" by publishers such as Mills & Boon. The difference now is that young people "like things really unapologetically"."They won't just read a romance, they'll go shout about it online, and then they'll go to a romance convention, and they'll talk to their friends about it."While the community has grown, Bea thinks critical appraisal of the genre is still lacking."Do we see broadsheets reviewing romance books? No. And they are just as important, literary books."Bea believes this is both because "the good majority" of the readers are women, and simply because the stories are happy."It goes in line with this sort of academic elitism that for something to be serious, it has to be a Shakespearean tragedy," she says. "Whereas if it's happy, it's not serious, it hasn't got literary merit. It obviously does - of course it does." Photos by Emma lynch
