Reading Erotic Fiction Together: Pick a Book, Get Flirting

Your partner has gone suspiciously quiet with their book. Then they look over at you. Suddenly you're much more interested in what they're reading.

Reading erotic fiction together can be a lovely excuse to flirt, compare tastes and discover which fictional bastard has been getting all the attention. You don't need to become serious readers of Serious Literature. You need a story you're both curious about and a bit of time to enjoy it.

Maybe you'll read aloud. Maybe you'll sit side by side, pretending to concentrate while asking what page the other person is on. Either way, the evening can be considerably more interesting than arguing about what to stream.

Choose erotic fiction you both enjoy

One of you wants slow flirting, a ridiculous amount of tension and characters who take several chapters to admit the obvious. The other would quite like them to stop discussing the weather and take their clothes off.

Useful distinction. “Something spicy” can mean a romance with a few sex scenes, a story built around a particular kink or very little plot between the bits you came for. Talk about what sounds good before choosing the book.

A sample chapter tells you more about the writing than a cover featuring an impressively shirtless bloke. You might love the banter. You might get three pages in and decide nobody on earth speaks like that. Better to find out before committing your evening to him.

Skip themes either of you doesn't want to read. There are plenty of other fictional adults available to make terrible decisions.

Read side by side or read aloud

Reading together doesn't have to mean performing. You can each read the same story quietly, compare favourite bits later or share a passage when something catches your attention.

If you both fancy reading aloud, start with a short bit. There is no need to tackle a whole chapter while your partner waits for the paragraph you've been grinning about.

Your normal voice is fine. If you put on a dramatic accent and immediately regret it, drop the accent. The character can survive sounding Australian for the rest of the evening.

And if one of you keeps racing ahead, hold the spoilers. “Have you got to the bit where...” is annoying enough during a crime novel. Let them discover the good bit themselves.

Talk about the scenes that turn you on

Maybe it's the confidence. Maybe it's the bossy dialogue. Maybe the characters have spent so long flirting that one finally making a move feels like a personal victory.

“That part was hot” is a perfectly useful opinion. You can explain which part you liked without delivering a speech about the author's themes. A shared grin also gets the message across.

Sometimes a line sounds great in your head and completely daft when spoken aloud. Have a laugh. You can enjoy a book and still think the description of someone's cock needed one fewer adjective.

If it's the dialogue you like, our dirty-talk guide helps you find words that sound like you. Borrow the confidence, not a line neither of you could say with a straight face.

Liking a sex scene doesn't mean wanting to try it

Your partner enjoying a bossy character doesn't automatically mean they want instructions before breakfast. And liking a fictional threesome isn't a request to invite someone over on Saturday.

A story lets you enjoy an idea without arranging the real thing. Our guide to enjoying sexual fantasies covers that distinction. You can be curious about what your partner liked without turning every highlighted passage into a plan.

If something does sound fun to try, talk about that specific idea separately. Perhaps you like the flirting between strangers, or the thought of being a little bossier with each other. Our couples' roleplay guide keeps it simple. You can try a shared idea without recreating the whole bloody novel.

After the book: flirting, sex or a cuppa

You might close the book and keep flirting. You might put the kettle on and spend twenty minutes complaining about a character who could have solved everything with one honest text.

Neither is a failed evening. Reading something sexy doesn't make sex compulsory, and one person loving the book doesn't mean the other has to finish it.

The useful discovery might be that you like very different stories but enjoy hearing why. Or that your partner has a reading voice you'd happily listen to again.

Choose another chapter if you're both keen. And next time they give you that look over the top of the book, you can ask them to read you the sentence.