Top Ten Authors for Sexy Stories & The Kama Sutra Giveaway

In honor of Valentine's Day, I'm doing a top ten list and a giveaway. What better book to give away for Valentine's Day than The Kama Sutra, right? That's totally what I thought. Anyway, check out the bottom of the post to enter the giveaway.

As for the top ten love stories, I thought about doing romance novels at first, but, well, I don't read those too much, so my list would be more like five books or ten books by five authors. Anyway, instead, I thought I would do the stories that make me swoon vicariously. Most of the books on this list are not typical romance novels. Many of them may not even have sex in every book (if it's a series), but, when there is, oh man is it amazing. Oh, and the order on this one means very little. I mostly just put them in by the order I thought of them. Now, please enjoy my atypical sexy times book list.

The pictures are of my favorite (sexy times) book by that author.

10. Judith McNaught

During middle school, I had a brief obsession with romance novels. This was, of course, a secret, something I would have been deeply embarrassed to have anyone know anything about. Thus, my reading was limited to the romance novels in my mom's collection, which I would sneak, very sneakily, from the family library. Of these Judith McNaught was by far my favorite. A Kingdom of Dreams and Almost Perfect were definitely my favorites. Whitney, My Love was the worst, because falling for the guy that raped you is not romantic or sexy. Anyway, you might not want to read too many at once, because the sex scenes tend to be very similar, but they were satisfying to middle school me. Oh, middle school me.

9. Kody Keplinger

To be fair, I have only read one of Kody's books, of which she now has two, but it was seriously steamy. And, unlike the previous author, it wasn't stylized. It all came off as very real, which has a value to it, too.

8. Tamora Pierce

In most Tamora Pierce series, you are going to get some sexy times. It's almost a guarantee...unless you're a tomboy like the heroine of Protector of the Small. Anyway, this is one of the things that I love about Tamora Pierce, not gonna lie. She lets her girls have a little fun. None of this business where the girl has to grow up all innocent while guys are out sewing oats. Girls have oats to sew, too, dammit! Personally, my favorite is the romance between Aly and Nawat, so that's what I'm going to recommend.

7. Kristin Cashore

Kristin Cashore is definitely influenced by Tamora Pierce, or, if she's not, their similarities are a mighty consequence. At any rate, she also likes her heroines to be powerful girls with sex drives. Actually, I like her books better than Pierce's. They're a bit darker and less middle grade (even with the sex). Currently, Fire is my favorite, but Bitterblue is coming. Finally!!!

6. Milan Kundera

And now for something completely different. I thought about removing Kundera from my initial list, because he certainly is not doing the same thing as the rest of these authors. He's the only one that's writing 'literary' fiction. Plus, he's the only man in the list (although I expect Karsten Knight might make this list at some point). But hey, if you want crazy sex and philosophy, this is your guy.

5. Laurell K. Hamilton

Hurrah for romance novels that will get shelved in the fantasy section. No, I'm not reading a romance novel...it's totally paranormal fantasy; this is legit and can be checked out of the library without shame. Maybe so, but Hamilton's novels have more sex (or, before the sex comes, since it takes a while in Anita Blake, there's a lot of sexual tension and intense make out sessions) than a book from the romance section. Don't believe me? Go pick up the Merry Gentry series. Merry is competing for the faerie crown. How to get it? Get pregnant. How to do that? Sex up all the hottest men (and some less hot ones). Just remember. This is legit. Riiiiiiight.

4. Meg Cabot

You may know Meg Cabot primarily for her YA series, which, for the most part, are pretty PG. However, she also writes romance novels/chick lit. These are pretty stellar. Rather than recommending those, though, I have to offer up the Heather Wells series for your consumption. The really good stuff doesn't come til Big Boned, but it's so worth it.

3. Maria V. Snyder

Snyder can write some seriously scintillating romance scenes. When her heroines get action, you can feel your own knees getting weak. Probably because you're so into the book you think you are the heroine, and, damn, do I wish I were. Inside Out/Outside In had some good moments, but my favorite of the three books I've read so far is Touch of Power. Squee!

2. Janet Evanovich

My top two finds me back in the realm of authors of actual romance novels. These I will not blame/thank my middle school reading for, because I only discovered them in college. Janet Evanovich's books are awesome. For one thing, she is completely hysterical; I don't think I know anyone who read them and did not seriously enjoy. They are like candy. They also have seriously hot menfolk. And, if you don't like checking out books with the tell-tale heart spine labels, go for the Stephanie Plum books....because they're mysteries. Legit!

1. Jennifer Crusie

Two college friends told me that I simply had to read Jennifer Crusie. At first, I was skeptical. And then I read Welcome to Temptation. Well, hello temptation! Crusie's book almost never fail to disappoint (except for the books she wrote with Mayer). Another awesome thing about her is that her heroines have some serious variations, as in they are not all stick thin women with enormous boobs as in the case of so many romance novels. Plus, all of her heroines love food and animals (this is true of Evanovich too).

Win a Copy of The Kama Sutra for Yourself (or a Friend):
Now, should you desire to learn something about obtaining sexy times for yourself, enter my giveaway to win a copy of The Kama Sutra. Check out my review here. To enter, just leave a blog post comment telling me at least one of your favorite authors for sexy scenes and your email, in case you win. Giveaway is open to readers in the US and Canada. The winner will be selected on February 22 at noon.