Scorching Book Reviews runs this fun contest, the Sex Scene Championship, every year that pits sex scene against sex scene from romance novels of all types.

Currently there are about 30 hours left to vote for Midsummer in its first heat (we’re up against A.M. Arthur’s Acts of Faith): http://www.scorching-book-reviews.com/sscenec2015-a-m-arthur-am_arthur-vs-racheline-maltese-racheline_m-erin-mcrae-erincmcrae/ 

Why should you vote? Mainly so you can win prizes from the contest organizers, but also so you can check out excerpts from lots of great books you might be interested in reading.

Erin and I chose the scene we did in Midsummer for a few reasons. One is because it’s funny.  Another is because it gets to a lot of the books core themes about age and experience and adventure, none of which always line up in the way people expect.

But we also chose the scene because it doesn’t contain penetration. Now, we write lots of penetration whether behind closed doors or with the camera right in the bedroom. But we work hard to (and sometimes hopefully succeed at) avoid falling into traps about valuing some types of sex more than others. It’s not realistic, and it’s not fair to readers whose fantasies don’t privilege or aren’t interested in some acts.  So we decided to take a little risk in this fun exercise and see if people could accept this scene not as an appetizer, but as the main course.

Please vote if you’re so inclined and definitely check out all the great participants!