10 Books With Steamy Scenes AND Great Writing

Post Fifty Shades of Grey, here are ten hot books with no ‘inner goddess’ in sight.

1. The classic: Anais Nin, A Spy in the House of Love

Penguin / Via biblioimages.penguin.co.uk

Nin is hailed by critics as one of the finest writers of erotica. Start with A Spy in the House of Love starring heroine Sabina, who leads a double life inspired by her relentless desire for brief encounters with near-strangers.

2. The paranormal romance turned TV hit: Deborah Harkness, A Discovery of Witches

Headline Publishing / Via headline.co.uk

The will-they-won’t-they romance between modern-day vampire Matthew Clairemont and witch Diana Bishop has topped bestseller lists worldwide and rights have been snapped up by the BBC.

3. The one on the canal barge: Jilly Cooper, Octavia

Corgi - Random House Publishing / Via randomhouse.co.uk

Riders might be her most famous, but for us Cooper’s finest bit of filth was Octavia. Her eponymous heroine sets out to seduce her friend’s fiancé on a canal boat trip, but is side-tracked by swarthy Welshman Gareth Llewellyn.

4. The one with the goldfish: Shirley Conran, Lace

Canongate Books / Via canongate.tv

If you want to expand your repertoire, Conran’s glorious bonkbuster Lace features some seriously inventive sex scenes. It also taught us an important lesson: beware of Arabian princes with goldfish bowls besides their bed…

5. The one with the contract: Sarra Manning, Unsticky

Corgi, Random House Publishing / Via randomhouse.co.uk

Naïve young girl signs dubious contract with wealthy man to become his professional girlfriend. Sound familiar? Think again, this is one sophisticated read. The taut sexual chemistry between characters Vaughn and Grace will keep you reading long into the night.

6. The one with BDSM: Pauline Réage, The Story of O

Transworld Publishers, Random House Publishing / Via transworldbooks.co.uk

Inspired by Marquis de Sade, The Story of O is a tale of female submission involving a beautiful fashion photographer named O, who is taught to be constantly available for, well, anything.

7. The one with Ralph: Judy Blume, Forever

Macmillan Children's Books, Macmillan Publishing / Via panmacmillan.com

Whilst the sex is more than a little bit awkward, there is no doubt that Judy Blume’s Forever influenced a generation of teenagers. It also consigned the name Ralph to the history books.

8. The one with the age-gap: Helen Walsh, The Lemon Grove

Tinder Press, Headline Publishing / Via headline.co.uk

Walsh’s steamy Mallorca-set forbidden romance between a stepmother and her step-daughter’s boyfriend was the book everyone was talking about last year. Worth tracking down her debut novel Brass, too, for some seriously naughty antics.

9. The one set in Switzerland: Jill Alexander Essbaum, Hausfrau

Mantle, Macmillan Publishing / Via panmacmillan.com

Described as a cross between Fifty Shades and Gone Girl, Essbaum’s debut novel - about a housewife who goes off the rails - will have you wondering if all Swiss dinner parties end like that…!

10. The one they tried to ban: D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover

Penguin / Via biblioimages.penguin.co.uk

Lawrence’s explicit tale of an adulterous love affair was banned in the UK from 1928 until 1960, after which Penguin won its right to publish the book under the 1959 Obscene Publications Act. Now schoolchildren across the land can giggle over John Thomas and his appendage.