I don’t love James Joyce (the source of the quote), but I LOVE good, affirmative consent between partners. Give me a partner who waits for a yes and who will respect a no, and you HAVE ME.
So, being me, I decided to crowdsource a list of romances where nobody ever says anything like, “Your mouth says no but your eyes say yes,” or God forbid, “You’re wet therefore you want it” (this is so gross, I can’t even begin to grapple with it. I can highly recommend Emily Nagoski’s COME AS YOU ARE – it’s a fascinating look at female arousal and it is very clear on what differentiates arousal from consent).
I’m always open to more suggestions, especially in areas where recommendations are lighter (like paranormal and historical). Paranormal can be an especially tricky subgenre in my opinion, due to common tropes like fated mates and enormous power differentials when you’re dealing with humans and creatures like vampires or angels, so I’m always interested in authors who take the time to include good, affirmative (sexy!) consent in their stories. As always, if you’re interested in the other lists I’ve put together, check out the master List of Lists! Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Contemporary
- Simona Ahrnstedt, HIGH RISK, recently published in translation from the original Swedish and there’s consent all over the place – plus tons of other fun (Per Blue AF Rhode Red)
- Kate Clayborn, BEGINNER’S LUCK (Per Ainslie Paton, seconded by me)
- Marie Harte, Wicked Warrens series starting with ENJOYING THE SHOW (Per KT Gilbert)
- Meka James, NOT BROKEN – Lee was in charge and Mal was enthusiastically consenting (Per Lily Michaels)
- Samantha Kane, Birmingham Rebels series starting with BROKEN PLAY (Per KT Gilbert)
- Aislinn Kearns, UNDERCOVER FIGHTER – Two scenes where consent is very explicitly discussed (Per the author)
- Cara McKenna, WILLING VICTIM & CROSSTOWN CRUSH (Per Ainslie Paton)
- Tamsen Parker, LOVE ON THE TRACKS & ON THE EDGE OF SCANDAL – are very consenty!!! (Per Jennifer Porter)
- Tamsen Parker, NEEDS (Per Kimberly Denny-Ryder)
- Ainslie Paton, THE LOVE EXPERIMENT & THE LOVE COUPON (Per the author, seconded by me)
- Alisha Rai, HATE TO WANT YOU (Per Alexis Daria, seconded by me) and HURTS TO LOVE YOU (Per Cristina, also seconded by me)
- Charlotte Stein, THE PROFESSOR, NEVER SWEETER, NEVER BETTER, NEVER LOVED (Per Ainslie Paton)
Erotic
- Ainsley Booth & Sadie Haller, Frisky Beavers series starting with PRIME MINISTER – currently FREE (Per KT Gilbert)
- Anne Calhoun, LIBERATING LACEY (Per KT Gilbert)
- Jeannette Grey, NINE KINDS OF NAUGHTY (Per KT Gilbert)
- JB Rogers, THIRDS – Three linked short stories, each dealing explicitly with consent and protection. Also contains gender roleplay, voyeurism, and some D/s (with safewords!) (Per the author)
Historical
- Samantha Kane, Brothers in Arms Series starting wtih THE COURAGE TO LOVE (Per KT Gilbert)
- Courtney Milan, THE GOVERNESS AFFAIR (Per Janette Kirchner)
- Sabrina Jeffries, THE STUDY OF SEDUCTION (Per Kelly Instalove)
- Theresa Romain, SCANDALOUS EVER AFTER – Scandalous Ever After might be the most explicit at gathering consent, but it is always important for my characters (bc important to me; consent is sexy) (Per the author)
Paranormal
- Merryn Dexter, Black Hills Wolves series starting with STOLEN KISSES – I don’t usually read PNR because it contains so much dodgy consent, but these are fated mate stories with GOOD CONSENT (Per me)
- Jami Gold, STONE-COLD HEART – He tries to do the kiss-her-to-distract-her thing when she’s trying to kick him out and she… *cough* punches him and gives him a lecture about consent. 🙂 (Per the author and I AM HERE FOR THE PUNCHING!)
- Nalini Singh, SILVER SILENCE – I talked about it my review because it was such a contrast to Slave to Sensation. Hero always wants explicit consent from heroine, does not push past her boundaries (Per Ana Coqui)
- Nalini Singh, BONDS OF JUSTICE – There was a lot of consent in Bonds of Justice as Sophia was a Psy that couldn’t handle touch (Per Jennifer Porter)