We’ll be the first to admit that a swoony, fluff-tastic romance is our catnip...but sometimes we need fewer butterflies in our stomachs and a little more—well, you know. If you’re thirsty for some blush-worthy, heart-pounding sexiness, we’ve rounded up 15 of our favorite erotic romance novels we know will do the trick. Hot guys and even hotter sex? Who cares if it's fiction: These books will leave you wanting your own tall drink of water.
Breathless
The tenth book in the riveting Steel Brothers Saga, this is an emotional Western that will leave you weak in the knees. While previous books in the series focused on the irresistible Steel brothers, Breathless follows Marjorie, the baby of the family. After a traumatic year, Marjorie Steel just wants to heal. She's content to recuperate at the family ranch, particularly since her friends and family need her. Marjorie's best friend is having a difficult pregnancy and recently adopted two young boys. A perk of Marjorie's time at the ranch, of course, is that it puts her in close proximity to single father Bryce Simpson.
Bryce is working himself to the bone at the Steel ranch in an attempt to exorcise his personal demons, but even back-breaking physical labor can't make him forget the betrayal of his late father or the damage done to his family. When the Steels see beyond Bryce's emotional armor and offer him an executive position at the ranch, Bryce is terrified to take it. Can he responsibly get that close to charming, unforgettable Marjorie Steel? Every muscle in Bryce's body longs for the sweet Steel daughter. After what he's been through, though, how can Bryce ever give Marjorie what he knows she deserves?
Hold onto the reigns: this red-hot Steel story is one wild ride.
RELATED: 11 Western Romance Books That Will Make You Yearn for a Cowboy of Your Own
Destiny
Outlander junkies—we’ve got your next fix! This international bestseller is a sweeping historical saga that pulls at the heartstrings and will have you fanning yourself. Edouard, the scion to a megawatt jewelry dynasty, meets Helene, a girl of much lesser means, in France. Their instantaneous connection gives rise to an all-consuming, once-in-a-lifetime passion that takes the star-crossed lovers through the decades, across continents, and in between the sheets. Craving some erotica with a historical bent? Destiny will quench your thirst.
The Raven Room
In her 'real life', Meredith is an aspiring journalist who has to stay laser-focused on her ambitions and can't afford to be distracted. But in The Raven Room — an underground club in Chicago — Meredith finds release. There, she gives in to her most taboo sexual desires with the help of Julian, an alpha male who relies on the club for catharsis from desires that plague him in the outside world.
As Meredith explores her most unspeakable fantasies with Julian, she tries to forget the real reason she first visited The Raven Club: as research for an explosive article she's writing about the club's elite visitors. But when a shocking death rocks The Raven Club's members, Meredith realizes that her role as undercover journalist is more dangerous than she believed...and that the man who unlocked her private desires might be hiding a terrible secret.
A Perfect Scandal
Lady Isabel Cameron longs to study art in Paris, but her father has other plans. Against her will, Isabel is engaged to an older man that she'll never be attracted to. Determined to escape the prospect of a loveless, uninspiring marriage, Isabel decides to make herself a figure of such scandal that her fiance will reject her.
When her childhood friend Marcus Hawksley returns to London, Isabel decides he's the perfect man to 'defile' her — after all, Marcus has already been rejected by the ton, and has little to lose. But Isabel's plan backfires, and Marcus and Isabel find themselves in a hasty marriage demanded by her father. Before long, though, the forced marriage yields surprising opportunities for pleasure. Fans of steamy friends-turned-lover stories will find much to blush at in this erotic romance novel meets delicious Regency romance.
RELATED: The Best Historical Romance Novels That Will Steal Your Heart
Fear of Flying
Disenchanted with her lackluster marriage—Should she stay, or should she go?—Isadora Wing embarks on a European sexual escapade. On her journey, she reflects on her own sexual fantasies and history, which are saucy enough to be just as jaw-dropping today as they were in 1973. Fear of Flying is a landmark feminist novel and Jong is a champion for female pleasure, making it one of the best adult romance books we've ever read.
Crooked Hearts
Voted as one of Publishers Weekly’s sexiest romances, Crooked Hearts’ Reuben Jones and Grace Rousselot are the 19th century’s answer to Bonnie & Clyde. Hell-bent on recovering recent losses, their friendly partnership turns into something scintillatingly erotic—even as they’re running through California and fleeing a gang of Chinese Mafiosos. Then again, nothing sets the panties on fire quite like a game of cat and mouse, right?
Eighty Days Yellow
This seductive story — the first book in the erotic Eighty Days Trilogy — follows Summer Zahova, a passionate violinist who feels unable to explore her darkest desires in her middling relationship. When her violin is destroyed, Summer is close to despair over losing her one source of true expression.
Drop-dead-handsome college professor Dominik offers to replace it, with just one catch: Summer must play the instrument for him in a private concert. Soon, the two give in to the music of their magnetic mutual attraction...and Summer finds herself for the first time in a relationship where she can explore her most taboo cravings. If you're craving more books like Fifty Shades of Grey, you will definitely fall for Vina Jackson's tale of concerts and kink.
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How Not to Fall
As a data analyst and research expert, Annabelle Coffey knows her way around a science lab. But handling a glass beaker doesn’t exactly lend itself to expertise with things of an, err, similar shape. Luckily her British professor, Charles, is willing to give her some first-hand (and clothes-off) experience—but on one condition.
Only after Anna receives her diploma can their laboratory flirtations graduate to full-on bedroom shenanigans. With humor and the sexiest geek-kink you never knew you needed, How Not to Fall is kind of like a Bunsen burner: hot, hot, HOT.
Mister O
For Nick Hammer, the genius behind the popular animated show The Adventures of Mister O, life imitates art. More than just a king of the bedroom, he’s a bonafide master of the female body. He rarely loses his cool when it comes to charming the ladies—except in the face of his best friend’s sister, Harper. So when Harper comes to Nick for seduction tips, he’s all too willing to have her coming back for more…
If I Were You
After Sarah discovers her neighbor’s erotic journals, she pores over every detail: the explicit trysts, the nameless lovers, and the disturbing final entry. Her growing obsession eventually begins to seep into her own life, as she becomes entangled in a twisty love triangle with an artist and a gallery owner. But the sessions of mind-blowing sex aren’t enough to keep Sarah from wondering if the men are somehow involved in her neighbor’s situation—and if something might just happen to her.
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Looking Inside
Who needs ocean views when you have a front row seat to your own Cinemax show? When Eleanor Briggs’ looks out her window, she gets an eyeful of the dashingly rugged and impossibly rich Trey Riordan. After weeks of distant pining, she decides to play the charitable neighbor—fair is fair, right?—and return the favor.
From then on, Looking Inside is a bit like Rear Window on Viagra ... Which means this is one of the adult romance novels you won't be able to read without breaking into a serious sweat.
Beautiful Boys: Bastard, Stranger, Player
When all of them are this gorgeous, why choose just one? Beautiful Boys has three stories from Christina Lauren’s delicious and international bestselling Beautiful series. From an intern seducing her off-limits boss, to rich boys finding a passion for something more than money, this collection is the ideal threesome: everyone gets their moment to shine, and there’s a whole lot of reward.
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Fixed On You
Alayna is desperate to pay off her student loans, and so when the ludicrously wealthy Hudson Pierce offers financial help, she jumps at the bait—or rather, into his pants. But both Hudson and Alayna have closets full of skeletons, and when they go horizontal, everything else goes belly-up. As their dark pasts begin to haunt their relationship, the couple has to decide: will they let their secrets break them, or heal them?
Craving
When Jade’s groom abandons her at the altar, she escapes to her friend’s Colorado ranch for some much-needed healing. Luckily, she finds it in the arms—and in the bed—of a cowboy tortured by a childhood trauma. While Talon’s last name is Steel, even his heart’s strong defenses can’t withstand the blazing chemistry between him and Jade. Soon, they’re crumbling their emotional walls and satisfying their every need…all through the night. Save a horse and ride a cowboy, we say!
Heat Wave
Recently fired from her job, Ronnie gets an offer she can’t refuse: a new position has opened at a boutique Hawaiian hotel. The only drawback? The hotel is managed by Logan: a damnably attractive and (unfortunately) all-too-familiar acquaintance.
But whether there’s something in the water or it’s the magic of the island, the pair can’t resist the sudden heart-squeezing passion they feel—even if it comes at the cost of destroying their families. Reservations or not, one thing is for sure: once a wildfire’s lit, there’s no stopping it.
Featured image via the cover of "Mister O."
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