Revealed: BookTok’s Spiciest Reads

There is no denying the power of TikTok. It's awash with useful information, from popular beauty trends to useful fashion hacks and tips the app has it all - including providing book lovers with plenty of reading recommendations. So much so that it was estimated last year that TikTok’s influence helped drive up print book sales. 

If you’re on the right side of #BookTok, your algorithm is no doubt serving up #SpicyTok content. Sultry, sexy and full of seductive lingerie scenes, this genre of literature is taking control of people’s book collections - and for good reason. 

But with so many spicy reads to choose from, it’s hard to know where to begin. Do you start with a classic romance where enemies become lovers or dive straight into a romantic fantasy where you can get lost in another world completely? 

To help you *get off* to a great start, we analysed over 2,500 romantic books and their Goodreads reviews to discover how many times they have been reviewed using a ‘sexy’ keyword (e.g. sexy, steamy, hot, smut). Using this data, plus the overall rating and number of reviews, we created a Pour Moi ‘Saucy Score’ to reveal the sexiest novels to add to your bookshelves. 

The power of TikTok is so prevalent that there is an entire Goodreads channel dedicated to books that social media users are obsessing over. Looking specifically at this list, it’s Danielle Lori’s ‘The Sweetest Oblivion’ that can take the prize as #BookTok’s hottest hit. With almost 250,000 ratings and an average rating of just over 4 stars, this mafia-based plot scores a saucy score of an impressive 4.68. This book has it all, sexy scenes, violence and a bad boy male protagonist who has the internet swooning over him. 

Danielle Lori’s writing has earned its place in the adult fiction department, gaining her three spots on the top 20 spiciest books list. 

‘Managed,’ the second book in Kristen Callihan’s VIP Series, is second on the list with a saucy score of 4.59. This New York Times best-seller is perfect for those who like a dominant male who is stuck in his ways and refuses to change until he falls madly in love with the character he swears he cannot stand - a classic enemies-to-lovers trope. This is followed by L.J. Shen’s ‘Scandalous’ which has a saucy score of 4.54 out of five thanks to the number of reviews by those who loved the romance and sensuality of Shen’s writing. Like Lori, Shen also features on the list three times, with ‘Defy’ and ‘Ruckus’ claiming ninth and 11th spots, respectively. 

‘Priest’ by Sierra Simone is the fourth sauciest #BookTok read with a saucy score of 4.52. This series has been praised for pairing a compelling yet forbidden romantic plot with well-written steaminess from page 18 onwards. 

Fifth on the list is a book with a cover far too innocent for its contents is ‘The Score’  by Elle Kennedy. A classic college romance that follows an ice hockey player who knows how to score on and off the ice, Kennedy’s third instalment of her Off-Campus series has such good praise on Goodreads it left one reader saying: “I was sucked in by everything that makes a college romance good - the drama, the love-hate relationship, man-about-town, relationship girls and jealousy. Hot damn! Loved it!” 

The most reviewed and highest-rated of the top 20 books is ‘Fourth Wing’ by Rebecca Yarros which has a saucy score of 3.68 making it the 12th sexiest book on the list. The fantasy romance follows the story of Violet and Xaden who quickly discover their frustration with one another errs on the side of sexual frustration more than anything else. It has dragons, superpowers and a strong-willed female lead, making it the perfect romance-meets-fantasy story to get lost in.

You don’t have to scroll to the darkest corners of TikTok to know that romantic fantasy fiction is having a hot moment. So, as part of our research, the lingerie experts also analysed Goodreads ‘Romantasy’ lists which revealed Jennifer L. Armentrout to be the leading author in this fan-favourite genre. 

Armentrout features in the top 15 a total of six times. ‘Obsession,’ which follows Hunter (a professional killer) alongside senators and aliens, takes the gold medal as the sexiest romantic novel, scoring 3.94 on our sauciness scale. Her ‘From Blood and Ash’ follows in second place with a saucy score of 3.51, ‘Obsidian’ is fourth scoring 3.31, ‘A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire’ ranks in sixth place, ‘A Shadow In The Embder’ is eighth and the ‘The Crown of Gilded Bones’ follows in ninth place.

Giving Armentrout a run for her money is Sarah J. Maas, whose ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ (affectionately called ACOTAR) series is taking the internet by storm. ‘A Court of Mist and Fury’ (the second book in this series) has a saucy score of 3.35 and an impressive overall Goodreads rating of 4.65 out of five stars. One reviewer said: “The way Maas makes you feel every move, every bit of darkness, every bit of swoon - I loved it so much!”

Maas appears in the top 15 list four times in total; ‘A Court of Silver Flames,’ the fifth book in the ACOTAR series, is seventh scoring 3.04 for its sauciness, ‘Empire of Storms’ from her Throne of Glass series is 11th scoring 2.72, and ‘House of Earth and Blood,’ the first book in her Crescent City collection, completes the top 15.

Romance novels have come a long way from two people falling in love and living happily ever after. In fact, today’s romance novels make ‘50 Shades of Grey’ look prudish with the sexiest story on the list, ‘Mister O’ scoring a 4.91 out of five for its sauciness. 

Lauren Blakely occupies the top two spots, as ‘The Sexy One’ follows ‘Mister O’ with a saucy score of 4.58 out of five. One Goodreads reviewer wrote: “Lauren Blakely!!!! How do you manage to give it to us EVERY SINGLE TIME?!?! When I want something sexy, funny, dirty, and a feel-good kinda read, I know I can always count on you!!” So - it looks like you have found your new favourite erotic author.

‘Real’ by Katy Evans, the first in a scorching series about a sports rehab specialist who is undeniably attracted to a dangerously sexy underground fighter, claims third position on the list with a saucy score of 4.58.

1. To create a long list of books, we scraped book names, authors, number of reviews, ratings, and average overall ratings from three relevant category pages on Goodreads. Goodread category pages include: BookTok, Romance and Romantasy.

2. We removed duplicates, multiple editions and books with less than 10 reviews to give us a long list of 2,511 books.

3. We then analysed all 2,511 reviews to discover how many times the book has been described using a sexy keyword. E.g. Sexy, hot, smut, spicy, naughty etc. Using this, plus the number of reviews and overall ratings we were able to create a ‘spice score.’

4. All research was conducted and correct as of May 2024.