What Is Closed-Door Romance?
If you’ve been around the romance novel world for any length of time, you’ve probably heard the term closed-door romance a time or two (or twenty) to describe books by authors such as Sariah Wilson, Emma St. Clair, Katherine Center, Katie Bailey, and Jenny Proctor. And, like many people, you’ve probably wondered exactly what that means.
There’s a simple answer, but there’s also not a simple answer. This can be a confusing and heated (if you’ll forgive my pun) topic to discuss, and it’s led to many an argument online between and among romance readers and authors.
The Basic Definition of Closed-Door Romance Books
If you want to take the term closed-door literally, it means the bedroom door is closed when there’s any sexual intimacy. Therefore, the act of sex (as well as most forms of foreplay) is not described on the page.
Sure, you can argue that sex doesn’t always take place in a bedroom or behind a closed door, and you’d win that argument. However, since this is an already confusing romance sub-genre, we need to set that fact aside.
Alternate Terms for Closed-Door Romance
Along with closed-door, you’ve probably also heard one of these terms used for romance novels: PG-13, sweet, low-heat, low-spice, medium-spice, clean-ish, just kisses, and fade-to-black romance. I’ll be honest that I’ve used all these terms to describe my romance novels at times, which might mean I’m adding to the confusion.
Closed-door often serves as a catch-all term for books where sex exists but isn’t explicitly described on the page. And for every ten people that use the term (or one of those mentioned above), you’ll find multiple definitions. Therein lies much of the problem.
I often refer to closed-door romance as the “murky middle,” because it’s not “clean” (more on that below), but it’s also not explicit. There’s also a range of sexual-themed content in these books.
There’s a Spectrum within Closed-Door Romance
Just because sex isn’t described, that doesn’t mean all closed-door romance novels are created equal in terms of sexual content or the lack thereof.
Some vaguely imply that the characters are intimately involved, while others state it outright while not going into detail.
In some books, the characters head toward the bedroom together or wake up in bed together, so the reader assumes what happened, but there might be little to no mention of it.
And then you have the fade-to-black variety, where the characters are in the bedroom or in bed together but when things start to heat up, the door closes and the scene ends or “fades to black,” like in a movie.
Are “Clean” Romance Novels Considered Closed-Door?
First, let’s address the label of “clean romance.” There’s some controversy about this term, because it implies that anything else—namely sex—is dirty. But we’re going to use the word here for lack of an alternate term. Back to the question at hand: technically, clean romance books are closed-door because you don’t see what happens inside the bedroom.
But we can also ask the question: What’s a clean romance novel? Is it one where sex seems to not exist? Is a book clean if the characters talk about sex but don’t have it? Is it clean if sex is vaguely implied but never directly mentioned?
Personally, I consider a romance book to be clean and not closed-door if sex seems to not exist in the characters’ world, because there’s not a door to close.
Why Read Closed-Door Romance Novels?
Now that I’ve failed to clear everything up for you about closed-door romance, let’s talk about why people read it. Notice I didn’t say why people SHOULD read it, because I don’t think I have the right to tell anyone what they should read. But I digress.
First, I’m going to tell you why I read it, which is also why I write it. I read the gamut from clean to closed-door to open-door romance, but I enjoy closed-door the most and chose to write closed-door books for several reasons you might be able to relate to.
I’m in it more for the romance, the connection, and the emotional side of relationships than the descriptive on-the-page sex scenes. That’s not saying a book can’t have both, because it can. I just prefer one more than the other, and sometimes the descriptive scenes distract me from the storyline.
On the other end of the spectrum, I often have a difficult time enjoying a book where there’s romance and emotion but zero mention of a physical relationship, because that’s not realistic. Even when a couple in the real world doesn’t have sex, they’re thinking about it and hopefully talking about it, so the lack of acknowledgement can be as distracting to me as a series of descriptive scenes.
Others gravitate toward closed-door for these reasons:
They grew up reading less explicit romance (it didn’t used to be nearly as common as it is today!) and simply like it better because it’s what they’re used to.
They prefer it due to their religious faith.
They have personal experiences or trauma that make explicit scenes triggering or unsettling for them.
So there you have it. I answered the question about what closed-door romance is, but I also didn’t fully answer it. Sorry but not sorry. At least now you know you’re not alone if you’re confused by the topic!
Want to Read Closed-Door Romance?
If you’re looking for some closed-door romance that’s on the fade-to-black end, my Throwback RomComs series is a great place to start.
The books focus on a friend group that’s mainly based in Chicago in the late 1980s. Each book focuses on a different couple, and they can be read as a series or as standalone novels.
They’re full of standard romance tropes, such as friends-to-lovers, co-workers, she’s older, road trip, age-gap, one hotel room, grumpy/sunshine, and more.
Find them here. You can even download the prequel for FREE if you sign up for my newsletter!
If you’re into the friends-to-lovers trope, read my blog post where I recommend six closed-door friends-to-lovers books here.
Also check out bookblushromance.com. On this site, you can search for romance books based on sexual content, tropes, time period, language, and other categories. It’s super helpful when you’re looking for something specific.
And finally, in the comments, let us know some of your favorite closed-door romance authors and books!