What is clean romance anyway?

Clean and Wholesome was a category designated on Amazon. The term clean came from them and those of us who write “no-spice” romance wanted a way to better communicate what was in our books and better meet readers’ expectations.

“Clean” can mean a whole lot of things, but let’s start with this. Clean romance is not the opposite of dirty --or imply that intimacy is dirty or smuty. I see the definition as more of “free from” like I had a clean performance, free from mistakes.

I went to a conference once where a very popular author said that talking about sex on page through metaphor was considered clean. I want to say this, no one in the clean author community that I’ve talked to agreed with that statement. Most clean authors will say no sex on page--not even in metaphor.
But even if we say clean doesn’t have sex on page, there is still a large variation from a chaste kiss to implied sex through closed-door. So what can you expect from a clean author?

First, let’s define a few words:

Closed door/fade to black: heavily implied that something happened while the characters were off screen. Nothing is described. Characters wake up in a different locale. We stole this term from movies when the couple may close the door on the camera or there may be kissing, but the camera fades to black and closes out the scene before it gets too steamy. A lot of movies use this technique, even in the PG-13 range. Amey Zeigler books that fall into this category: The Swiss Mishap, Baker’s Dozen. They are clean from sex but there is some steam PG-13 stuff going on.

Sweet: This term can be confusing as many spicy authors use this to denote that the tone of the book is uplifting, not to mean a lack of sex. But many in the clean and wholesome community use the term sweet to mean that you’ll find Hallmark level intimacy--that is to say, not much. 

The Writing Gals came up with a Level rating that most in the Clean Author community have adopted. 
Without further ado...

Level 1:

• Hand holding/affectionate touching
• Compliments/confessing love
• Low-description kissing
• Tender embraces or cuddling
• Blushing and sighing
• Non-descriptive discussions of sex
• Established relationships
• Fade-to-black even if married
• Any sexual encounters from the past only referred to in passing, not described in detail or realized on the page.

A lot of the Proper Romance Series from Shadow Mountain Press fall into this category as well as many Christian romances.

Level 2

• Touch that signals attraction
• No touching in underwear zone (bra and panties)
• Long kisses, lightly descriptive
• Deeper kissed, tongue implied but not described
• Feel warm or flushed
• Grasping, deep sighs, light growls and groans
• Thinking or speaking of desire in non-descriptive ways
• Fade to black for established relationship after a scene that matches this level

Most of my books fall here. I like steamy kisses, but not so steamy that I need to get an ice pack or anything. My YA will never move to a level 3 because I don’t feel like encouraging kids to have sex is a positive thing for our kids. If I’d feel creepy if a 35 year-old man read this to my 12 year old daughter, I feel like it shouldn’t be in my book. 

Level 3

• Hand moving, still not on bra/panties or boxer zone (under shirt, along the thighs)
• French kissing with a bit of tongue described
• Make out sessions that still adhere to guidelines
• Feel hot and sweaty
• Heavier gasping, groaning and deep growls, panty
• More frantic and lose some control
• Male shirt may come off, but nothing else
• Legs may straddle waist but no mention of arousal
• If they lie down together use little description of the contact (ie descriptive body part references even in metaphor.)
• May happen in bedroom on or a bed but should be interrupted or end with fade to black. Focus is on emotion not the body parts or physical arousal
• Fade-to-black with still happen with married couples even at the end of the book when the romance reaches its highest point.

The Swiss Mishap and Baker’s Dozen live here.  This is as high as my comfort range goes. I will never write above this. I feel like this is in the PG-13 range if this were rated by the MPAA. If it would be R-rated if made into a movie, it is not clean.
If it has description of sex on the page, even in metaphor, it is not considered clean. 

What is level is your comfort level to read?