Too Much?

Interesting post over at Romancing the Blog on books with an overload of sex.

I can relate. Recently read a book by a favorite author that suffered from sex-scene overload. I knew going in it was a "hot" book, but because I'd read other works by this writer, I expected a story to go with all the hubba-hubba-lovin'.

I was grossly disappointed. Really.

Because although the hero and heroine had the potential to be real, interesting people, the author sacrificed that to an array of sex scenes that really didn't further the plot. So when I reached the end of the book, and there was happiness all around, I didn't believe it. The book could have been so much better.

Maybe it's because I like the relationship stuff more than the sex stuff -- I want, as Betty Womack put it to me once, paraphrased her -- the stomach-tingling emotion. I want to get wound up in the growing relationship, the ups-and-downs, the final pay-off.

Don't get me wrong. I like reading hot sometimes. And I can write hot, too. If Tick and Caitlin don't kill my reputation as a prudish English teacher, Tom and Celia will for sure. But even when Tom and Celia are spending pages and pages in his bedroom, there's a reason. It ties into conflict and plot.

Not to mention their relationship-building.

So what about you? Have you read a book with too much sex and too little relationship? Which authors strike the right balance?