What does ‘spicy’ mean to you? A fluid, sometimes contentious definition amongst Booktok-ers, Reddit-ors, Tumblr-ites and even the (usually) gentler denizens of Goodreads, this romance novel subgenre covers a surprising range.

For some, ‘spice’ might be anything more than coy, bedroom-door-closed, fade-to-black hints at (vanilla) sexual congress between leads, for others, no less than the darkest hinterlands of kink, dirty talk occasionally dubious consent and explicitly anatomical description will do. It’s also a definition that’s loose, welcoming, and democratic enough to take in sex more likely to feature participants of colour, LGBTQ partners, a spectrum of abilities and body types, as well as humour and dalliances with mythology or the supernatural.