{"id":48663,"date":"2026-04-20T07:21:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T05:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/?p=48663"},"modified":"2026-04-20T07:23:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T05:23:46","slug":"romantasy-desire-communication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/romantasy-desire-communication\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Says 61% of Readers Use &#8220;Romantasy&#8221; Novels To Talk Desires"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dragons, dark lords, and doomed romances are leaving the pages of books and becoming a powerful catalyst for people\u2019s intimate lives. With steamy \u201cromantasy\u201d sagas climbing bestseller lists, new research* from <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lelo.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LELO<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014coninciding with the World Book Day on April 23rd\u2014reveals how fantasy literature is fundamentally reshaping modern relationships, role-play, and desires.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The LELO &#8216;Fantasy Flames&#8217; survey of over three thousand respondents from all over the world confirms the trend is blazing:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Setting the Scene:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> A striking 31.13% of respondents have used a scene from a fantasy novel to set the mood for intimacy in real life.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Role-Play is Reality:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Over one in five (20.21%) admit they\u2019ve engaged in fantasy-themed role-play, from knights and elves to fae royalty, inspired directly by books they\u2019ve read.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Fantasy Drives Commerce:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 31.53% of readers have purchased adult products or accessories specifically to recreate a &#8220;romantasy&#8221; aesthetic.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Influencing Expectations:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Half (49.05%) say fictional lovers in fantasy books have <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">somewhat<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">entirely (<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3.84%) influenced their expectations of a real-world partner, often seeking open-mindedness.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Communication Catalyst:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 34.58% report that reading fantasy novels makes them talk completely free about new desires or boundaries with a partner. An additional 27% say that books have allowed them to feel more free (but not entirely) to discuss their intimate lives.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Safer Exploration:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Nearly half (47.78%) feel that fantasy literature provides a safer space to explore sexual curiosity than other genres.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The power of fictional relationships is undeniable, with <\/span><b>Forbidden Love<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (29.17%) and <\/span><b>Fated Mates<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (18.25%) topping the list of tropes that most influence real-world romantic dynamics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When asked which series they found most inspiring to act out, <\/span><b>A Court of Thorns and Roses<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (22.90%) led the way, followed by <\/span><b>Fourth Wing<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (12.90%) and <\/span><b>Throne of Glass<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (9.15%).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With 60.75% of respondents believing that &#8220;Fantasy Flames&#8221; will continue to grow as a major trend in intimacy by 2027, LELO is positioned to help readers turn the page on their intimate lives and make fantasy a beautiful reality.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">*Survey carried out in April 2026, with 3,305 respondents, aged 18+ worldwide.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Enjoy 15% off <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LELO.com<\/a> with code <span style=\"color: #800080;\">VOLONTE15<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dragons, dark lords, and doomed romances are leaving the pages of books and becoming a powerful catalyst for people\u2019s intimate lives. With steamy \u201cromantasy\u201d sagas climbing bestseller lists, new research* from LELO\u2014coninciding with the World Book Day on April 23rd\u2014reveals how fantasy literature is fundamentally reshaping modern relationships, role-play, and desires. The LELO &#8216;Fantasy Flames&#8217; survey of over three thousand respondents from all over the world confirms the trend is blazing: Setting the Scene: A striking 31.13% of respondents have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":48664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[925,924,13,923],"tags":[525,163,1088],"coauthors":[950],"class_list":["post-48663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-committed","category-dating","category-sex-relationships","category-single","tag-better-sex","tag-dating","tag-fetish"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Research Says 61% of Readers Use &quot;Romantasy&quot; Novels To Talk Desires<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/romantasy-desire-communication\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Research Says 61% of Readers Use &quot;Romantasy&quot; Novels To Talk Desires\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dragons, dark lords, and doomed romances are leaving the pages of books and becoming a powerful catalyst for people\u2019s intimate lives. With steamy \u201cromantasy\u201d sagas climbing bestseller lists, new research* from LELO\u2014coninciding with the World Book Day on April 23rd\u2014reveals how fantasy literature is fundamentally reshaping modern relationships, role-play, and desires. The LELO &#8216;Fantasy Flames&#8217; survey of over three thousand respondents from all over the world confirms the trend is blazing: Setting the Scene: A striking 31.13% of respondents have [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/romantasy-desire-communication\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Volont\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LELO.Official\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-20T05:21:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-20T05:23:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/smut-novels-desire-communication.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"425\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katy Thorn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Lelo_Official\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Lelo_Official\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Katy Thorn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/romantasy-desire-communication\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/romantasy-desire-communication\/\",\"name\":\"Research Says 61% of Readers Use \\\"Romantasy\\\" Novels To Talk Desires\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/romantasy-desire-communication\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/romantasy-desire-communication\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/smut-novels-desire-communication.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-20T05:21:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-20T05:23:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/68fd3f91f3030cf2e5f30b74d1b3026d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/romantasy-desire-communication\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/romantasy-desire-communication\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/romantasy-desire-communication\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/smut-novels-desire-communication.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/smut-novels-desire-communication.png\",\"width\":850,\"height\":425,\"caption\":\"communicate your sexual desires with romance novels\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/romantasy-desire-communication\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Volonte\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"LOVE &amp; RELATIONSHIPS\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/sex-relationships\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Single\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/sex-relationships\/single\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Research Says 61% of Readers Use &#8220;Romantasy&#8221; Novels To Talk Desires\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Volont\u00e9\",\"description\":\"A Pleasure Project by LELO\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/68fd3f91f3030cf2e5f30b74d1b3026d\",\"name\":\"Katy Thorn\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/4468cab7dfecd84a0cb1c1c618e1136d\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6bac94649dd3ef94ddd142e7adfee24f?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6bac94649dd3ef94ddd142e7adfee24f?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Katy Thorn\"},\"description\":\"Katy Thorn is a post-grad writer with a passion for writing about sex, sexuality, and all things rated R. 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