How Katee Robert Became the New Queen of Erotica

“Erotic romance has been around a long, long time – longer than my website has been operational. It started gaining readerships within smaller digital presses like LooseId, Ellora’s Cave, Samhain, and others, and then began appearing on the print lists of major publishers,” she said. “Humans can be very horny, and finding safe and informative places in which to learn about individual sexual interests is a struggle when limitations are enforced and stigma is assigned. Books, which you can read on a device, allow readers to explore and learn about themselves within the privacy of their own imaginations. The trend over the past few years has been less about the sexual acts themselves—used to be anal was a big deal, now it’s not as shocking—and about whom or how many the sexytimes are with.”

This idea, of who rather than what, is where Robert shines. Her creative range is impeccable, but it’s in her retellings of classic tales where she proves to be most impressive. Her Dark Olympus series tackles the ever-sensual world of Greek mythology with a contemporary twist that retains the dark sexual thrills of the source material. The Wicked Villains tales take on the baddies of Disney in a decidedly adult (and copyright-compliant) manner, for those of us who always thought Ursula or Jafar were way hotter than the dull good boys. Non-genre-inspired works delve into more familiar sexual taboos, such as falling for your dad’s best friend (or your best friend’s dad!)

Romance doesn’t begin or end with humans in Robert’s books. Monster loving has exploded in popularity in recent years, thanks to surprise best-sellers like Ruby Dixon’s Ice Planet Barbarians series. There’s always been an element of the monstrous to classic romance, which practically has its key foundations set in retellings of Beauty and the Beast. Vampires and werewolves are ten a penny in romance, and Robert has her fair share of the undead in her tales, but she’s also eagerly willing to delve into the undeniable unhuman. Her most recent series, A Deal with a Demon, features women who fall for (and have exceptional sex with) gargoyles, dragons, and krakens! And none of this is hidden or concealed as something else for more prudish booksellers. The covers are old-school bodice ripper-esque paintings that celebrate the monster love. With Robert, nothing in her work is off-limits or to be derided.

But it’s also not just sex. Robert is character-driven first and foremost in her work, and sex serves as a way to define the people at the center of her stories. As she told Harlequin in a 2018 interview, “I love writing sex scenes because they’re a unique window into a character’s personality. Each couple is unique in how they interact together, and what they bring to the bedroom (or boardroom, or storage closet…the list goes on).” Many of her books delve into the emotional and societal difficulties of navigating desire, whether it’s being in an unconventional relationship or entering a polyamorous situation for the first time. If pleasure is intended to be deeply personal, Robert excels in revealing how it works outside of their safe space.

It’s not just Robert’s work that draws people to her. It’s her candor. On TikTok, she has spoken openly about her struggles living with chronic pain and how it impacts her work as a writer. To her 124.2 thousand followers, she details her work process with the same openness as she does her recovery from wrist surgery. Earlier this year, she announced that she would be stepping away from promotional duties for Radiant Sin for health reasons, something that quietly exposed the intense labor of authors and the expectations put upon them by publishers and readers alike. In a world where so-called relatability is king, Robert is painfully honest, well beyond the trappings of that concept.

Erotica will never go away, and even at its most popular, it’ll probably never lose the undeserved stench of the taboo that surrounds it from the mainstream. Robert is one of many writers over the decades who has joined the charge in pushing the genre forward and allowing readers to explore their desires in as many ways as possible. Whether you want a Greek god, a mythical monster, or four people at once, Robert will give you what you want!

Kayleigh Donaldson is a critic and pop culture writer for Pajiba.com. Her work can also be found on IGN, Slashfilm, Uproxx, Little White Lies, Vulture, Roger Ebert, and other publications. She lives in Dundee.