How old were you when you read your first historical romance (with sex scenes)?

Went to the USB with my 17yr old and she kept picking up the paranormal romances and found a couple of historical romances due to the sexy guys on the covers. She used her own money and bought one about vikings Destiny by Helen Kirkman. It is a Harlequin Historical Romance, so I am asuming there is going to be plenty of sex, lol. I am a little torn, cause one I feel like I shouldnt be letting her read it, but at the same time, I keep saying "she's almost 18".   I dont read very many romance anymore. I read a lot more of it in High School than I did as an adult.

I remember reading Jude Deveroux in High School as well as magazines my mom used to get, called True Confessions, which were pretty intense. Just curious, How old were you when you first read Historical Romances.

I was 15 so I think 17 is just fine, now if it was something from one of the erotic publishers I would think twice. But Harlequins I wouldn't be bothered by.

I think 17 is fine, she will only read it anyway even if you say no. I remember being quite young trying to get my hands on books with some "steam" in them!

I agree she will read them anyway...I did and at a pretty young age too!

I actually thought it was kinda funny how her and her friend were drooling all over the hunky covers, lol. She wasnt even reading the backs, just saw the covers and went, oooh I want to read that, lol.

I read Harlequin Historicals all the time.  Fairly good mix of decent plot and the right amount(and depth)-for me-of the steamy stuff.  Considering alot of the erotica that's out there, for the most part, I wouldn't consider them too out there for a 17 year old.  Yes, she'll probably be reading them anyway.  I was 13 when I read my first sex scene. 

Very true Deb, lol. I am not going to forbid her to read them (not at 17) and like others have said, even if I did, she would read them anyway. Now if it was my 12 yr old, another story, lol. I was just curious how old most people were when they first got into reading them and I was tickled by how they were drooling over the covers.  I made her hide the book in her room before her dad came home,though, cause he is NOT as open minded, lol.

Yeah, the fathers and daughters thing I can totally relate to.....

I was 13 when my Spanish teacher gave me The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen Woodiwiss.  I have been hooked ever since.  When my daughter - age 19 -  sees a book I am reading that has a "sexy" guy on the cover she says " Mom, aren't you a little old to be reading that stuff still?"  Makes me laugh...LOL...

I was probably 15 or 16--not sure.

MK C, The Wolf and the Dove was my first historical romance too.  I was in the 10th grade, so...what, 15 or 16?  I remember sitting on my grandparent's porch reading it; my grandmother, who loved Harlequin romances and Grace Livingston Hill, asked to see what I was reading.  Her response, "VICKY!  This is a DIRTY book!"  She borrowed it from me when I finished.  

My foster son A. is the one who teases me about my romances. 

Deb.  truer words were never said, and I LOL'ed.

VICKY!  This is a DIRTY book!"  She borrowed it from me when I finished.      Now this is pricesless!

VICKY!  This is a DIRTY book!"  She borrowed it from me when I finished.      Now this is pricesless!   

LOL...yep, my grandma Terry was a hoot.  She was from Tennessee, so you have to hear that accent when she said it..and she probably called me Vicky Jo which I have always hated.  Meant trouble!  

She had her own bedroom in the upstairs of their home, with two twin beds. (She snored terribly, and my grandfather slept downstairs, with three doors between them!)  I would spend weekends with her.  We would stock the bedroom with snacks and Pepsi and we each had our own stack of books.  There was a small nightstand with a lamp on it between the beds.  She would drape a scarf over the lamp, the color matching her mood, and we would camp out and read!  

I don't think I converted her to "bodice rippers" but she did continue to read them occassionally.  She liked her Harlequins the best.  

Is there a Rosemary Rogers that is similar to Kathleen Woodiwiss? I think I read some of her books when I was in my mid-teens. Seems we had lots of pirates ravaging lots of damsels.

My big confession is finding a copy of The Carpetbaggers by Harold Robbins when I was waayyyy to young to be reading it. I knew enough to know that. This was the book I kept hidden from Linda and only read after the house was quiet & I could pretend I forgot to turn off the hall light. 

Jennifer (my daughter) got her hands on a piece of Sandra Brown smut (I'll admit - one of mine!) when she was about 16 or 17. About the 3rd time she was reading it I finally told her that if soft porn was what she was after I could help her with some other authors and titles that were probably better in terms of story-line and character development than Hidden Fires!

Kelly

Rosemary Rogers was a little steamier the Kathleen Woodiwiss I seem to remember.

This is a great thread. 

Kelly, hehe, I remember picking up my mom's copy of Wifey when I was young (probably around 8) because I loved Judy Blumes books and I thought it was another kids book. Boy, was I wrong. I remember reading about a chapter and my mom walked in and freaked, lol. I didnt read the Carpetbaggers but I remember hearing about it.

Why does "The Carpetbaggers" sound vaguely familiar?  Was that the book loosely based on the life of Howard Hughes?

Mine was Lady's Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence.  I read it around 1961 and I was around 16. I don't even think they had historical romances in the early 1960's.

Cheryl:  I remember the movie starring George Peppard but I never read the book by Harold Robbins and yes, it was " supposed"  to be based on Howard Hughes.

I remember when I was in high school my mom belonged to a book club (probably Doubleday) and at some point I came across her copy of Valley of the Dolls. Then someone gave her a huge bag of Harlequins and I read those whenever I could sneak one from the bag. (I may have actually been in Jr High when I read the Harlequins.) When I could drive I would go to the convenience store and buy those True Confession magazines. Are those things still published? I remember them being more than a little sleazy. Funny...I haven't thought about those things in years.

OMG !!! Valley of the Dolls !!! I think Linda had a copy of that hanging around back in the day. 

Valley of the Dolls memories!  When I was 12 or 13, I picked up a copy of that book at my aunt's house.  It was a boring Sunday family dinner with all the elderly great aunts & uncles.  My mom took it away from me so of course I immediately read it in secret.  By today's standards it would be considered tame.

The first steamy books I recall are The Kent Family Chronicles by John Jakes. I started reading the series when I was 12 or 13.  I still can't believe my mom let me read them.  I was pretty strict about what I let DD read.  She (who turns 22 next week!) still tells me I ruined her tween years by not allowing her to read Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. She was 12 or 13 when it came out and I didn't think a book that condoned teen sex was appropriate for her at that age.