You read that right. Erotica books, especially novellas, with Santa Claus as the romantic interest. Santa has always been a relatively nonsexual persona in my mind. But let me tell you, after reading a few of these stories, there is no going back. Many of them go into very specific detail, including different theories about what Santa’s semen tastes like. Tiny spoiler alert: it always tastes good, like snow or peppermint or sugar cookies. Talk about taking the idea of fantasy to the next level! At first, I laughed when I saw the cover of The Naughty List by Ellie Mae MacGregor on Twitter. From the well-trimmed beard on the cover to the tagline, “Santa comes more than once this Christmas…” I thought it was a joke, and I didn’t look into it more. But then I saw another one floating around Romancelandia. And then the Santa trend came up last year on one of my favorite podcasts, Fated Mates. Why did Santa Claus erotica romance become more of a thing in the last two years? One theory is that as so much childcare and homework fell to women during the pandemic, the idea of a selfless person who makes children toys all year became incredibly appealing. Another is that as the pandemic and other political and cultural turmoil has invaded our lives, there is something so attractive about someone who exists outside of our world. We’ve been fighting with our partners about what COVID precautions we want to take, who we voted for, how we think about Black Lives Matter protests and gun violence — etc, etc, etc. And with Santa, you kind of don’t need to deal with any of those realities. Billionaires (who’ve reigned supreme for decades in romance) are problematic. Santa somehow isn’t. Or maybe some people just love holiday romances so much that this was the natural progression. I don’t know. But I will say, it makes me happy these books exist in the world. I do think, when done well, they walk a line of humor and sexiness that is really fun to read — and feels a little taboo at the same time. If you are curious, here are five Santa Claus erotica or romance novellas to try out. I hope you get into the holiday spirit with these smutty Santa books (or at least don’t judge me for doing so!). For other winter holiday reads, check out this quiz on what holiday romance novel to read or this list of diverse holiday romances. Whether you choose to explore Santa Claus erotica romance novellas or not, happy holidays and happy reading! Relatedly, if you’re interested in an F/F romance between a reindeer shifter on the sleigh team and one of Santa’s elves, check out Comet’s First Christmas by Delilah Night.
