The supernatural sex books that MILLIONS of middle-class...

Do you remember Orlando Bloom as Legolas the Elf in The Lord of the Rings? Or Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn? Both were fantasy characters, and both had middle-aged women fanning themselves in their cinema seats. Never had a tightly strung bow and quiver of arrows set so many fifty-somethings, well, aquiver with desire. Oh how we sighed at that muscle-defining chainmail…. Now comes another entry into the world of high fantasy sex, or Romantasy as it’s also called – but this time in novel form. With a passionate following of mid-lifers whose actual lives are sorely lacking in chivalric romance – and a big TikTok fandom too – so-called ‘fairy porn’ is the latest trend in sexy books for women.

Image Credit: Mail Online ['My favourites are by American authors Sarah J. Maas (pictured), who has sold 38 million books – her most famous series is called A Court Of Thorns And Roses']

And I’m addicted – not only because I love reading them, but because they have saved my otherwise magic-free marriage from the cold, sexless realms of long-term cohabitation. Sexy fairies – by which I mean chisel-jawed, dragon-slaying supernatural beings, not Tinkerbell with wings – are selling in the millions. Last month Onyx Storm, the latest book from Rebecca Yarros, became the fastest-selling adult novel ever, shifting more than 2.7million copies in its first week. ‘They get to ride dragons and they get to ride each other,’ is how the author described it, which is a fair summary. Basically this is fantasy with sex scenes. Lots of sex scenes.

Image Credit: Mail Online ['A while ago, in fact, I realised I was buying a book a week, which was costing me hundreds of pounds a year, so I’ve begun to re-read them instead.' Pictured: Angelina Frerk reads romantacy novel Fourth Wing]

And frankly, they couldn’t have come at a better time for me. Like many women in their 50s, I’m now solidly in the sandwich years, both a stay-at-home mum of two teenagers – a son of 18 and daughter of 14 – and also a carer for older parents. When I was single, in my 20s, I was a travel agent and always flying off around the world, living a fabulous, carefree, lifestyle. Then I got married, had children and the glamour disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Image Credit: Mail Online [A Court Of Thorn And Roses series has become a sensation on TikTok. Pictured: Chloe Burrows with the fourth book in the series A Court Of Frost And Starlight]

'Happily those books have the same effect too, lifting me out of my boring, chore-filled existence, in which I am the one facilitating everyone else’s lives, into a sexy place where at last I can prioritise my own pleasure'. 'My favourites are by American authors Sarah J. Maas (pictured), who has sold 38 million books – her most famous series is called A Court Of Thorns And Roses'. We have a comfortable life thanks to my husband John’s career in property, but we’ve been through some tough times as a family, with cancer scares and school exam stress. If I’m honest, I’ve begun to feel that life is sucking everything from me. Between my parents and children, I’m always in crisis mode and I lost myself a bit along the way.

At the same time, our sex life has fizzled. When we met, we were super passionate and would have sex several times a week. But that petered out over time, and now we only having sex a handful of times a year at best. Until this new genre of adult fiction arrived to sprinkle some sexy fairy dust over me. The funniest part? John – who is quite strait-laced, if I’m honest – has no idea why I am suddenly in the mood, even though he questions why I’m reading so much. He teases me, ‘for liking trashy novels’, which is ironic. They’re not trashy, but they are certainly titillating.

I’ve always been an avid reader – before I had my daughter, I was studying for a writing degree – and when I was younger I read a lot of Tolkien. I loved the way those books would take me out of the real world and into something much more exciting and vibrant. But it wasn’t until I saw the Romantasy trend taking off on social media that I thought I’d give it a go. Happily those books have the same effect too, lifting me out of my boring, chore-filled existence, in which I am the one facilitating everyone else’s lives, into a sexy place where at last I can prioritise my own pleasure.

Quickly, I realised how much I loved them. My favourites are by American authors Sarah J. Maas, who has sold 38 million books – her most famous series is called A Court Of Thorns And Roses – and Jennifer L. Armentrout. 'A while ago, in fact, I realised I was buying a book a week, which was costing me hundreds of pounds a year, so I’ve begun to re-read them instead.' Pictured: Angelina Frerk reads romantacy novel Fourth Wing.

A Court Of Thorn And Roses series has become a sensation on TikTok. Pictured: Chloe Burrows with the fourth book in the series A Court Of Frost And Starlight. Romantasy books vary, but many of the fairies are really quite dangerous and scary, which is their attraction, plus there are lots of strong female characters. I’ve seen them referred to as, ‘Jilly Cooper with fairies’, but it’s not all sex – the best ones balance the relationship storylines with raunchy bits.

To be honest, they make me feel young again and not just a worn-down servant to everyone else. They’ve given me back a playful side and I’ve become flirtier with John, even initiating sex on a regular basis. When you’ve been with someone for decades, you forget how you felt at the beginning of the relationship, but because I’ve been reading about the tensions of new relationships and sex, it’s brought back that spark for us.