A Goodreads user asked Evelyn Pryce:

Wishing you great success and acclaim with The Thirteenth Earl, Ms. Pryce. I found it charming and delightfully original yet still faithful to its genre and satisfying in its happy conclusion. I would give the novel a perfect rating but for my disappointment that the few sexual passages, while certainly well written, made the book off-limits to young readers. Forgive me for omitting that 5th star, please?

Evelyn Pryce Iris, think nothing of it! I loved your thoughtful review. And this gives me an opportunity to talk about this issue--which, it is an issue, within Romance.

It's so difficult to tow the line in this genre: I have been told to make things less sexual and more sexual, at different times. Balancing what the readers want and what I want to write can become a thorny thing to navigate. In the end, I put the bedroom stuff where it belongs, where it would happen in the course of a real life. I think it's important, especially in a culture where women are still shamed for even thinking about what is a natural function of our messy and complicated bodies.

I know it makes me inaccessible to younger readers, but they'll eventually grow up and my books will be here.

Thank you again, Iris--I live for reviews like yours, someone who reads and gets exactly what I was going for in the story!

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