Current views on spice levels
I’m close to completing a sci-fi romance that’s focused on an alien contact plot. It leans more heavily into the sci-fi and is pretty low spice compared to my contemporary works (this is my 10th book but I’m new to sci-fi), but is open door.
I’ve read alien romance canon and have feelings about it, and one of those feelings was that I wanted harder plot, more action, and less smut for most of them. I like smut but I just felt like all the really interesting aspects of world building were underdeveloped. So I went a different direction.
Now I’m second-guessing and I’d like some feedback from people who enjoy this sub-genre on what spice levels are expected and preferred. If I’m under-heated, I may need to add some more in.
Any and all thoughts on this would be appreciated.
ETA: I’m reading everyone’s comments and just wanted to say you all are awesome for responding. Super helpful and also reaffirming.