THE SPICE GLOSSARY

Not sure what all those acronyms and terms mean when talking about romance novels? Here are some of the more common ones and what they mean!

A Quick Guide to Pairings

Pairing acronyms tell readers what dynamic to expect in a book's relationship. These are often based on gender or sex. Non-binary characters are often denoted as "N" or "NB"

MF: male/female, man/woman
MM: male/male, man/man
FF: female/female, woman/woman
MLM: men loving men
WLW: women loving women
MMFMM(MMM etc...): one woman with multiple male partners. Swords may or may not cross.
MMFMF: one woman with multiple partners, including other women
RH: Reverse Harem. An easier way to describe the above relationships (terminology is currently changing for this because of the word "harem" and may also be known as "Why Choose")

MMM or FFF: 3 participants all of the same gender
MMF: two men, one woman where the men also interact with each other (aka the swords cross)
MFM: two men, one woman where the men do not interact (no sword crossing)
FFM: two women, one man where the women interact with each other
FMF: two women, one man where the women do not interact with each other

BDSM

Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism and Masochism. Not synonymous with kink but often includes kinky shenanigans

CNC

Consensual Non-Consent. This is where one partner gives prior consent for touching/sex while otherwise unable to provide consent (for example, while sleeping)

DD/lg or DD/lb

Daddy Dom/little girl or boy

D/s

Dom/sub, Dominant/submissive relationship

Dub Con

Dubious consent. Similar to NC, but a partner gives some level of consent by, for example, being coerced.

FMC

Female main character

FTB

Fade-to-black - a closed door sex scene (they have sex but you don't read about it)

HEA or HFN

Happily Ever After or Happy For Now - a mainstay of the romance genre.

KU

Kindle Unlimited

MMC

Male main character

NC

Non-consensual/rape

NSFW

Not Safe For Work

SA

Sexual assault

Sweet romance

A romance that does not include sex (also known as a clean romance, but this terminology is not used on this blog as sex isn't dirty)

See a term we're missing/know something that should be added? Send us an email!