Literature aimed at young adults is getting…well, more adult. They’re steamier, more frank about sexuality, and they’re being snapped up by readers who are falling in love and experimenting with sex for the first time in their lives.

“Yes, there is sex, but these aren’t porn books for children,” says Abbi Glines, author of the Sea Breeze Series. “These are books about the excitement of first love and the first sexual encounters. Yes, I could cut the sex out, but that wouldn’t be realistic.”

It should be noted that Glines takes the young adult label on her book seriously: They’re written for readers between the ages of 18 and 25. Her 12-year-old daughter is forbidden to read them until she turns 18. “All I can say is, I don’t encourage younger kids to read my books, and actually the biggest age group on my Facebook page is 25- to 35-year-old women,” she says. “A very small number are under 18.” (The Express)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and two children. Follow him on Twitter.