Except in extreme circumstances, in a age when manual labor and prior military service were common among men, most husbands used their hand. It was usually understood that, despite Hollywood depictions, women got it on the bare. So, these things really hurt! Most wives tried to take it like a woman so the neighbors wouldn’t know. While spanking was acceptable, real wife beating was socially and, in many places, legally frowned up.

So, yes, to we spankos, those spanking scenes in the old romance novels are VERY sexy.

The story itself is an oldie but was written in a modern to contemporary setting. The setting was certainly before 1990 — if I recall correctly it was written in 1970 something.

The way it played out in the novel was more like a man disciplining a child for being too quarrelsome.

I really have no problem with spanking in stories provided it’s done in the right context and clearly part of a fantasy.

I chalk it up to the fact that it is a reflection of what was going on then and it explains to me at least why alpha heroes would do that and think it’s okay.

Was the author male or female?

If male, then maye he’s trying to tap into what he thinks many women fantasize about?

If female, maybe she’s living out her own fantasy?

Or maybe it’s simply a marketing tool to get readers talking about the book like we are now?

I would never think of spanking a woman who was not passionately interested in being spanked. That’s reality. But in a story it may be erotic if the spanking is non-consensual (the woman’s bottom is forcibly bared and she is spanked without her consent). This can be hot in fantasy, but it would be horrible in real life. With the current popularity of vampires and other mythic elements it is hard to miss the fact that romance novels are about fantasy, not reality. There is, however, no such thing as through crime.