10 reasons you need to be at the first ever LWcL Smut Reading Retreat

Darling, you've been reading smut in secret for long enough. Tucked away on your Kindle, tilting your phone screen away from strangers in public, sharing a different title when someone asks what you’re reading. I see you. And I think it's time to stop apologising for your self-care.

That's exactly why we’ve launched the first ever Ladies Who cLit Smut Reading Retreat. Here are 10 reasons you absolutely, unequivocally need to be there.

1. It's happening at The Mandrake Hotel. Yes, that Mandrake.

If you know Ladies Who Lit, you know they don't do things by halves. The setting for this retreat is one of London's most decadent, wildly beautiful boutique hotels: jewel-toned velvets, cascading foliage, boudoir-dark corners and an energy that feels like stepping into a spicy fever dream. The perfect backdrop for unapologetic conversations about desire and pleasure. 

2. A private dinner and drinks reception that will rewire your brain in the best way.

It wouldn’t be a LWL Reading Retreat without sumptuous dining, but this one has a fabulous spin. As well as a culinary experience at YOPO, we’ve curated an evening with leading voices in sexual wellbeing, pleasure education and female empowerment: women doing the important work around desire, pleasure and reclaiming what we want. The conversations you'll have over that table? Unforgettable and unleashing.

3. There’ll be a spicy recommended read, and all your smutty TBRs are encouraged.

We’ll host a book club discussion for a heart-racing, thigh-clenching, cliterary hit that has you down bad for the MCs and their adventures in ecstasy. But honestly, I want you to bring and read whatever makes you feel unreal. Your fifth read of The Secret Club? Your first foray into the Rinaverse? Whatever gets you fired up and frantic to share the scene you’re reading with fellow smut girlies, this is the place for it.

4. A workshop with a leading sex therapist.

Get expert insights into the conversations you’re already having about smut, desire, sex, self-pleasure and everything in between. This is about digging deeper into what turns you on and tips you over the edge into bliss to understand yourself better than ever before. Expect to leave with not just more books for your spicy TBR, but new perspectives on what it means to own your desire and your pleasure.

5. Every guest gets a spicy self-care goodie bag to extend your pleasure even further.

If you’re anything like me, darling, you always want more of a good fucking time… so that’s exactly what we’re giving you. A bag full of pleasure treasures from our lovers at Lovehoney and other smut and sex-positive partners designed to treat you, pique your desire and leave you wanting for nothing in the orgasm department (where I have a corner office).

Can’t wait until the retreat? I don’t blame you, darling–in the meantime, use our code LADIESWHOLIT at checkout for 20% off everything at Lovehoney.

6. You’ll know that smut is centre stage, not a quiet conversation in the wings.

Self-care conversations can feel like purity tests–green smoothies, organic bubble baths, impeccable journaling. I’m not knocking those things, darling, they can absolutely be restorative. But there’s also something in exploring desire, unleashing pleasure, going deeper into the parts of yourself that often get shut away that is utter joy. Going feral for fictional characters is a given on this getaway and those conversations get the space and respect they deserve.

7. You'll be surrounded by women who just get it.

There's something magic about being in a room full of women who don't need you to explain yourself. Raised eyebrows, absent. ‘Oh, is that one of those books?’, unheard of. Just women who read spice, talk about spice, and refuse to be made to feel small about it. The vibe is pure permission to be yourself and speak your mind over a glass of something delicious.

8. It’s a break from performing wellness for just being well.

No one is here to optimise themselves. 5am routines, productivity hacks, hour-long meditations. Fuck that. This is a space all about your pleasure, indulgence, unapologetic existence. In a gorgeous hotel, with other women, doing exactly what you want. Reading. Talking. Laughing. Feeling unashamed. Discussing your favourite spicy genres, tropes and those MCs that awaken your desire and live rent free in your head. Just freedom to be, without conditions.

9. You can go solo and leave with a friendship group you didn't know you needed.

LWL Reading Retreats attract the best kind of women. The ones who prioritise joy. The ones who choose rest. The ones who'd rather talk about a chapter that broke them open than make small talk about the weather. Come alone, leave with a WhatsApp group you'll never want to mute and always hit up when you’ve got new spice or IRL dilemmas to discuss.

10. Because it's the first one. And you want to say you were there.

This is the beginning of something. The first ever LWcL Smut Reading Retreat is a ‘pinch me’ moment for women who believe that pleasure is not something to be punished, desire is not shameful, and a good book–a really good book–can transform you in ways you never imagined.

Ready to retreat? Of course you are, darling. Book your place and start building up your spicy TBR–can’t wait to see what you’ll bring.