How Romantasy Saved My Sex Life

Transporting to fantastical worlds transformed one writer's real-life relationship—and now she'll never go back.

- Arianna Reardon

Confession: I expected my sex life to flourish after I got married. Every newlywed couple I spoke to gushed about how marriage had strengthened their bond, leading to a hotter, more passionate connection.

My husband and I had also agreed to go on a sex cleanse four months before the big day. This brief period of celibacy, coupled with the heightened emotional intimacy of saying “I do,” made our first time as husband and wife feel extra special.

But one week after our wedding, the newlywed bliss bubble popped. What was supposed to be a (literal) honeymoon phase turned into an onslaught of stress.

First, our marriage license got lost in the mail. This prevented us from completing the necessary tasks to begin our new chapter, like updating our marital status for tax and insurance purposes, which became even more critical when my husband almost lost his job.

Our hands were tied, and it started to feel as if we were just playing at being husband and wife because we didn’t have the paperwork to prove that we were actually married.

After nearly two months, the license was found. Finally! The dark cloud looming over us began to lift. Not so fast, said the universe: My husband landed in the hospital after his calf suddenly swelled and an ultrasound revealed four blood clots. Thankfully, he didn’t need surgery to remove the clots—they were treatable with blood thinners—and the doctors caught the problem before it caused a serious medical complication, like a pulmonary embolism.