So what is Erotic Romance?

So what is erotic romance?

I have to write this post because more and more I am dismayed by readers, bloggers, and vendors confusing my  contemporary, erotic romance books with erotica, or (sighs) porn.
Romance critics, romance book blogs, readers, vendors, people I thought would know the difference...DON'T. It's very disheartening.

I have nothing against erotica, people can read and write what they want to, but I am tiring a little of having to defend my books, and their genre to people who say they don't like/review/blog about erotica. I have blog guests who write erotica, it's fine, it's just that I don't write erotica.
The confusion in large numbers of peoples' minds between Erotica and Erotic Romance is leading some publishers to add definitions to their submission pages. (Sadly there are still some publishers who don't know the difference). 
It seems even some large book sellers don't know the difference.

Erotic romance is even confused with Porn, by detractors of the genre.
Erotic romance isn't that new having emerged around 2005 and had a huge leap in popularity since then. So you might think 'people' would know what is is by now.
Readers who want to see 'behind the bedroom door' buy erotic romance.

So what is erotic romance?

It's a love story, a story where there MUST BE a happy ending, it has graphic sex in the love scenes because they are part of the relationship development. It's a story, plot heavy, but the sex scenes are so integral they need to be there. It can be any sub genre of romance as long as it follows those guidelines. The characters are going to fall in love, and stay in love. The HEA must be there.

It's a weird thing when you write contemporary, erotic romance and reviews pop up saying 'A sweet romance,...' Is that because my books are developed stories, with stand out characters and arcs in the plot? The sex is graphic but so well crafted into the love story they forget? 

Sweet romance is also a genre, it's romance with the bedroom door closed. 
My bedroom doors are open.
Erotica is about the sex, and emotions sometimes, not necessarily a relationship and it doesn't usually have a happy ending, ( or it needn't have one as opposed to erotic romance that must) sometimes it doesn't have much of a plot. 
Porn-according to Wiki is "Works of pornography consist of sexual acts without a plot line"
Defined and links to publishers
See a great post by Sylvia Day on the different genres,
Passionate Ink,

Other 'romance' information
Web definitions
  • Erotic romance novels, as defined by Romance Writers of America's (RWA) special interest chapter, , are stories written about the development of a romantic relationship through sexual interaction. ... 
  • en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_romance

  • A novel where the sexuality goes beyond that of a most romance novels and may use sexually explicit language, but the romance is still the core of the book. Can be either contemporary, historical or paranormal. 
  • www.okrwa.com/NRCA/nrca_categorydef.htm

  • Erotic romance blends traditional erotic fiction with a romantic backdrop. Erotic romances tend to be fairly graphic and explicit in describing scenes of intimacy between adults; they usually have strong sexual content and incorporate frank language into the storyline. ... 
  • bestromancestories.com/romance-book-subgenre-definitions/
  • Some Publishers of erotic romance:
  •  
  • Black Lace
  • Changeling Press
  • Ellora's Cave Publishing
  • Liquid Silver Books
  • Loose Id
  • Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
  • Siren Publishing, Inc
  • Whiskey Creek Press Torrid
  • Hot Ink Press  
  • Beachwalk Press
  • Breathless Press
  • Evernight
  • Eternal Press
  • Entangled
  • Total Ebound
  •  
  •  
  • So I offer you two of my erotic romance book descriptions to consider.
  •  
  • Let Oliver bring you flowers
  • 'The Flower Box' contemporary romance from Hot Ink Press
  • 'I fell in love with Alice and Oliver.  In just a few short pages, these two captured me and drew me in to their beautiful story.' 
  • Reviewed by Cocktails and Books for Manic Readers with 5 yummy cocktails (5*)
  • A story to fall in love with.
  • http://a-fwd.com/asin-com=B00IA7OUWO


  • At night, Rosie watches horses dance beneath the moonlight, wishing to be as free as them. By day, she’s a lonely woman with no prospects at love. A sign in a store window advertising dance lessons changes everything.

     Pretty soon Rosie is making moves with the gorgeous instructor, and his equally delectable best friend. Jude and Justin fascinate Rosie and bring her body back to life, but they’re keeping secrets that just may shatter the fantasy Rosie hopes to make reality.

     4 and a half shining stars from Manic Readers for Evernight Publishing, #menage #shifter romance Night of the Horse
    "..it’s well done, and it’s different, because I’ve never read a shifter novel about horses...a cute little love story, well written with good characters that will warm you up......... Enjoy!
    Available Amazons, Evernight, All Romance, Book Strand, B&N
    http://a-fwd.com/asin-com=B00FYIYH9S
    http://bit.ly/19l9V9p
    http://bit.ly/18XVWZ0
    http://bit.ly/1e940Ik
    http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/night-of-the-horse-elodie-parkes/1117298973?ean=2940045361101
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Spotlight on author K.S. Haigwood's fresh new look

K. S. Haigwood's Fresh New Look For her best-selling Series
Kendra Larkin had everything going in the right direction. Her life was seemingly perfect, and she wouldn't have changed a thing about it. Unfortunately, the course of her life was about to be forever altered. A tragic rappelling accident lands her on Dr. Adam Chamberlain's operating table. She agrees to a deal proposed by a guardian angel to help save the soul of the man who is both her doctor and soulmate. If she is successful, she gets to keep her life. However, she later learns that it isn't just her life that's in jeopardy, but her soul as well. Even with the help of her handsome guardian angel, Rhyan, it seems there is no happy ending in sight. Torn between her newly discovered love of Rhyan, and the undeniable attraction she has for Adam, Kendra finds herself at a crossroad. With Adam's steadfast rejection of God, and his guardian demon conspiring against her, she fears her soul may already be lost. Will she find a way to overcome the evil her life is suddenly burdened with? Or will Adam's guardian demon win both their souls and make Kendra his own personal puppet in Hell?

Depression consumes the guardian angel, Rhyan, after his human charge chooses her soulmate over him. Filled with anger and despair, he lashes out. And when his hate-filled words land him neck-deep in Hell, he realizes he's gone too far. He expects trouble, but not to discover his own soulmate in the fiery depths. Abigail is there with good reason, but she's done her time, and in order to save them both, Rhyan must strike a deal with the Devil. The stakes are higher than ever before, with his soul, his friends and even the fate of Heaven and Earth in jeopardy. If he fails, Rhyan stands to lose more than he ever feared. Will true love be denied? It will take everything he's got to break down the traps Lucifer puts in his way. New lines are drawn and old scores are settled, and Rhyan is in for the fight of his life. With Abigail as the prize, and humanity in the balance, he will stop at nothing to claim...Hell's Gift
e worst thing that could happen to you
www.facebook.com/kshaigwood
www.amazon.com/author/kshaigwood
http://kshaigwood.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/kshaigwood
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This weekend I welcome guest author Lily Rede to the blog

Lily has been writing since she was ten. She lives steps from the beach with a bunch of semi-feral cats and two goofy dogs who are forever tracking sand into the house, but she loves them anyway. She has lived all over the world and jumped into writing full time when her cubicle city became too confining.
Find Lily online:

Amazon Author Page: http://amzn.com/B00DC2A9GS

Lily brings along her hot romance today, 
PLAYING HOOKY (TEACH ME TONIGHT #1) by Lily Rede & Jane Gaudet

Middle school science teacher Molly Callahan is rebelling. For the first time in years, she’s skipping the annual family reunion and taking a real vacation to a tropical island, far from the exhausting Callahan clan and her sister-in-law’s enthusiastic attempts to set her up with her brother, famed anthropologist and writer Jack Roman – totally hot, totally obnoxious, and totally out of her league. Sun, sand, and maybe a little steamy island fling. Molly doesn’t count on her sister-in-law’s epic scheming, however, and is completely unprepared to find herself sharing paradise with the man she flew thousands of miles to avoid.

Jack Roman isn’t on vacation. His stay on this remote tropical island is all research, but how is he supposed to get anything done when maddeningly sexy Molly Callahan shows up to distract him? Suddenly, his research seems less important than making sure that the only man on the island she seduces is him. Summer heats up for Molly and Jack, but is this the basis for a relationship in the real world, or just a hot tropical romance that will burn up when reality comes knocking?

Read an excerpt 18+



PLAYING HOOKY



By Lily Rede & Jane Gaudet



IT WAS BARELY DAWN when Molly woke, languidly stretching as she took a moment to orient herself. She pushed aside the mosquito netting to watch the sky slowly change color over the turquoise ocean, the only sounds the lapping of the water against the stilts that held her bungalow up and the distant shore, and the occasional early morning call of the sea birds. The resort had a main building, but she’d shelled out for one of a dozen bungalows that sat directly over the water, connected by a series of wooden pathways. It was private, it was quiet.

It was perfect.

Yesterday was a bit of a blur, and Molly had never been so grateful for jet lag in her life. After Jack had stomped away, leaving Molly in the hands of the concerned staff, she’d made it through the rest of the journey, let herself be ushered through check-in, and escorted to her bungalow, where she’d crashed, hard. Sleep was a welcome alternative to thinking about how Jack had dismissed her, or about the mind-blowing reaction of her body against his.

Molly groaned, rolling to her back.

He’d been hard against her, all over, and it was humiliating to realize that an obnoxious man who had no interest in her could still make every nerve ending sing without effort. It wasn’t like he was the first guy to dismiss her, but somehow this was worse – he didn’t like her, didn’t want anything to do with her, but that sinfully perfect body of his seemed to think that a sweaty tumble was a pretty damn good idea.

Sounds good to me, too.

But it wasn’t going to happen. Her fantasy about a casual island fling had been pretty much that – a fantasy. She didn’t make a habit of sleeping with strange men, or even familiar ones, though some harmless flirting would be fun.

Sex with Jack.

Even the though made her shiver, but her practical brain ran through all the perfectly good reasons the whole idea was nonsense – he’s a jerk, he doesn’t want you, if you fuck him you’re still going to run into him at every family function until the end of time.

Molly sighed. It was that last one that was the real bitch.

Why couldn’t you be some anonymous island hunk, instead of an arrogant, smart, practically related pussy-tease? she grumped.

And oh, how he could tease. Without thought. Without effort.

What woman could resist the press of all that golden muscle? He’d smelled terrific, too, something spicy and hot, and Molly had wanted nothing more than to nuzzle the golden stubble along his jaw and then taste the hollow of his throat with her tongue. It had taken everything in her not to rub her aching clit against his thigh, not to reach down to explore the huge shaft pressed against her.

Tantalizing.

Dammit.

Feeling restless and turned on, Molly reached over her bed for her purse and the little pocket rocket she’d just purchased as an impulse buy. She’d never owned a vibrator before, but it seemed like the kind of thing a self-confident, rebellious woman would do. Molly felt a naughty thrill as she turned it on and a discreet buzz broke the silence. Lying back, she pressed the little device to her collarbone, feeling the vibration skitter along her skin.

“Mmmm…Jack…” she murmured.

She shouldn’t be wasting any more time fantasizing about Jack Roman, the jerk, but he’d played a starring role in her wicked dreams for so long that it was a little hard to just go cold turkey. Especially now that she knew what he felt like. All over. This week, she’d work on dreaming up a new fantasy lover, but for the moment…

Molly pulled her silky nightgown off and traced the vibrator down to tease her nipples into tight peaks, moaning softly as she pictured Jack rolling them between his fingers, eyes filled with heat. She slid the little rocket lower, her hips arching as she found her clit and Fantasy Jack knelt up to drape her thighs over him, his voice husky and dark, his body tight with arousal.

“Ready for me, baby?” he would murmur.

“Shhh….” Molly murmured to her imagination, “Reality Jack is a total douche, so Fantasy Jack doesn’t get to talk. Got it?”

Her imagination nodded obediently.

Molly rubbed little circles into her clit with the vibrator, shuddering as sensation swamped her, her fingers growing slick as she stroked the hot, aching flesh. In her mind, Jack had a wicked smirk on his face, letting her watch as he slid into her, a thick, hard inch at a time.

So hot. So good.

Her imagination drove her higher as she pictured him fucking her, hard and deep and slow, getting as lost in her as she was in him, muscles rippling, hands tensed on her thighs, stretching her with every decadent stroke.

Against orders, Fantasy Jack opened his mouth to speak.

“Come for me, Molly.”

Helpless to resist, she did, swamped with shame and delight as his name left her lips in an audible cry.

That’s it, Molly Callahan. That’s all you get. Now move on.

Panting, Molly switched off the vibrator and savored the spasms of pleasure that continues to wrack her from head to toe, trying not to think about the fact that a few minutes with her imagination was better than the best sexual encounters she’d ever had.

Sighing, Molly pushed herself out of bed.

Lily is giving away two copies of Playing Hooky either PDF or mobi files, your choice.
Comment on the post for her and enter the draw to win one of the copies.
Please leave your email address so that we can contact you if you win.
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Sizzling Summer blog hop from The Romance Troupe enjoy....


Welcome to the Sizzling Summer blog hop
You know what they say about summer...it's sun, sand and sex...so what better time to give you eye candy from the beach...




And an excerpt from my WIP

'Double Take'

They almost fell into each other’s arms. Morgan held her close and kissed her softly. He felt Jeanie respond to him. She put her hands up around his head holding him with such tenderness it filled him with a longing he’d not experienced for many years. He drew back from her and rested his forehead against hers. They breathed against each other for a moment before Morgan began to kiss her again. Down her neck across her throat, up to her ear, where he lingered and whispered, “You’re so lovely.”

He felt her press closer and he moved his hands to cup her bottom so that she could feel his cock hard against her. It felt so good to press against her, that he lost himself in kissing her. He nibbled her bottom lip and felt her sigh against his face. He slid his tongue against hers and kissed her until he couldn’t breathe. His heart was pounding and although he hadn’t set out to, he wanted it to be real. He was thrusting against her as she was pushed back against her car and she clung to him murmuring soft sounds of pleasure.


Copyright Elodie Parkes 2013

The prize on this blog is your choice of either The Last Time or The Winter Girl, both erotic romance, The Last Time has a twist of suspense and The Winter Girl a twist of paranormal, gifted for kindle from Amazon.
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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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An iPAD MINI
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OR

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$50 Amazon/B&N Gift Card
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OR

Fabulous Swag Pack #1
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