Erotica
vs. Erotic Romance
by A.L. Kessler
In
order to understand the difference between these two genres, we must first
understand what the general understanding of the definition of romance is.
Romance in a book genre means that the focus of the storyline is on the couple
(no matter if it’s an untraditional coupling) or couples building of a
relationship. It ends in a committed relationship of some sort. It is the
journey of the characters getting to their Happily Ever After (HEA) or Happy
For Now (HFN) endings. Got that? Good.
Now,
take that definition of romance and put erotic in the front of it. What we have
here is a very steamy genre that still focuses on the building of a
relationship. The characters still have a storyline of commitment building and
they still get their HEA. Though there is a lot of steamy sex with less flowery
words, there is still a focus on the relationship. It still ends with an HEA or
a HFN. Got that? Okay good, moving on.
Take
the romance away from the erotic and you’re left with Erotica. Lots of not flowery-worded sex, a lot of heat
between pairings and does not end in a HEA or a HFN. Some times doesn’t have a
plot line or a whole lot of character development. Now, you’re probably asking
yourself why you need to know this.
Here’s
the deal authors are miss labeling some of their works. You need to make sure
you have the genre correct in order to make sure you’re selling to the right
market. Someone who wants sex without all the romance is more and likely to
pick up Erotica, that being said, you don’t want them to pick up your Erotic
Romance and give you a bad rating for the wrong genre. Or vise versa. The
correct genre helps locate your readers and your market properly.
So
let me break this down for you…
HEA
(or HFN) + Hot steamy sex =Erotic Romance
no HEA (or no HFN) = Erotica
Got
it? Good, now go check your genres.
A.L. Kessler’s Dance in the Moonlight (DWC #2)
Release:
March 13th, 2014
Renee’s life had been normal until the shadows reappeared and
the legendary stone was sent to her. As the arrival drags her further into the
paranormal world, the last thing Renee expects is to be swept off her feet by a
brooding werewolf.
Yet Coran captures her heart and attention. Small problem—he doesn't want a mate. Coran still suffers from the loss of his first mate, but when Renee is attacked by shifters he is forced to protect her at all costs. Things heat up when he realizes fate has wickedly granted him a second chance at love. With the war causing the body count to rise, now is not the ideal time to find a mate.
The Circle is becoming desperate and something has Lucius worried which means trouble for his followers. It's a dance between danger and fate in this second installment of the Dark War Chronicles.
Yet Coran captures her heart and attention. Small problem—he doesn't want a mate. Coran still suffers from the loss of his first mate, but when Renee is attacked by shifters he is forced to protect her at all costs. Things heat up when he realizes fate has wickedly granted him a second chance at love. With the war causing the body count to rise, now is not the ideal time to find a mate.
The Circle is becoming desperate and something has Lucius worried which means trouble for his followers. It's a dance between danger and fate in this second installment of the Dark War Chronicles.
Buy Links:
Author Bio:
A.L. Kessler is a paranormal romance and urban fantasy
author living in beautiful Colorado Springs, CO. When she’s not at beck and
call of the household—made up of her cats, dog, daughter and husband—she can be
found hard at work on her next novel. In those rare moments of free time, she
can be found playing video games, crafting, or reading.
Author Links
Other Works
Novels:
Midnight Symphony
In the Light of the Moon
Short Stories:
The Touch of Night
Of Souls and Steam (Penny Dread Vol. 4)
Excerpt:
When
Coran’s shift ended he wasted no time escaping the bar. Jumping into his truck, he leaned his head
against the back of the seat and took a deep breath. He’d thought about Renee
the whole evening. His wolf did nothing but pace inside him when the human came
to mind and that alone was unsettling; normally the beast was the pillar of
calm. Something about the human woman stood out to him and he wanted to see her
again, despite everything.
Voices
made him look out his window and a group of males gathered on the sidewalk
caught his attention. If Coran had been human, he wouldn’t have noticed
anything different about them. Dressed in clubbing clothes, they could have
just been out for a night on the town. It wasn’t unusual to see a group like
them downtown, but the wind brought a scent through the cracked window.
Shifters, ones he didn’t recognize. They took off running to the west and he started
up the truck. Following the group, he parked to watch what their plans were
when they approached a house party. Again, not something that was unusual
downtown, but something ate inside Coran.
Renee
downed another drink from her housemate. Another whiskey down after an hour of
drinking games made the room spin around her. Danielle laughed and grabbed
Renee's wrist. "Okay birthday girl, I think you've had enough."
Renee
shook her head. "Nooo, I need more. Rum. Where is the rum?" She stood
and tried to get to the kitchen, but Danielle held her back.
"It's
gone." Someone else in the house cried out.
"Why
is the rum always gone?" Renee asked, feigning a pirate voice. She giggled
as she headed towards the kitchen, escaping Danielle's clutch. She searched through
the bottles but froze when a person she didn't know passed on the other side of
the counter. Swearing, she saw an animal waver behind him, just like she had
with Coran at the bar. Then she blamed it on being stressed. Now she blamed it
on being drunk. Placing her shot glass on the counter, she drew in a couple
deep breaths and closed her eyes. When she opened them the room stopped
spinning and the man with the shadow was no longer in the room.
"You
okay?" Danielle's voice made Renee jump.
Nodding,
she pulled away from her friend. "I just need some fresh air." She grinned.
Danielle
motioned to the door. "You know where the door is, use it."
Renee
stumbled outside and took a deep breath, closing her eyes again. The heat from
the day still clung to the air and thoughts from the chase the night before
returned to her. Footsteps still echoed in her head, reminding her of the men
who chased her. Her eyes flew open when someone grabbed her wrist. Stumbling,
her heart pounded as she shoved at the stranger, frantically slapping him with
her other free hand, trying to get them to let go. Drinking made her more
clumsy than normal, but she tried to pry the man’s hand off her. The world spun
around her as she struggled with the stranger. The man's grip bruised her arm
as he pulled her off her stumbling feet. Renee crashed to the ground taking her
attacker with her. He landed next to her with a yell and two other men came
running. Her eyes widened when she could see the other forms — a wolf, a big
cat of some sort, and a bear. A scream bubbled up in her throat, but one of the
other men clapped a hand over her mouth. She tried to kick, but her
alcohol-laden system moved too slowly to surprise him.
"Shut
it, you little bitch."
An
accent she couldn’t place tinged his voice. She thrashed against the man, her
mind racing through the worse possible scenarios.
Within
a moment the man disappeared, yanked away from her. Renee glanced up, surprised
filling her hazy brain when she recognized the hunky bartender. Coran held an attacker
in the air by the shirt collar, a foot off the ground. She couldn't believe it,
exactly what kind of bartender was this guy? Coran smirked at her and in that
moment the image of the wolf flickered behind him, snarling. She swallowed and
gave him a shy wave.
He
set the man down. "I suggest you run before I rip your head off."
The
man quickly nodded in agreement and he and his comrades took off. Coran turned
back to Renee and held a hand out to her. "What was that all about?"
he asked as he pulled her up. She stumbled into him. "Are you drunk?"
"Beats
hot milk and butter." She grinned before turning in the direction the
attackers ran off in. "Those butt faced miscreants."
Coran
laughed and put an arm around her trying to lead her back to the house. "That's
a new one."
Renee
leaned into him, using him for balance. Here she was drunk and about to screw
up a chance with the hot bartender...again. "I don't want to go back in
there." Her mind flashed to all the images flickering behind people and
tears formed in her eyes. She was tired of these forms reappearing. She swore
that time of her life was over.
"What?
Why? It looks like a fun party." He turned to her and tilted her chin up
to meet her eyes. "Are you crying?"
She
sniffled, trying to keep the little drops from falling. "It's my party and
I'll cry if I want to...gosh darn it! I'll leave if I want to."
"I'm
so going to be dead for this." He grumbled and picked her up, cradling her
against his chest. "How drunk are you?"
"You're
only going to be mostly dead." She laid her head against his chest.
"And I'm not as think as you drunk I am." She could feel his chest
rumble with laughter as he started to walk away from the house. He tucked her
into the passenger side of his truck, buckled her in and kissed her forehead.
"To
the bat cave," she muttered and pointed out the windshield.
He
got in on the other side, chuckling as he started the truck. "Something
like that, sweetheart."
"You're
going to let that shifter walk off with your charge?" A male voice made
Danielle turn around.
She
shrugged. "I know she's safe with him. It bothers me, but obviously we
have other problems on our hands."
"Like
the fact that she was just attacked? You think you should report this?"
Protocol
required a Hunter to report if anything changed in their assignment, but
Danielle wasn't ready to report that the human she was assigned suddenly
started to attract a shifter and a pack of rogues. "Not yet. I don't want
to get them worked up over nothing. It could just be a coincidence. "
"You
don't sound so sure of that." Her partner leaned against the door jam.
"After what? A couple years finally something starts to happen with this
girl and you want to ignore it?"
Dani
glared back at him. "Look, I'm the Elite here, you follow my orders. We
don't report this yet and we don't pursue it. There is something else going on
here. I'll talk to her about her choice in men when she comes back
tomorrow."
"You
think she'll come back?" He laughed. "Most women can't resist
shifters."
She
snorted. "This is Renee, she’d rather have Mr. Darcy than a shifter who
happens to be there when she's drunk. Besides, tomorrow she'll wake up
embarrassed and come home."
"You're
sure about that?" Her partner's voice made her doubt everything. She hated
when the younger Hunter did that.
She
forced herself to nod. "I am, I've known her for years. She's not the type
to fall head over heels with a man." Even she could hear the hesitation in
her voice.
"Weren't
you given orders to follow her every move?" He chuckled. "Do you need
me to help track her? She has no idea what I am so it would be easy."
Dani
shook her head and bit her fingernail. "That man is a shifter, an immortal
one nonetheless. I've heard the local wolf pack talk about him. He'd know you
were there in a heartbeat."
"I
wasn't aware there was an immortal in town."
"And
that's why you're a Skilled and I’m a Elite. Give her until tomorrow before you
start following her around."
He
snorted. "I'm only six months away from graduating you know."
"Then
you should have realized that he was an immortal and that there is at least one
in town." She shrugged and walked back into the house, determined to enjoy
the rest of the party.
If you're an erotic romance author and would like to show readers how to tell the difference between erotic romance and erotica please email Laurie at bittenbyromance@gmail.com
If you're an erotic romance author and would like to show readers how to tell the difference between erotic romance and erotica please email Laurie at bittenbyromance@gmail.com
