the ask@AAR: What makes an erotic love story work?

By |2022-09-01T09:22:09-04:00September 2nd, 2022|Categories: the ask @AAR|Tags: , , , |

Every few years, I reread Anne Calhoun’s Uncommon Passion. I read it for the hero’s powerful redemptive arc, for the way Calhoun shows us her characters’ interior lives–she is a master of the show don’t tell–and for the hard fought and wonderfully believable HEA Ben and Rachel create for themselves. I also read it for the sex. It is the erotic romance I find the most erotic–every sex scene is beyond hot and described in way that makes my senses sizzle.

Take this scene–it’s from the second time the two have sex. And it’s worth noting that all they’re doing is having sex–this is not, yet, for them, about intimacy or emotion. It’s just about pleasure.

He went to work on the buttons of her blouse, his touch very matter-of-fact, and in a few moments the shirt hung open, revealing […]

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Are Erotic Romance Authors Welcome at Nook?

By |2017-09-01T17:07:11-04:00September 1st, 2017|Categories: Anne Marble, Book news, Bookstores, E-books, Publishing, Romance reading, Romancelandia|Tags: , , , |

Are indie erotic romances and erotica no longer welcome in the Barnes & Noble Nook store? Are some of them okay? Apparently, it depends on what day of the week it is.

Last week, several erotic romance authors reported that that Barnes & Noble’s Nook Press had suspended their accounts. Initially, it was reported that the books being removed were those that broke the content policy – that is, erotica about incest, rape, bestiality, necrophilia, or pedophilia. As with any of these breaking news stories, the truth always takes time to bubble to the surface. In other words… That was far from the truth. Author David Gaughran reported that authors of “regular erotica” were being targeted – not just writers of the more … niche … stories.

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Six questions for Delphine Dryden

By |2017-06-23T08:30:44-04:00June 5th, 2013|Categories: Authors, Dabney AAR, Interviews|Tags: , |

Seduction-Hypothesis-St-Ht-DS Delphine Dryden’s The Seduction Hypothesis (The Science of Temptation series) is a funny, sexy erotic romance. In it, the absolutely adorable, quite nerdy hero, Ben is trying to get his girlfriend Lindsay back. He stupidly broke up with her a few months ago and has regretted it ever since. The two are on their way to BeastCon–a convention for fans of comics/games/anime–and Ben plans to use the next five days to reclaim Lindsay’s heart. Ben realizes Lindsay is, in BDSM parlance, a Sub and he, once he tries the role on, is more than happy to be her Dom.

I loved this book. It’s witty and steamy, has engaging leads and a sweetly believable HEA.

I know Del through Twitter and asked her if she’d be willing to answer a few questions. She agreed […]

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Not Everything Erotic is Romantic

By |2017-06-23T08:32:23-04:00January 8th, 2009|Categories: Defining Romance, Publishing|Tags: , , , |

As many of you know, I moderate AAR’s romance discussion list, AARlist2. In the past, I’ve discussed on the forums about how some authors have abused AARlist2 as a promotion tool. Well, it happened again. Recently, a member posted a promo that offended some members. Why? Gee, it might be because it involved incest, among other things.

Whoops! AARlist2 is a romance list, and last I heard, most romance readers aren’t really into incest scenarios. So I apologized to the list, sent a polite message to the original poster, and deleted her post. I also realized this would be a good time to update the list guidelines, making it clear this sort of post was a Bad Idea. Why was there no guideline about this before? Because it was common sense, or so I thought. Live and learn.

[…]

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