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Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

One false step... Torment (Damned #4) by L.M. Pruitt


Enemies are so stimulating.--Katherine Hepburn
If you can look past the part where they're trying to kill you.


Description:

Published: August 8th, 2017

Enemies are so stimulating.--Katherine Hepburn
If you can look past the part where they're trying to kill you.
The Damned want my head on a platter. The Winged have similar plans.
As for Morning Star and the Power... well, only They know.
One false step... and everything is lost.

GUEST POST
The Thin Line Between Romance and Erotic Romance

I can’t remember the very first romance novel I read but I’m almost certain it was by Nora Roberts—Divine Evil, to be exact. And it was exciting and slightly terrifying and very, very adult, especially since I was maybe thirteen or fourteen at the time. And even though I know there are sex scenes in the book (hello, Nora Roberts), they weren’t the primary focus of either the relationship or the book. They were simply one more facet of the main couple’s relationship.

I also can’t remember the first erotic romance novel I read but I’m pretty sure it was by Bertrice Small—and even though I was in my twenties and considered myself very much an adult, I would swear it scorched my fingertips. Just checking her books out from the library was an exercise in keeping a straight face, reminding myself reading such books wasn’t a crime. Was there romance? Oh, of course. But I’d never read books where the sex scenes went on for four or five pages and everything seemed to be heavily, heavily influenced by sexual desire. Finding out such books existed…well, saying I was shocked would be an understatement.

That is, I believe, the fundamental difference between romance and erotica—one doesn’t necessarily require sex while the other most likely wouldn’t exist without sex. The question of whether the sex written is too much or not enough depends not only on the genre but on the reader—if a reader’s comfort level tops out around a Jennifer Crusie book, they’d probably feel uncomfortable reading Stephanie Laurens, even though both are firmly romance authors. The same goes for erotica—Bertrice Small’s books might be completely fine but Robin Schone would be a different matter entirely.

The advent of the digital age and even more so the invention of digital books and book readers has flung open the doors of genre books such as romance and to a larger degree those of subgenres such as erotica or romantica. Writers are now able to write in subgenres and niches which would have been impossible to present to major publishing companies. People no longer have to worry about hiding the cover of the book they’re reading or wonder if the bookstore or librarian is judging their choice in reading material.

I say take the freedom and run—or streak—with it.

About the author:
L.M. Pruitt has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember. A native of Florida with a love of New Orleans, she has the uncanny ability to find humor in most things and would probably kill a plastic plant. She knows this because she's killed bamboo. Twice. She is the author of the Winged series, the Plaisir Coupable series, Jude Magdalyn series, the Moon Rising series, and Taken: A Frankie Post Novel.


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