Where to Draw the Line (18+)

[Jessica]

Another common debate...where is the line drawn between a passionate romance book and an erotic novel? What differentiates the two?

[R.F.G.]

Passionate Romance may have some sex but it explores the relationships of the characters. Take out the erotic parts and it's hardly noticeable.

Erotica is more about the passion between the characters while touching more lightly on other topics. Take the erotic out of Erotica and the story becomes disjointed at best.

[Sarah]

Jessica wrote: "Another common debate...where is the line drawn between a passionate romance book and an erotic novel? What differentiates the two?"

Not sure where the line is drawn, but I suppose I will find out when I submit Growing Old Disgracefully to publishers!

As far as I can tell, RFG, is probably on the right track, and as GOD has, a story, erotic scenes, and comedy/tragedy, it should scrape through as a raunchy bodice ripper!

[L]

These days the line is blurred..

To cut to the chase, erotica's the stuff with full-on sexy times hidden in the back of the indie bookstore, while romance was the stuff that never mentioned any body part by name!

Wikipedia takes it another step, by defining it as "any artistic work that deals substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing subject matter?! Okay. Plus, erotica "has high-art aspirations"

Quintessentially, If a novel's driving force is the sex between the hero and heroine, or if sex is somehow the central theme of the novel, you'd call it erotica -- if you really wanna go the whole hog then it is the whole shebang!

:/ *feelin' like I could throw up right now_ but that's me -- besides where's the attraction without a little bit left to the imagination?! ;)


so I would state that romance is sweet [avoiding any detailed descriptions of what's behind closed doors].


So yeah, be observant and always check-out a book's blurb carefully, as something might unexpectedly surprise you.

[V.W.]

These days it is much harder to draw any kind of line. If the romantic relationship is between two very physical people, there may be a lot a explicit sex because they use it as a means of communication.

The concept that if you remove the sex and the story is disjointed means it is erotica or porn is a bit disingenuous. A war story can be intensely emotional and filled with complex relationships, but if you remove every example of violence/combat, it is very possible that the book will loose all impact and emotional effect because the violence is integral to the way the characters interact or it is what moves the relationships from level to level.