Erotic Romance vs. Erotica

May 14, 2013May 15, 2013 / Linda / Leave a comment

Erotic fiction has been around for a very long time. One of the most erotic pieces of poetry is the Song of Songs in the Bible. The late 18^th century brought us the French aristocrat, Marquis de Sade whose name gave us the sexual kink of “sadism”. In the early 20^th century, Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Tropic of Cancer helped reform obscenity laws in the United States. In the 1970’s there was a dramatic increase in erotic fiction with Fear of Flying, and My Secret Garden. The 1980’s brought us Anne Rice’s Sleeping Beauty Trilogy. Many new publishers were founded to keep up with the demand of erotic fiction.

Erotic romance gained more ground with the introduction of ebooks. By the mid 2000’s when traditional romance publishers saw the interest in this genre, they launched imprints dedicated to the print publication of erotic romance.

There has always been a strong core of erotic romance readers, but with the introduction of the Fifty Shades trilogy, erotic romance became more main stream. However, it is often confused with erotica. Generally speaking, erotic romance ends with “happily ever after” and erotica does not. Erotic romance has more of a story line, exploring love and emotions and centering on two main characters. It’s all about the romance with the sexual journey second. It differs from mainstream romance because it is more sexually graphic. Erotica is all about sex and little else. It can entail some romance, but the focus is the sex.

The Cheshire Library has been seeing more and more requests for books like Fifty Shades, or erotic romance. In an effort to fulfill our patrons’ requests, we have placed orders for similar books. The second most popular author of this genre is Sylvia Day. She self-published Bared To You and when Berkley Books heard how popular it was, they immediately published it in paper. It was followed by Reflected In You and the third book in the trilogy, Entwined With You, will be released in June.

Megan Hart is another author that is very popular. We own several of her titles.

There are three other trilogies that are “like Fifty Shades” and they have received excellent reviews. They are:

The Submissive Trilogy by Tara Sue Me

The Submissive
The Dominant (due out in August)
The Training (due out in October

The Stark Trilogy by Julie Kenner

Release Me
Claim Me
Complete Me (due out in July)

Breathless Trilogy by Maya Banks

Rush
Fever
Burn (due out in August)

You may place holds on these items. Let us know how you like them and if you’re interested in the library acquiring other titles.

Author Profile/Book Review: Against the Edge by Kat Martin

May 11, 2013August 27, 2014 / Linda / 1 Comment

Kat Martin is a New York Times bestselling author of over fifty historical and contemporary romance suspense novels. She currently lives in Missoula, Montana with her husband. Kat is a graduate of the University of California where she majored in Anthropology and studied History. Before starting her writing career in 1985, she was a real estate broker. That’s where she met her husband, Larry Jay Martin, author of more than 20 westerns and mysteries.

Most of her ideas for books just pop up in her head, but she does occasionally get ideas from newspapers and television. Her books are published in twenty foreign countries.

Against the Edge is book number eight in the Against series. You don’t need to read the others in any order as they stand alone just fine.

Former Navy SEAL Ben Slocum receives the shock of his life when a stranger appears on his doorstep announcing that a child he didn’t even know he had is missing. Claire Chastain is a friend of the boy’s late mother and is desperate to find him and seeks Ben’s help. They band together to track down the kidnapper, all the while trying to fight the attraction they feel for each other. Ben enlists the help of his fellow private investigators and end up traveling through several states in search of an off grid survivalist group who might have his son, Sam. To add an interesting twist to the story, Claire’s old boyfriend shows up with his own trouble that Claire gets drawn into.

This book is filled with drama, suspense, action, romance, and likeable characters. It is fun to watch Ben and Claire’s relationship take hold. The author weaves a believable story of both characters’ pasts that adds great interest to the book. The secondary characters (some have been introduced in past Against books) add another enjoyable layer.

BOOK REVIEW: What She Wants by Sheila Roberts

April 30, 2013August 27, 2014 / Linda / Leave a comment

This is book three of the Life in Icicle Falls series. I didn’t read the other two and do not feel like I needed to. This book took me completely by surprise. Most romances center around the angst of women trying to find true love. This book centers around men! It was very refreshing to read a story from the man’s perspective.

Jonathan Templar and his poker buddies are single, married, separated, height challenged, balding, overweight and geeky. Not your typical romance heroes! But they all have good hearts and no knowledge on how to get the love of their lives, or keep the loves of their lives.

The main character of this book is Jonathan who has been in love with his childhood neighbor his whole life. She only sees him as her “good friend”. Their 15 year high school reunion is coming up and he is determined to change from geeky, skinny, computer nerd, to stud-muffin he-man. He’s also determined to learn how to talk to women and learn what they want. His poker buddies also have their women challenges from Adam who thinks he’s in love with someone at work, to Kyle whose wife kicks him out for taking her for granted, to Vance who has known love and lost love and has quite the surprise! Ms. Roberts deftly weaves their stories and other secondary characters around Jonathan’s. Jonathan’s sister starts planting the seed of reading romance novels to learn about women. They attend their local library’s book sale and Jonathan ends up buying a ton of romance novels. He approaches reading them as if they were textbooks, highlighting passages and taking notes. He ends up actually enjoying them! His poker buddies accidentally come upon his new hobby and he hooks them into reading the romance novels too. It is quite interesting, humorous and thoroughly engaging to watch these men transform.

This book will make you laugh, cry, and cheer for the underdog. It is very well written, with great character development and scene setting. You’ll fall in love with the Town of Icicle Falls and all its characters!

Author Career Achievement Awards – 2012

April 27, 2013April 24, 2013 / Linda / Leave a comment

Romantic Times Book Review magazine announced the 2012 winners of the prestigious Career Achievement Awards. Fifty reviewers and editors chose these winners from a long list of nominees. They are:

Contemporary Romance – Jill Shalvis
Erotic Romance – Jaci Burton
Historical Romance – Mary Balogh
Inspirational – Mindy Starns Clark
Mainstream – Kristin Hannah
Mystery – Sara Paretsky
Paranormal – Maggie Shayne
Romantic Suspense – Cherry Adair
Science Fiction – Jo Walton
Series Romance – Diana Palmer
Urban Fantasy – Kelley Armstrong
Young Adult – Christopher Pike

BOOK REVIEW: Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts

April 26, 2013August 27, 2014 / Linda / Leave a comment

I have mixed feelings about this latest book from Nora Roberts. It was very good – entertaining, intriguing, enjoyable – but it just didn’t flow as well as some of her other books.

Eli Landon is a Boston lawyer who endured an intense year being accused of murdering his soon-to-be ex-wife. There wasn’t enough evidence and the case was dismissed, but his reputation, life and career are ruined. He needs to get away and he chooses to go to his family’s home in Whiskey Beach, Mass. Bluff House has sat above Whiskey Beach for more than 300 years and not only is it stunning in its appearance, it holds the key to a long ago mystery of death, treasure, and betrayal. Eli not only needs to heal from his ordeal, but he has promised his grandmother, who lives at Bluff House, but is currently recuperating in Boston from a fall, that he would look after the house.

Abra Walsh has been caring for Bluff House and Gran for a few years now. She was once a mover and shaker in Washington, D.C., but has escaped to Whiskey Beach to become a jill-of-all-trades: maid, cook, massage therapist, yoga instructor, jewelry maker. She, too, is escaping a terrible ordeal and chose Whiskey Beach to do her healing.

It takes awhile for Ms. Roberts to give the reader some insight to Abra’s past and Eli’s troubles. The story moves a bit sluggishly. But the characters have vintage Roberts’ charm and likeability. You are still drawn into the story (there is danger, murder, mystery, pirate treasure and romance) and are anxious to read the book to its conclusion. The characters are multi-faceted and likeable, although Abra Walsh seems just a little too good to be true. I was quite disappointed in the ending. It took a long time to get there, then was hurried and stingy in details. But the theme of love, trust, and friendship ring true.

Nora Roberts fans will enjoy this book, she truly has never written a bad book. It just doesn’t have the “zing” some of her other books have.