Erotica? Steamy romance? Erotic romance? What does it all mean?

Romance focuses on the relationship between two or more people. It can have no sex or tons of sex, but at the end of the day, it’s about people falling in love. Happily Ever After (HEA) required.

Erotica can by smutty or literary, but it’s always sexy. It’s about exploring desire and the human sexual experience, whether for the purpose of getting your rocks off or something more philosophical. May or may not have people falling in love. May or may not have an HEA.

Erotic romance. Like romance, the core is people falling in love, and it has an HEA. But the intimacy between the characters is pivotal to the plot. If you can take the sex out and it still makes sense, it’s a romance. If you take the sex out and you no longer have a story, it’s erotica or erotic romance. Erotic romance is sometimes called steamy romance so it doesn’t get miscategorized as erotica.