This is taken from Stephanie Draven’s open letter to Romance Writers of America about the RITA award and scoring process. The post is very thoughtful, but I especially liked her summary of erotic romance, which is now (at least theoretically) RITA-eligible:
[E]rotic romances are often about the human connection found at the boundaries of propriety, about the virtue under the vice, about acceptance not found in the mainstream society, about two people (or more than two) who find a way to forge an unbreakable bond of love that other people may not understand, but must honor.
I just thought that was a really beautiful description of romance, erotic or otherwise, and why we read it.
xoxo, Chloe
Honored by the mention! 🙂