LKF #1 - Mainstream or Erotic?

Little Known Fact #1 - Mainstream or Erotic?

ERIS (Eternal Truths, Book 1) is a Siren Publishing Menage Amour title, which is an Erotic Romance imprint. However the front cover clearly states "Mainstream." Those who have not read ERIS might be a little confused as to how it is categorized -- whether it is Mainstream Romance or Erotic Romance.

First let's define both:

Mainstream Romance, according to the RWA (Romance Writers of America), is "the main plot centering around two individuals falling in love and struggling to make the relationship work."

Erotic Romance, according to the Passionate Ink Chapter of RWA, is "[a story] written about the development of a romantic relationship through sexual interaction. The sex is an inherent part of the story, character growth, and relationship development, and couldn’t be removed without damaging the storyline."

Most people would take one look at the front cover, or read the back book blurb, and automatically write ERIS off as an Erotic Romance title since there are two men (Lucien and Ranulf) together with one woman (Eris) in a m/f/m relationship.

For those who don't know Erotic Romance terminology, m/f/m is male/female/male and means there is one woman with two men, however the men are not in a sexual relationship with each other.

While that should toss ERIS firmly into the Erotic Romance camp, it is missing a key part of the Passionate Ink definition -- the romantic relationship between Ranulf, Eris, and Lucien is NOT developed through sexual interaction. The sex could be removed without hurting the storyline since it enhanced the plot rather than being the plot.

Add to that the lack of explicit language when describing the sex scenes and you have what I like to call a "Mainstream Menage Romance."