Guest Post from the Coffee Crew: What Reviewers Are Looking For

Do you write erotic romance? Have you ever wondered when you’re working on your book what it is that reviewers are looking for? Even if you don’t think so much about that until it comes time to send your book in to reviewers, I’ll bet you think about it then.

The truth is that for the most part reviewers are looking for the same sorts of things that readers are. When a group of reviewers was interviewed regarding this topic, these where the things were the things they said they were looking for to give a good rating and review.
• A solid plot. Erotic romances that are just one sex scene after the other without any real plot are in reviewer’s eyes no better than porn.
• An emotional connection between the lovers. While it does not have to deep and abiding forever love, reviewers are looking for that emotional connection. If it’s not there, then the book may receive a lower rating.
• Stories that build the anticipation. Reviewers aren’t necessarily looking for the book to open with a sex scene as you might think. Instead, they are looking for that build-up to the sex scene(s), that anticipation of what is to come shown by the words and the physical expressions of affection such as kisses and touches. This is not to say that there aren’t good erotic romances that start out with a sex scene, but without the other elements mentioned in combination with at least a few paragraphs or pages of build-up to that scene, as a writer you are skirting the fine line between erotic romance and porn.
• Another thing that came up in the interviews was that m/m erotic romances seem to be the best at conveying the emotional connection between lovers. That being said, as a writer, even if you don’t write or enjoy m/m romance, it behooves you to check some of these out and employ the same techniques with your own stories. Reviewers want to see more well-written m/m erotic romance, and more erotic romances where there is the same type of dynamic between lovers as exists in many m/m erotic romances.

There were also a few things that reviewers really, really didn’t want to see when it comes to erotic romance, according to the interviews.
• Sex for the sake of sex. When an erotic romance writer writes in sex scenes just for the sake of having them rather than using them to help move the storyline along, then this can be a real turn-off for reviewers.
• Extreme BDSM practices such as knife play, people being kept like animals in cages, and BDSM situations where it is obvious abuse is happening and or the BDSM is not consensual. This is not to say that reviewers don’t know the difference between safe, sane and consensual practices such as wax play, bondage, voyeurism, or even leading someone around on a leash for example, and the more extreme practices as mentioned above, because many do. However, according to the interviews, reviewers have read books where these extreme practices that were more about adding a shock value than furthering the storyline, were added, and they didn’t like them. The scenes were often poorly written and showed that the writer did not understand the heart of BDSM, and that the writer did not really do any serious research. These types of scenes tend to lead to lower ratings on reviews and are a turn-off to many reviewers.
• Stories where a character who is obviously a main player is treated as if they are an afterthought or don’t matter. This was mentioned a couple of different times during the interview process. One example given was a f/f erotic romance where one of the lovers had no name in the story. To the reviewer it was as if the writer were saying that this character didn’t matter. Another example given was a story where there were two male lovers and one female.

The author made it clear that the men were “in love” but while they both had sex with the woman, she was treated by the men as if she didn’t really matter. It made the reader wonder why the woman was even in the story if she could not be added in as one who was loved or at the very least cared for.

So, now you know what reviewers are looking for when they read and review erotic romances, as well as, what they w ould like to see more of in the future. Reviewers are an excellent barometer for what readers are going to like as well. So, if reviewers like your books, then chances are, the readers will as well!

Thanks to the Coffee Crew at Coffee Time Romance & More for answering the endless survey questions!
Special thanks to author, Regina Paul, for taking our information, making sense out of it, and for creating this wonderfully cohesive article.