Why I Write Erotic Regency Romance

Brita Addams

I am writing this strictly as an author who prayed fervently for publisher recognition and finally found it. As a person who doesn’t ‘jump the gun’ as my mother used to say, I did my homework before deciding to write something I hoped one day would find its way into a reader’s hands, hands that didn’t belong to someone I was related to.

Much like the experience our parents were always talking about us getting, in order to write anything, it had to be something I knew about. I love romance and I also love history, particularly American and British. Reading Regency romance was almost a given, a perfect fit. The Regency was a time of social strictures and mores the like of which we, in our times, have never seen. As an author, I enjoy putting my characters into situations that are contrary to social expectations. When I can take an aristocrat and reduce him to mush with one look or touch from a feisty, independent lady or another gentlemen, I am a happy camper.

To write a romance novel, one must know the genre and the subgenres they chose. For me, research is a natural thing, as I love to learn new things. Research helps to bring the time period to life, placing the reader, for instance, in a carriage in Hyde Park at the height of the fashionable hour or in a ballroom, lit by beeswax candles and populated by some in the ton whose habits of hygiene leave much to be desired. I’ve read hundreds of Regencies, still do, and the quality of the story always depends upon the author’s degree of research, her knowledge of human nature, the way she handles the language patterns, and her ability to connect with her characters.

In addition, it is a given that romance and sex sells or so my research tells me. Therefore, I took my writing one step further and created an erotic setting, where my characters can act upon their baser instincts. In the case of Lucien and Serenity Damrill, in my book, Serenity’s Dream, Lucien owns the Sapphire Club, a sex club he has molded into a place where those of noble blood and those who are possessed of a more perverse nature, can retreat.

To date, I’ve written eight Regencies, all but one being erotic romances. That one was written under the name Tina Ordone, while all the others were written under my pen name, Brita Addams, a rather clever combination of my real middle name and my husband’s, with some modification.

I love the elements of erotic romances, as it allows the characters to eventually give in to their desires and while the reader may see it coming, often the characters don’t, at least not at the time it actually happens.

Readers will find that in Demands of the Heart. Richard and Victoria have much suffering to do before the pay-off, and I’ll leave it to the reader to tell me if it’s as satisfying as I think it is.

The books I write combine love and the conflicts inherent in that wonderful emotion. I love a broken hero and a heroine or the other hero, who owns the tool kit to fix them. The books are sexually graphic and depict people at their best and worst. They show life as it is behind closed doors, where the language of desire and lust is spoken in plain terms, which doesn’t necessarily mean there are f-bombs being dropped every five seconds.

Readers aren’t to be underestimated, again a fact found in research. They like sophisticated, savvy novels and won’t be told what type of sexual content they should read. They can certainly choose their own reading and do so every day, by selecting books that allow them to get away and enter another world, while satisfying their craving for either adventure, romance, or some other form of entertaining escape.

I hope readers will enjoy Demands of the Heart. It is actually the first book I wrote, but has undergone a complete rewrite before publication. After I wrote it, under the working title, Her Inconvenient Marriage, I knew there was something missing, something I wanted to embellish on and I’ve done that. Nothing like fresh eyes on a story that sat on the hard drive for a couple of years.

Here’s the blurb from Demands of the Heart:

In 1807, idealistic Richard Fanshaw and Victoria Bramhill are consumed with each other, their young love blooming amidst a series of carefree soirees and stolen moments.

But jealousy and greed turn what they have into something ugly and twisted. They’re wrenched apart amid vile lies and deceit when Victoria’s freedom is bought to pay her father’s debts.

Six years later, Victoria is widowed and a cynical Richard has just returned to England after years in India.  Having been given the impression that Victoria’s marriage was a happy one, a chance meeting renews Richard’s anger over Victoria’s betrayal and sets in motion a plan for revenge.

One must answer the demands of the heart.

To read an excerpt and purchase, click here: Demands of the Heart

I’d love to hear from you. You can find me at any of these places:

Email address: britaaddams@gmail.com

Website

Blog

Twitter: @britaaddams

Facebook

Goodreads Page

 To celebrate the release of Demand’s of the Heart, Noble Romance Publishing is offering my entire backlist at 20% off. This is for sales on the Noble Romance Publishing site only and only my titles.

There’s no limit. Buy one book, or all seven, you’ll get 20% off your purchase. The eligible titles are: Serenity’s Dream; Lord Decadent’s Obsession; Chocolate, Tea, and the Duchess; The Rogue’s Salvation; A Minute After Midnight; An Evening at the Starlight, and the book I wrote under the name Tina Ordone, Her Timeless Obsession.

The price you’ll see is the reduced price.

The sale will run from midnight, Pacific time, February 20 to 11:59 pm Pacific time, March 2.

This is a backlist sale, so it doesn’t include Demands of the Heart.

I have several contests running during the book tour, ending at midnight, March 2.

Contest #1:

<!–[if !vml]–><!–[endif]–>I’ll choose a daily winner from the commenters. I’ll will be giving away an ebook from my backlist at each stop. The only exclusion is Demands of the Heart. One book per commenter, please.

Contest #2:

Demands of the Heart T-Shirt Contest:

<!–[if !vml]–><!–[endif]–>For this contest, you’ll have to read Demands of the Heart. If you answer the three questions correctly, you could be one of four winners. The prize will be a T-Shirt with the cover of the book on it. The shirt also says that the cover is model, Jimmy Thomas’s 1500^th cover. There will be four winners, each winning a T-Shirt and other swag.

All answers are found on Brita’s website.

Please do NOT put the answers in the comments section of this blog or on Brita’s site. Email them to Brita, with T-Shirt Answers in the subject line.

1. What book did I write under another name?
2. Who is the character, Lucien Damrill, patterned after?
3. Describe the signature brandy snifter at the Sapphire Club.

Contest #3: GRAND PRIZE

This contest is about Demands of the Heart. Of course, you’re under no obligation to buy or read the book, but if you choose to, this contest is for you.

I’ve put three questions up on my website, all relating to my book, Demands of the Heart. Answer the questions and EMAIL me, with the answers, at britaaddams@gmail.com  Be sure to put GRAND PRIZE in the subject line.

You must have all three questions answered correctly to be entered into the drawing.

The Grand Prize is the entire Sapphire Club series in print, signed by the author. I’ll also include some other signed swag.

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Good luck and I hope to hear from you soon.

Thank you so much for having me. I truly appreciate it.