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Harlequin Blazes into New Territory
 Do
you search the shelves of your local bookstore for sizzling sexy reads?
Long for more than those sweet romances where little more than a kiss is
risqué? Never fear, come August there will be a new
line of spicy reads on the shelf each month when Harlequin launches its
new Blaze line. This new line should not be confused with the old Harlequin
Temptation Blaze books (now called Temptation Heat) although the line originated
because of the success of those hotter Temptations. Nor should it
be confused with Harlequin's other upcoming line, Red Dress, which will
produce ‘slice of life’ books a la Bridget Jones’ Diary. Both attempt to
attract the younger market with books that have a younger, more ‘with it’
feel, but the two lines will be drastically different. In fact, the
Red Dress line will not be printed under the Harlequin imprint. Although
the Blaze line is aimed at a younger market - the working girls and ‘Cosmo
girls’ of the world - editor Brenda Chin says “Everyone will enjoy Blaze.”
The new Blaze line
will be longer and will feature characters who are comfortable with their
sexuality and open to new experiences. The longer format will allow authors
to explore more possibilities story wise, have deeper characters, and of
course loads of burning hot love scenes. Launch author Vicki Lewis Thompson
says Temptation and Blaze are both hot reads, but Blaze has an edge, takes
risks, is a little naughtier. So I challenge myself to step out of
my comfort zone a bit when I write a Blaze.” Many of Harlequin's
hottest authors will be writing for the new line, with authors Julie Elizabeth
Leto, Vicki Lewis Thompson, Jo Leigh, and Stephanie Bond getting the line
off to a sizzling start. The stories run the gamut from erotic
to sensual, and push the boundaries of traditional romance. These
are definitely not your mother's romance novels anymore! Expect to
be surprised; as in the first few books alone we encounter some exhibition
and bondage as well as some very inventive sex. Launch author Julie
Elizabeth Leto says that in future books we can expect stories about sex
slaves, bondage, super clubs (hotels that cater to the sexual needs of
their clients), exhibitionism, voyeurism, sex therapy, and crimes based
on erotic literature. And expect those boundaries to be pushed farther
and farther - editor Brenda Chin says that this is only the beginning.
Although the new line
will not hit the stands until August, to whet readers’ interest MIDNIGHT
FANTASIES, an anthology of three stories, will be released in July. In
MIDNIGHT FANTASIES, three women have the chance to experience their wildest
fantasies - ranging from a tomboy cowgirl who accidentally meets her childhood
friend in a dark cave and turns into a wild seductress, to the owner of
a costume shop who enjoys dressing up, to some naughty lingerie and the
bad boy that one good girl always wanted. This book gives a tiny taste
of what the Blaze line is all about, with the stories ranging from sensuous
teasing to some very naughty escapades. These three stories, by Stephanie
Bond, Vicki Lewis Thompson, and Kimberly Raye, are all hooked into the
authors’ debut books with the Blaze series, all of which will be out in
either August or September. Come August, the new line will hit the stands
with books by authors Julie Elizabeth Leto, Vicki Lewis Thompson, Jo Leigh,
and Stephanie Bond. These books are longer and sexier than Temptations,
featuring characters who are comfortable with their sexuality.
 Julie
Elizabeth Leto will launch the four book Sexy City Nights series, which
will also feature authors Janelle Denison, Julie Kenner, and Carly Phillips.
The Sexy City Nights series, Julie says “is based on the premise of a woman
(or a man) exploring his or her sexuality with the city as a ‘prop.’” In
Julie's EXPOSED, workaholic Ariana Karas has a week off while her restaurant
is renovated, and finding a magazine in a cable car gives her some definite
ideas about how to spend her time off! Add in a classic comedy of errors
where she hooks up with a man who she doesn't know is to be married in
the morning, and they are caught on film. Vicki Lewis Thompson gives us
NOTORIOUS, a fun filled book rife with sexual tension and teasing. Bad
girl Keely Branson meets up with her teenage crush who sees her walking
into a strip club, jumps to a few conclusions, and decides that he has
to save her from herself. Jo Leigh's offering, GOING FOR IT, is about
a sex therapist with a radio show, who is dared on the air by a vicious
reporter to prove that she can not be seduced by playboy race driver Chase
Newman. Stephanie Bond rounds out the month with TWO SEXY, in which a mousy
school teacher who’s been longing to break out of her shell agrees to pose
as a celebrity sex kitten for one night and falls for her bodyguard.
These four books run
the gamut of moods, going from slightly more serious to light and playful,
from erotic to teasing to sensual. Expect the unexpected when you
pick up a Blaze book.
So How Hot Are These Books???
Do these books cross
the line into erotic romance? That's for each reader to decide, but
it brings to light an interesting issue. Just what is
erotica, and what is erotic romance? And what is everything else?
What is it that makes a book erotic?
The first point that
should be made, clearly and emphatically, is that erotica is not romance.
Do not pick up a Black Lace book expecting to be guaranteed a happy ending
and a monogamous couple - these are often the exception rather than the
norm in erotica. Blaze author Janelle Denison says that erotica “deals
with the physical, sexual aspect of a relationship between a couple...
The sex scenes are graphic and explicit, written mostly to stimulate and
arouse the reader rather than to further the emotional relationship between
the characters.” Popular Black Lace author Emma Holly, whose first
book for Berkley, BEYOND INNOCENCE, is on stands now, defines erotica as
“covering a huge range of material, from down and dirty stories whose primary
intent is to arouse - and which may or may not have what a romance fan
would call deep characterization or plot - to incredibly lyrical and literary
material whose primary intent may be more to provoke thought than to turn
its readers on.” SECRETS author Angela Knight defines erotica as
“a work of art, photography, fiction, or non fiction designed to sexually
arouse the audience, which is usually male. The objective is not a permanent
relationship, so there is usually no real emotional involvement between
the characters. Logic, plot, and characterization take a back seat to the
mechanics of sex. The story often explores sexual fetishes, and may
even incorporate violence.”
Erotic romance is often
something altogether different from erotica. Angela Knight defines
erotic romance as something designed to arouse the female reader, revolving
around the female fantasy to find that perfect mate and build a relationship
with him. Blaze author Julie Elizabeth Leto says that erotic romance
“employs some of the trademarks of erotica -- the rawer, more explicit
description of sexuality -- and melds with it the conventions of romance.
The intimacy. The emotions. The happily ever after.” Perhaps the
simplest definition comes from Blaze author Janelle Denison, who describes
it as “sexual love.”
Erotic romance involves
a number of elements that are absent in erotica, the foremost being an
emotional commitment between the two main characters. Erotic romance
involves trust and emotional ties. It is more than a series of raw
sex acts designed to titillate and arouse. Which is not to say that
the sex scenes wont be burning hot - often they will. But within
the sexual tension the reader can see the characters develop and grow with
each other, to form a committed relationship.
So where then is the
line? When does something cross over from erotica to erotic romance,
or vice versa? One rule that crops up often is that it should be one woman
with one man, exclusively. However, author Emma Holly has written
a number of stories for Black Lace that involve a committed relationship
between two people and include other people in the sex scenes, as well
as the recently reprinted MENAGE, which explores a relationship between
three people. Emma says that this is the “close to unbreakable rule
of romance, but not unassailable. For me, when I read a romance of any
kind, I want a good, hot, tender love story with a happy, committed ending.
If it's not entirely monogamous, I'm not bothered.” Angela Knight
says that “The sex must be something both characters enjoy, and the characters
must be adult humans. Too, you've got to have that happily ever after ending.”
Blaze author Jeanie LeGendre says that erotic romance crosses into erotica
when the emotional commitment disappears. So it seems that the boundaries
between erotica and erotic romance are fluid, as long as there is a committed
relationship between the hero and heroine.
Erotic romance implies
a certain explicitness, and certainly can't be applied to all romance novels.
To split hairs just a little bit more, some romance is classified as sensual
romance. Sensual romance involves the senses. Almost all category
romance published by Harlequin and Silhouette would fit this category,
even the super hot Temptation Heat books. Upon examining the scenes
that some readers talk about, they can actually contain as little as a
kiss. However, that kiss could last for pages and be described in
such sensual detail that to the reader it feels like much more. There
is less explicitness and more feeling. Janelle Denison defines sensual
romance as “imagery aimed at the senses, and the slow, gradual build up
of sexual tension between the hero and the heroine. It's about physical
and emotional attraction, and the bond that is created between your characters
when they make love. Sensual writing not only affects the senses, but one's
emotions, and pulls the reader into the story, makes them part of the character's
lives, and keeps them turning the pages.”
So where exactly will
the new Blaze books fall in this great spectrum? For a moment, let's
imagine a straight line. To the far right we have our conventional,
sensual romance, starting with those sweet Harlequin Romances and Silhouette
Romances. To the far left we have erotica, which would encompass most books
published by publishers like Black Lace and Nexus. Right about halfway
we have our sensual/erotic books that are a lot more explicit than those
sweet romances, but still don't push over into erotic romance. A
good example would be the Harlequin Temptation line. And about halfway
between that and the end of the spectrum labeled erotica, we have erotic
romance. Edgy, raw lines that actively push any and all boundaries,
like Red Sage and Kensington’s new Brava line would probably be just past
that line, almost pushing over into erotica. The new Blaze line would fall
between that middle mark and the erotic romance mark.
The Blaze books will
range from sensual to erotic. Not all of them will be erotic romance, but
many of them will be. Blaze launch author Stephanie Bond says that readers
will find “Both sensual romances (with more mood than explicit detail)
and erotic romances (with mood AND explicit detail, and adventurous sexual
experiences.)” And if a book is erotic because of its subject matter
and situations - as often seems to be the case - then the Blaze books will
score high on the scale. While the Blaze line is not quite to the
point of Red Sage (in their writing guidelines they state that any sexual
position goes) the editors and authors at Harlequin are certainly ready
to push some boundaries and shock some readers.
Turning Up the Heat
 So
just what does this trend towards heat say about the romance industry?
In recent years, readers have had a plethora of spicy options placed before
them. Since 1995 we've seen the rise of Black Lace, Red Sage, Temptation
Blaze, and more recently Kensington’s new Brava line. It seems like romance
just keeps getting hotter and hotter. However, as Harlequin editor
Brenda Chin points out, hot romances aren't anything new. Popular sexy
authors like Beatrice Small and Rosemary Rodgers have been around for quite
some time.
This brings to mind
an interesting question. Are those sweet romances on the other end
of the spectrum getting hotter as well? Interestingly enough, Janelle
Denison, one of Harlequin's hottest authors, writes for Harlequin Romance
as well as for Temptation and Blaze. The difference in the lines, she says,
is the level sexual tension. She describes the love scenes in Harlequin
Romances as sensual rather than overtly sexy, leaving most of the encounter
to the reader's imagination. She feels that those sweet romances have evolved
over the past 10-15 years and have become more sensual. But, she
says, “I think these books will always be traditional stories at heart.”
So if we think about
our line again, with all those little marks on it, it seems that it is
getting longer with the introduction of new more intense, more sexually
driven lines like Blaze. The books at the other end of the spectrum
are not getting hotter in proportion to the rise in heat seen in the preponderance
of ‘erotic romance’ books that have flooded the market in the last five
years. And the spectrum may expand even further if there is a backlash
against this trend towards erotic romance and readers’ request more of
that sweet romance - as editor Brenda Chin says, Harlequin offers something
for everybody and if there is a demand for sweet romance then they will
publish more of that.
Harlequin is not the
only publisher to offer a greater variety hot steamy romances to the public
in recent years. In fact, the success of such risqué lines as Red
Sage's SECRETS anthologies and Kensington’s anthologies CAPTIVATED and
FASCINATED, featuring four of romance's hottest authors, Thea Devine, Susan
Johnson, Beatrice Small, and Robin Schone, it seems that another
line of hot spicy books will be more than welcome on the shelf. However,
how will the Blaze books stand out from these other lines? Why pick
up a Blaze? First, Blaze books will be more readily available than
some of these other lines. There will be four books each month, delivered
right to the shelf of your local bookstore. Unfortunately many of the wonderful
erotic books out there, like Red Sage and Black Lace, are found in very
few stores and have to be ordered via the internet. At the moment,
Black Lace doesn't even have a US distributor. Many of these books are
also trade size, and hence more expensive. Kensington’s new Brava
line is trade size, as are the Secrets books. This means that one
book can cost 10-15 dollars, whereas each Blaze is five dollars, and readily
available at the bookstore.
Blaze will also differ
from some of these other more risqué lines in some ways. Editor
Brenda Chin says, “Blaze will be very different from the other sensual
romances out there. I was recently at a conference and talked with Thea
Devine, who writes for Brava. She described the Brava books as being
"raw". That is not a word that will ever refer to Blaze. Many
of these other series feature heroines who have multiple lovers.
You won't see this either in Blaze. Basically, when a reader picks
up a Blaze, they can expect 1) One hero, one heroine, 2) A committed relationship
at the end and 3) That these two will have a lot more fun than the rest
of us. The reader will feel the safety in knowing right up front
that the heroine will be safe with the hero/and vice versa and that they
will receive Harlequin's famous "happy ending."
Authors and readers
alike are excited about the new Blaze line. Launch author Jo Leigh says
“I have great respect for women, and it's my sincere hope that every woman
who reads these books is inspired to take matters into her own hands (so
to speak) and explore her own sexuality and sensuality. A woman in
control of her body is a wonder to behold.” Blaze author Carly Phillips
says, “I'm absolutely elated that Harlequin has chosen to explore sensual
and sexual boundaries in longer length romances.” Red Sage and Harlequin
Blaze author Jeanie LeGendre says that “the new Blaze line will explore
the spicier side of sexuality with the same high quality of storytelling
that Harlequin is known for.” Launch author Vicki Lewis Thompson says “Many
readers can hardly wait for those Blaze books to hit the shelves. But there
may be a few readers who are hesitant and wonder if the books will be too
daring for them. I urge those readers to kick over the traces and
take a chance. Remember that the Harlequin promise -- two committed
people who will end up together -- will not be broken. It's a totally
safe, yet wild, roller coaster ride. Climb aboard!” So
if you're looking for a naughty, risqué book that promises to tease
and taunt, pick up a Blaze next month! Also, be sure to visit the Blaze
website at http://www.blazeauthors.com to check out upcoming books and
the other authors involved in the new line!
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