Romantica is a merger of Romance and Erotica. 

Romance (and its many heat levels) is defined by the RWA as:

“A Central Love Story: The main plot centers around individuals falling in love and struggling to make the relationship work. A writer can include as many subplots as he/she wants as long as the love story is the main focus of the novel.

An Emotionally Satisfying and Optimistic Ending: In a romance, the lovers who risk and struggle for each other and their relationship are rewarded with emotional justice and unconditional love.”

Sylvia Day has defined Erotica as:

“Stories written about the sexual journey of the characters and how this impacts them as individuals. Emotion and character growth are important facets of a true erotic story. However, Erotica is NOT designed to show the development of a romantic relationship, although it’s not prohibited if the author chooses to explore romance. Happily Ever Afters are NOT an intrinsic part of erotica, though they can be included. If they are included, they weren’t the focus. The focus remained on the individual characters’ journeys, not the progression of the romance.”

We write a variation of those genres and in doing so, we've named our genre Romantica. It can be defined as follows:

"Stories about the sexual journey of the characters as a couple and how it impacts their already existing romantic relationship. Emotion and character growth are important parts of the stories AND the stories show the development of a romantic relationship between married/committed individuals. Happy Ever Afters ARE an intrinsic part of our stories. The focus remains on the progression of the romance through the sexual journey of both characters and the exploration of their sexuality together."

You can see Romantica in action in the books of our Bytes of Life and Bits of Life series.