AustLit

'Have you ever had a secret life?

'Ever done something you wouldn't normally dare to do?

'Ever received something you hadn't bargained for?

'Join us for Romance Writers of Australia's newest anthology offering, Spicy Bites. Only the steamiest of stories have made it through to the 2017 edition where passion and pleasure walk hand-in-hand during the daylight hours but fetish and fantasy linger long into the night.

'It's a different kind of buzz for the Tattoo edition. You'll meet women respectable in the boardroom and just plain naughty outside of it, her ink for his eyes only. Fantasies you can't even mention to your closest friends are unleashed online but you've saved the starring role just for him. Freedom is bartered and bought and even the pleasure bots are branded in this collection of erotic tales guaranteed to satisfy.

'Pour yourself a glass of wine, run a hot bath and lay back for what promises to be a hell of a ride...

'The inaugural Spicy Bites Short Story competition has been a highlight of the 2017 RWA contest year offering those at the hotter end of the passion scale a chance to showcase their talent. Competition to be included in the anthology is fierce resulting in a very fine selection of erotic stories from all romance subgenres. Judging is rigorous with each entry read by three judges and scored for writing technique, character development and the elusive X Factor. The stories must include the current year's theme, Tattoo for 2017, be under 5000 words and rated from steamy all the way to explicit sexual content. Our judges never cease to be amazed and delighted by the creativity and variety of entries within those guidelines.

'You won't be able to stop at just one.' (Publication summary)

'Love Elimination might be a hit new reality dating show, but Anna Hobbs isn’t in it for love. Coerced onto the show by her sister, a producer, Anna is a reluctant fill in. Anna dreams of owning her own dessert café; a dream that has taken years of hard work and strict saving. She knows reality TV is a big, manipulated lie — and gorgeous leading man Luke Westwood can’t possibly be for real. Can he?

'Olympian snowboarder Luke Westwood thought he had retired from competition. Now he’s starring in the cutthroat world of Love Elimination, with twelve beautiful women vying for his attention against the backdrop of a tropical paradise. With cameras in every corner, why is it only Anna — careful Anna with her bills and budgets — who Luke feels he can be himself with, at long last?

'All Anna wants is a quick elimination, but with each date she is more reluctant to relinquish Luke to the conniving contestants — or even to the women who are starting to become friends. It doesn’t help when Luke insists on using the limitless television budget to indulge her heart’s desires. Or that the moments they’ve stolen, alone and away from the cameras, have sizzled with passion. As the dates wear on the evictions become more brutal and the contestants’ secrets are exposed. Will the pressure get too much? Or will love close in on Luke and Anna?' (Publication summary)

'Romance novels are widely considered frivolous, trashy and vacuous. They aren't reviewed in mainstream publications like the New York Times Book Review, nominated for literary awards, or well represented at literary festivals. They have been called 'mummy porn'. When I tell people that I write romance, I get raised eyebrows and the topic is quickly shifted - like I've confessed to something embarrassing or shameful. Because when you admit to reading romance, the most common question is 'How can you read that crap?'' (Publication abstract)