Author Brand – Sweet vs Sweet Hot

The Sweet to Your Salt

Maria Bernard – Author of *Sweet Hot Romance.
My Books are heavy on the romance with a healthy dose of steam.

Readers have spoken.

An author’s brand is defined by what readers have come to expect, what they look for and depend on from an author. It’s not always a conscious decision by the writer. It develops over time and as the author’s body of work grows.

The Sweet to Your Salt

I adore the above phrase given to me by a beloved reader. It says a lot with so little words. She enjoys my books in between heavier, dark reads. She sees them as a sort of palette cleanser, takes comfort in the sweeter side of romance that my stories bring. I love Contrasts, and this just about sums up why there’s room for all genres of books. What I get from this proclamation is that my books are the sweet to the saltier reads she also enjoys. Therefore we have Balance. Another one of my favourite words.

After publishing fifteen books, the word I see or hear often when readers review or describe my style is Sweet. Now that word when it comes to book descriptions may mislead new readers into thinking that my books contain closed-door, fade-to-black sexy scenes. But I assure you, that is not the case. The word sweet, in this case, leans toward *Sweet-Hot, open-door sexy scenes.

So be warned. Readers will encounter hot steamy scenes, written in a sweet way.

This isn’t so much a threat as it is a promise…

Maria Bernard