I'm also troubled by labeling of erotic romance as strictly BDSM. I've read some amazing books with explicit plot driven sex that are considered sexy romance and some books with no sex in them that are very obviously BDSM (Tami Veldura's Stealing Serenity comes to mind where the characters share only a kiss but lots of rope). I think good erotic romance can have BDSM but not all BDSM books are erotic. Likewise, I think erotic romance can have "vanilla" sex and be full of eroticism. But like all labels, I think this reflects the current cultural expectations. Education is needed to broaden the