The main reason why I like to write erotica is because I like to read it! My upbringing was filled with skimming the romance novels that my mother read and watching day and night-time soap operas. There was a lot of steamy romance in my existence from early on, and inevitably steamy love scenes. I remember placing my Ken and Barbie together naked to mimic what I saw on the television—my mother did not tell me to move them apart or to put clothes on them so it was never anything taboo to me.
I write erotic romance, because I am a romantic…most of the time. There is a difference in genres, erotica does not have to be romantic, but since I am…most of the time. Sometimes I am not a romantic in storytelling, but I always utilize sex as a means of development between characters. There is a line in The Mandarins by Simone de Beauvoir in which I am paraphrasing, but she implies that the only way to really learn about a man is by making love with him. I think that being in love and having sex are the ways to really learn about another person, and as a writer they are definitely tools to propel the story.
The erotic stories that I like to read the best incorporate all of the above and more. I am not opposed to exploring new tropes that I did not know that I like yet either. The books I am listing below are a smattering of books that I have loved for just that reason.