Though the long contemporary has room for more development of the sexual side of the relationship, lovemaking is still not described in explicit language. Notice that though Rustand says the hero is whispering hot and sexy words, precisely what he says isn't included, and in this case body parts aren't named.
Short Contemporary
In The Desert Virgin, Sandra Marton shows her hero satisfying the heroine in alternative ways:
She tilted her chin up. Her lips parted. Her mouth clung to his and he felt his blood thunder in his ears.
"I'm going to bathe you now, Salome."
... Gently, he lifted her from his lap and stood her between his legs. Then he reached for one of the washcloths stacked on the tub's ledge. ...
"First your face," he whispered. "And your throat." She closed her eyes. ... Slowly, he ran the cloth over her breasts. He felt her tremble. He was trembling, too, as he took the cloth lower, over her belly, lower, lower ...
The cloth fell from his fingers. He bent his head, kissed her breasts as he slipped his hand between her thighs. She whimpered and his touch lingered, centered on that one forbidden place.
"That feels ..." Her head fell back "That feels ..."
"Does it?" His voice was raw. His body was on fire. "How does it feel, Salome?"
She sighed. He increased the friction. Warned himself that this was only for her. For her. Not for him. Not for—
Her cry rose into the night. Pleasure, fierce and elemental, rushed through him. He had done this. Given her this.
A feeling so deep, so intense it terrified him shot through his heart.
Quickly, he got to his feet. Lifted his golden dancer in his arms. Stepped from the tub with her clinging to his neck, with his mouth drinking from hers. Gently, he set her on her feet. Wrapped her in an enormous towel.
Then he kissed her again, lifted her again. Carried her from the bathroom to the bed, where he laid her down as carefully as if she were the most precious treasure in the universe.
"Don't leave me," she whispered.
Never, he thought fiercely. He would never leave her again.
Short contemporary is the most explicit of the category romances, allowing more freedom of language and alternative forms of sexual expression. Most
short contemporary romances include at least one episode of sexual intercourse and often involve oral sex as part of an extended love scene. This scene from Marton's book ends without the couple actually having intercourse, but they stop short not out of reluctance but because they don't have a condom.
Chick-Lit
The chick-lit heroine is one of the more liberated heroines in romance fiction, and she's just as sassy about sex as she is about everything else, as in this example from Claire Cross's Third Time Lucky.
He eased into me, hot and thick and hard, even as I tried to catch my breath. He held me against the wall with his hips as I got used to the size of him, then impatiently tugged my nightgown over my head and chucked it across the room.
He looked down at me and smiled, his admiration unmistakable. "Beautiful," he whispered. "And don't let anyone tell you differently." "Lots to love," I said, trying to make a joke.
Nick shook his head. "Perfect." He cupped one of my breasts in his hand, meeting my gaze, his palm fitted exactly around me. "See?"...
I'm not too clear how things proceeded after that, save that it's true what they say—all things do come in threes. Including me.
Note that, despite her smart mouth, this heroine is uneasy about her body and uncertain whether the hero can really be attracted to her—this level of self-esteem is typical of a chick-lit heroine.
Some chick-lit is even less explicit, with love scenes like this one from Sophie Kinsella's Confessions of a Shopaholic.
Last night was absolutely ... Well, let's just say it was ...
Oh, come on. You don't need to know that. Anyway, can't you use your imagination? Of course you can.
By not giving details, the first-person narrator invites the readers to give rein to their own fantasies, which draws them further into the story.
Single Title
In The Kitchen Witch, Annette Blair shows a heroine who is liberated, experienced, and anything but passive, and a hero who's determined to make their lovemaking a special occasion:
"Oh," she said, still focused on the nest of his arousal. "Just let me feel all that nice soft black cotton ... and everything." She stroked him through the briefs, took him from his cocoon and into her greedy hands, and turned him into her submissive slave. She handled him with gentle reverence, kneading and nuzzling with fingers and lips, growing him, breath by gasping breath, stroking him against her cheek, nibbling with her lips, until he got so close to coming, he took her down on top of him.
"So much for making it last," he said as he slid into her, in one fast, incredible thrust. ...
She came almost at once, making him slick, easing his heaving way. When he caught his breath, when they both did, he rolled her to her back, still inside her, and rose over her. "That's one," he said.
"More," she said arching, pulsing tight around him as if to help.
"Greedy," he said, rising to the occasion and going for two, pretty certain that giving her as many orgasms as she wanted, before his turn came, would about kill him.
Though single title romance can veer fairly close to erotica, as in this example, it doesn't necessarily include any explicit lovemaking at all.
Erotica
In One Wilde Weekend, Janelle Denison pulls out all the stops, initiating her hero and heroine into the Mile-High Club in a steamy scene in an airplane restroom.
He skimmed his palms along the satin-soft skin of her inner thighs, letting the hem of her skirt pool around his wrists as he glided higher and higher toward his final destination. Once there, his long fingers delved between her nether lips, finding her hot and wet and ready for him. ...
With her hips tilted at just the right angle for him, he slid his rod through her drenched curls from behind, found the entrance to her body, and with a hard, deep thrust, he buried himself to the hilt. Dana's mouth opened in a silent gasp, and though he knew he ought to be just as discreet considering where they were, there was no stopping the primitive male groan that erupted from his chest. ...
As he plunged and withdrew in a building, gyrating rhythm, he swept her hair aside and nuzzled her neck with his lips, his ragged breathing warm and damp against her skin. He used one hand to caress her breasts and lightly pinch her nipples, while his other hand dipped low to where they were joined. His fingers stroked her cleft in that knowing way that never failed to make her come, and it didn't take long for her breath to catch in the back of her throat and for him to feel the clench and pull of her body around his cock that signaled an impending climax. Hers and his.
He drove inside her one last time, high and hard, lodging himself as deeply as he could get just as the plane rumbled through an air pocket ... she inhaled a quick breath then moaned softly, her entire body convulsing in a long, continuous orgasm that milked him dry.
In erotica, love scenes are frequent and explicit, starting right at the outset and building in intensity throughout the story. Though body parts are named more freely than in other types of romance, there's a tendency to use slang (rod, cock, nether lips, cleft) rather than clinical terms such as penis and vagina.
No matter what variety of romance, how explicit the scene, or how experienced or inexperienced the lovers, sex in romance novels is always better than average and usually of medal-winning caliber. Heroes always make sure their heroines are satisfied, even virgins are always ready for the next round, and everybody climaxes every time they make love.
But the most important thing of all about love scenes in romance novels is that heroes and heroines don't just have sex. In fact, they cannot simply have sex—they make love.
1. Flip through the romance novels you've been studying, looking for sexual tension and love scenes. Do the love scenes in the b
ooks you've read include intercourse, or is the lovemaking restricted to touches and kisses?
2. How do the authors use touch to build sexual tension?
3. At what point in each book is the first love scene?
4. If there is more than one love scene, how does the author build anticipation for later scenes?
5. Choose a love scene and consider how the same level of intimacy might be presented in a different romance subgenre.
1. What sort of romance novel do you envision writing? What level of physical contact and expression is appropriate for that subgenre?
2. How can you build sexual tension between your main characters?
3. What level of intimacy is appropriate in love scenes between your main characters, considering their past experience and current situation?
4. How explicit should your love scenes be, considering the type of romance you're writing?
5. What images would come to your main characters' minds as they touch, kiss, or make love?
Point of view is the vantage point from which you observe an event or a person or a situation. In fiction, point of view (POV) refers to the unique angle from which the story is told. The POV character is the character through whom readers get their information about story events and other characters.
In romance novels, the POV character is nearly always one of the main characters—the hero or the heroine. Using the POV of the hero or heroine allows the readers to not only see what's going on but to understand how those events affect the characters.
The unique way in which a character, at one precise moment in time, views the situation is called perspective. As an author, you convey that unique vision to the readers by sharing the character's thoughts, emotions, and reactions to what's happening around her.
Every character has an opinion and a unique way of expressing it. One person will see rain and think of gloom and sadness, while another will see rain and think of cleanliness and renewal. The rain in this case is exactly the same—only the POV and the perspective have changed. But the way you, as the author, tell the readers about the rain will be different depending on which of those two people is your POV character. If the character is feeling gloomy, you may emphasize the torrents of water beating down, the darkness of the clouds, the sharp scent of ozone. If the character's feeling hopeful, you may emphasize the plants standing up as if under a refreshing shower, the contrast between the rich gray color of the sky and the brilliant green of the new-washed grass, and the scent of clean air. Both sets of elements are present in the rainstorm, but the things you choose to emphasize help the readers understand and share the character's feelings.
WHAT THE CHARACTER SEES
Normally in fiction the POV is that of one or more characters, not of the author. So the information the readers receive will be influenced by what the character knows, sees, observes, feels, and thinks. The information conveyed will involve not only facts (such as who is in the room) but opinions (whether the character likes or dislikes those people). The character's attitudes and her perspective will be different from yours, the author's, because the character doesn't know everything you know (what other characters are planning or thinking, or what's going to happen next).
If the POV character doesn't see something happen, the readers won't see it, either. You will know what's going on behind the character's back, but the readers can only know what the POV character knows.
If you're confused about the difference between first person and third, between omniscient and selective, you're not alone. There are many varieties of POV; here are some examples to help you sort them out. Not all of these variations are used in romance novels, but it's useful to understand their differences.
• First person includes the thoughts and perspective of one main character who's telling her own story. This POV is widely used in chick-lit and woman-in-jeopardy books. A first-person romance novel is usually told from the heroine's POV
As I walked up the hill, I realized that the atmosphere was just too quiet. There was no sound from the cardinal who was nearly always singing from the top of the maple tree. I thought I saw a shadow move high up on the slope, but when I looked again it was gone. Still, I shuddered as I felt a silent threat pass over me like a cloud over the sun.
• Second person turns the reader into the character. This POV is seldom used in fiction, appearing in the occasional literary novel. It's almost never found in romance novels.
As you walk up the hill, you realize that the atmosphere's just too quiet. There's no sound from the cardinal you know is almost always singing from the top of the maple tree. You think you see a shadow move high up on the slope, but when you look again it's gone. You shudder as you feel a silent threat pass over you. You feel cold, like a cloud just passed over the sun.
• Third-person selective/singular includes the thoughts and perspective of just one main character, but unlike in first person, that character is not telling her own story. The pronouns referring to the POV character are not I and me and my, but she and her. This POV is often used in romance, though it is
less common now than before the 1980s to have just one character's thoughts revealed over an entire story.
As she walked up the hill, she realized that the atmosphere was just too quiet. There was no sound from the cardinal she so often heard singing from the top of the maple tree. She thought she saw a shadow move high up on the slope, but when she looked again it was gone. Nevertheless, she shuddered as she felt a silent threat pass over her. It felt like a cloud creeping over the sun.
• Third-person selective/multiple includes the thoughts of more than one main character, but presents only one POV at a time. This is the most widely used POV in romance novels. A scene break (a blank line, or crosshatches or asterisks placed on an otherwise blank line) indicates a change from one POV to the other; in a romance, the scenes would likely be much longer and more fully developed than in this example:
As she walked up the hill, she realized that the atmosphere was just too quiet. There was no sound from the cardinal she so often heard singing from the top of the maple tree. She thought she saw a shadow move high up on the slope, but when she looked again it was gone. Nevertheless, she shuddered as she felt a silent threat pass over
her. It felt like a cloud creeping over the sun.
###
He saw her start up the hill, and he moved quickly behind the shelter of the huge old maple tree. If she saw him now, everything would be ruined, but if he could stay hidden until she came within range—well, then she'd have to talk to him. Wouldn't she?
• Third-person dual includes the thoughts of two or more main characters, and switches back and forth within the scene. It's also widely used in romance, though it's most effective when the switch between the points of view happens only occasionally—every few pages, at most—rather than with every paragraph, as in this example:
As she walked up the hill, she realized that the atmosphere was just too quiet. There was no sound from the cardinal she so often heard singing from the top of the maple tree.
He saw her start up the hill, and he moved quickly behind the shelter of the huge old maple tree. If she saw him now, everything would be ruined.
She thought she saw a shadow move high up on the slope, but when she looked again it was gone.
If he could just stay hidden until she came within range, he thought, then she'd have to talk to him. Wouldn't she?
She shuddered as she felt a silent threat pass over her. It felt like a cloud creeping over the sun.
• Third-person omniscient includes an all-knowing narrator who can relay the thoughts and perspective of all characters, as well as general comments about the story. It's rare that the thoughts of every character are included, but in omniscient, they can be. It's frequently used in literary fiction, but rarely in romance.
As the girl walked up the hill, she realized that the atmosphere was just too quiet.
The cardinal tipped his head back an
d drew breath to sing, but just as the first note passed his beak he heard the crack of a dead branch far below his perch high in the maple tree. Startled, he looked down, cocking his head to one side and watching with great interest while the man rattled the blades of grass as he tried to hide himself behind the tree.
As the man saw her start up the hill, he moved quickly into the shelter of the huge old maple tree. If she saw him now, everything would be ruined.
She thought she saw a shadow move high up on the slope, but when she looked again it was gone.
The man thought if he could stay hidden until she came within range, she'd have to talk to him. Wouldn't she?
The girl shuddered as she felt a silent threat pass over her. It felt like a cloud creeping over the sun.
• Third-person detached includes only actions, with no thoughts. It's used in screenplays (the viewer cannot eavesdrop on the characters' thoughts), but it's seldom used effectively in romance. Inexperienced romance authors often start out using a very detached POV; telling about events but not sharing the characters' reactions or thoughts—which keeps the readers at a distance from the story and characters.
The girl walked up the quiet hillside.
In the top of the maple tree, the cardinal tipped his head back and drew breath to sing. A dead branch cracked on the ground below the bird's perch.
The man stepped on the branch and rattled the blades of grass as he moved behind the tree. He watched the girl come up the hillside toward him.
Her gaze shifted quickly and warily from one shadowy area high on the slope to another, and she shuddered.
• Author POV relays the author's insider information about the story and characters. This POV creeps into many different types of books, and it's a far less effective way of telling a story than sticking to the character's thoughts and observations.
As Jill walked up the hillside, everything was quiet. She didn't see the bird in the top of the maple tree, and even when he started to sing, she couldn't identify the species. She'd never been as interested in birds as Jack was. He knew the song of a cardinal
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