That’s What Makes It Romance

“Puddlers. “  My husband thinks I should copyright the phrase. It’s what I call his kisses that turn me into a little puddle if Merry. After 20 years of marriage I’ve gotten to know my husband’s kisses pretty well. The are little pecks “hi, I’m home and I’m exhausted.” or “bye, I’m out the door and my mind’s already at work”. And then there are the puddlers where he really takes his time and shows me just how much he loves me (those kisses are one of the ways I knew that I needed to marry the man in the first place – and I don’t mean want, I mean need).

So what does my husband’s kisses have to do with writing? Well, I write romance. What doesn’t it have to do with writing? For some reason modern romance writers think that you need to have sex in a romance novel for it to be considered a real romance. I completely disagree. It needs to have romance. That could be anything from the touch of a couple’s fingers to the most intense baby-making expedition. It could be a look filled with love and understanding to flat-out strip as fast as you can because I absolutely have to touch you now.

But,  I argue (and some science actually backs me up) it the sharing of saliva,  the passing of germs and all that disgusting stuff that goes on in a kiss that really makes you know that this is the right person with whom you want to spend the rest of your life (and I’m not talking about until the divorce). True love,  true romance where each person gives up something of themselves, something of their life, hopes or dreams for the other can only be discovered in a kiss – and it’s got to be a puddler.

So what has it that your hero has given up for your heroine? And what is it that turns you into a little puddle in a romance novel? Is it the actual copulation? Or is it something else which just makes you sign happily and say ‘yeah, that’s why I read romance”?

Nina will be back next week with another grammar post! If there’s a topic you’d like her to tackle, comment below!