Please Welcome Guest Blogger…JILL SORENSON
Debut author Jill Sorenson, whose first book DANGEROUS TO TOUCH is being released by Silhouette Suspense this month lives in San Diego with her husband and two young daughters. Born in a small town in Kansas, she has never lost her fascination for Southern California culture, her appreciation for year-round sunshine, or her love for the Pacific Ocean.
Jill has always been a voracious reader, especially of romance. She picked up one of her mom’s Harlequins at age eleven and fell in love with the genre at first sight. After earning a degree in literature and a bilingual teaching credential from California State University, she decided teaching wasn’t her cup of tea. She started writing one day while her firstborn was taking a nap and hasn’t stopped since.
Please welcome Jill!
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Anatomy of a Love Scene
Thanks so much to the wonderful ladies at Plotmonkeys for having me as a guest today. I’m so excited to be here, discussing my favorite subject!
Being a debut author (my first book is in stores now), 
I can’t say I’m an expert on writing, but I’ve been reading romance for about twenty years. When I was eleven, Sweet Dreams owned me. At twelve, I discovered Silhouette Intimate Moments, in which the characters actually consummated the relationship! I was confused, exhilarated, and hooked. For life.
Love scenes are my favorite part of romance, and I think most authors agree they can be hard to nail (pun intended). What I enjoy as a reader, and struggle to achieve as a writer, is a high level of sensuality, lots of emotion, and a touch of realism.
I’ve tried to break down the key ingredients to a love scene and have included lots of examples. Feel free to share your thoughts or ask a question in the comments section below.
· Make It Emotional
First of all, love scenes are about emotion. Whether it’s a sweet kiss that fades to black in an inspirational or a hot threesome from an erotic romance, if the characters don’t care about each other, I don’t care about them. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with meaningless sex, in real life or in fiction, but when I read a romance, I want tingly sensations in more than just my girl parts. I want to feel it in my heart and believe it in my head. Your characters don’t have to be in love the first time they fall into bed together, but if they aren’t headed that way, something important is missing.
· Make It Sensual
What’s sexier than the taste of a man’s skin, the feel of his muscles beneath your fingertips, or his unique masculine scent? Whether the heroine is turned on by the hero’s hot, sweaty bod, the way he kisses her, or even the smell of his deodorant (I like my husband’s Old Spice), love is about chemistry. And chemistry is about the five senses. With all that blood rushing south, it’s easy to forget that the largest sensory organ is the skin, and that the whisper of silk can be just as effective as a stroking hand.
Carly Phillips’ The Bachelor illustrates my point perfectly. 
Who could forget the crocheted panties? Not only is it a striking visual, the way the lingerie is, um, utilized in the scene is unforgettable. As readers, we understand what the garment reveals and conceals, we can imagine how it would feel against our bodies, and we know how excited the hero is by the sight of the heroine wearing it. With a little scrap of fabric, Phillips adds texture to a sexy, richly layered scene.
· Make It Memorable
Sex in real life doesn’t always involve singing angels and fireworks. Even in a romance novel, your characters don’t have to feel the earth move every time. Some of the most memorable love scenes, in my opinion, happen when everything goes wrong. Take Jennie Crusie’s Faking It, for example. 
True to the title, the heroine fakes it the first time she’s with the hero, and he knows! The second time they get together is only marginally better. When things finally go right for these two characters in bed, the scene is explosive. Crusie builds up the tension to a boiling point, not by withholding sex, but by withholding good sex.
· Make It Unusual
This sounds like the same point I just made, but it bears repeating. Perfect is boring. Simultaneous orgasm is unlikely. Well-endowed heroes are…never mind that. I have no problem with well-endowed heroes. Romance novels are full of clichés, and that’s fine by me. Give me a Regency rake, a Navy SEAL, or a kick-ass vampire slayer. But find a way to make them, and their bedroom antics, unique.
In Elizabeth Hoyt’s The Raven Prince, for example, the pair of lovers enjoy several decadent nights together in a brothel, sharing everything but a kiss on the lips. The lady hides her identity with a mask, and although he thinks her a stranger and refuses her this one intimacy, the scenes are far from cold.
Linda Howard, another one of my favorite authors, also knows how to change it up. In All the Queen’s Men, hero John Medina is a legendary CIA agent, a man with no identity and (seemingly) no vulnerabilities. During a deadly undercover mission, he and the heroine are almost caught snooping in an upstairs room. To cover, they jump into bed together and pretend to have sex. Only they don’t pretend. When the couple gets a chance to do it again, in more relaxed circumstances, he’s just as rushed.
He buried his head against her shoulder, shuddering with relief as if he couldn’t have borne another moment unconnected to her.
She smoothed her hands down his back, feeling the powerful muscles rippling under his skin. “There’s a concept I want to introduce you to,” she murmured. “It’s called foreplay.”
Ha! I love that line. A typical romantic hero always takes his time, but John Medina, the untouchable agent, loses control whenever he touches the heroine, and his lack of finesse is an endearing vulnerability.
· Keep It Real
We all know that in romance novels, men are never selfish, quick on the trigger, or inept. Virginal heroines are able to achieve multiple orgasms after a painless penetration. Birdies tweet and the heavens weep. It’s a wonderful, wonderful life.
But would you rather get real? Gritty realism isn’t appropriate for every book, author, or situation, but if you’re aiming for an edgier scenario, that’s your prerogative these days. And like I said, perfect can be boring.
I have to return to Linda Howard, because she does imperfection so well. In Kiss Me While I Sleep, 
the heroine has been on a dark vendetta for several years, and it’s been a long while since she’s indulged in a physical relationship. Her first time with the hero, she has trouble “going with the moment.” When she’s finally ready for him, orgasm is elusive. The scene works especially well because the heroine’s world is full of danger, distrust, and intrigue. She suspects the hero is an undercover agent—and he is—so although she can’t resist him, she has trouble surrendering herself completely.
In Cover of Night, the hero and heroine are tucked into a nook in the side of a cliff, waiting for daylight before they begin to climb again. He’s been in love with her for several years and this may be his only chance to show her how he feels. They make love twice, and although he can’t finish the second time, it doesn’t seem to bother him. Her pleasure doesn’t just take precedence—it is the only consideration. I love Linda Howard for challenging the myth that sex is over when the man finds his release.
· Don’t Forget Your Characters
I can’t stress this point enough: characters are the most important ingredient in a love scene. Unique, well-developed characters don’t shed their personalities along with their clothes. Does your heroine break out into giggles at inappropriate moments? Does she have trouble letting go or is she wild and uninhibited? Is she an investment accountant who thinks numbers are sexy?
A love scene isn’t just a chance for two willing partners to get busy, it’s an opportunity to develop your characters. Here’s a great example from my favorite romance novel ever, Susan Elizabeth Phillips’s Dream a Little Dream. 
One of the secondary characters, Ethan, is a small-town reverend with an eye for the ladies and an ear for rock-n-roll music. He’s taken a vow of celibacy, and honored it, but when his church secretary gets a sexy makeover, his strength is sorely tested:
He leaned forward and kissed her. A pity kiss. A healing kiss. All better.
And then something inexplicable happened. As he felt those soft lips move beneath his own, the world split open and music exploded in his head, not Handel choruses or Puccini operas, but the raw shriek of dirty, sweaty, throbbing, feel-her-up, toss-her-down, come-on, come-on, Come On Baaaaby! rock ‘n’ roll.
Ethan Bonner’s faith, and his love for rock music, is part of who he is as a man. These traits don’t disappear during this kiss—they magnify.
· I Could Go On Forever
But I won’t. I get so excited talking about love scenes! They’re my favorite part of romance, whether I’m reading or writing.
For further reading, I recommend Alison Kent’s The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing Erotic Romance.
Alison gives great advice for writing any kind of romance, and her insight into the genre is excellent. If I borrowed any of her words or ideas in this entry, it was inadvertent.
Questions for readers and writers:
What’s your favorite love scene? Which authors do you find edgy or innovative? Do you like realism in romance, or do you think it belongs in another genre?
Welcome and what great information!!! Congrats on your first release!
This is gonna sound like a total suck-up, but in reality it’s the reason why I’m in the jungle in the first place. Janelle’s THE WILDE SIDE was the first romance I ever read and, oh-boy, those love scenes were something else.
I haven’t read all of Janelle’s books, but I’ve certainly worked my way through a major part of the backlist and I’m always amazed at the emotional intensity and the uniqueness of each scene.
And, of course, who can forget Leslie’s canolli scene! :giggle:
As far as writing love scenes, the emotional aspect is what I seem to spend the most time focusing on. As a reader it’s what makes the scene memorable to me, and so I guess that’s what I focus on most as an aspiring writer.
Great, great information and thanks again for being here!
Comment by Jodie — June 21, 2008 @ 6:52 am
I don’t know if Julie’s reading comments or not, but just in case she is I wanted to say “hi” and I hope you’re feeling better! Hope you get back into the swing of things (ha - the jungle, get it
) soon!
Maybe I should go back to bed. I’ve been up since 5:30 when I had to get hubby’s meds and I don’t handle lack of sleep well! :giggle:
Comment by Jodie — June 21, 2008 @ 6:55 am
Congratulations on your first Silhouette release! May there be many more and your sales soar!
Great examples from memorable love scenes. I remember the crocheted panty scene well from The Bachelor. The Chandler Brothers series is among my favorites. I LOVED those books! They have a place of honor on my bookshelf.
Give me emotion, emotion, emotion over all in a love scene then layer it with sensory details and of course sensuality. Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Linda Howard, Jennifer Crusie, the Plotmonkeys, Sandra Brown’s old romances are among my favorites for writing love scenes.
As far as edgy, the sex in Anne Sttuart’s Black Ice and Elizabeth Lowell’s Pearl Cove, Jade Island and Amber Beach is most definitely memorable.
If it’s a romantic suspense, realism is needed in regard to police procedure, how wounds are treated and so forth. As far as the rest, the reason I read romance is to escape into a warm, wonderful pop-the-champagne-cork fantasy of love ever after. Quite frankly, I don’t care if there are cliches in regard to how many times he can do it in just a couple of hours time or the fact that NO ONE in a romance novel ever has morning breath. I repeat, I don’t care! I would take my romances intravenously if I could.
Have a great day all,
Cher
Comment by Cher — June 21, 2008 @ 9:26 am
Jodie,
Thanks so much for the congrats! I’ve heard great things about Janelle’s books. THE WILDE SIDE sounds like my kind of read. And I’m dying to know about the canolli scene! yummy.
Cher,
I love Anne Stuart also. Her Ice series is hot. And I can totally see your point about too much realism. I’m happy to report that none of my characters have ever had morning breath, haha.
Oh! I forgot to say I’m giving away two signed copies of DANGEROUS TO TOUCH. So leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win…
Comment by Jill Sorenson — June 21, 2008 @ 9:42 am
Thanks for being here today, Jill! And huge congratulations on your release! The information you’ve given here today is great and very timely for me. I’m about to write a love scene between my hero and heroine and your post has really hepled get me in the right mind frame! Thanks so much!
Julie - hope you’re feeling well!
Comment by Robin — June 21, 2008 @ 10:13 am
Great blog post!
Comment by Kelly R. — June 21, 2008 @ 10:50 am
Welcome, Jill!
Julie…if you are reading…hang in there and get better!!!
Comment by katie — June 21, 2008 @ 11:18 am
Congrats on your first release Jill!!!!
Comment by Colleen — June 21, 2008 @ 11:43 am
Hi, guys! Yes, I’m reading comments. I’m limited to my laptop with the wiggy keyboard, so I can’t reply easily, but I’m on the mend and try to keep up with Plotmonkeys. Will be back next week more regularly, though I still have a guest blogger for Wednesday. I’ll be back on Friday for sure.
Welcome Jill! Awesome blog and congrats on your first book.
Want to thank everyone for their good health wishes. They have gone a long way! I have many weeks of healing ahead of me, but they are easier to face when so many friends in my corner.
Comment by JulieLeto — June 21, 2008 @ 12:23 pm
Jill,
I want every writer in the world to read your post! You wrote this so well, I’m definately going to have to check out your book. Best of luck.
Comment by Cas — June 21, 2008 @ 1:26 pm
Welcome Jill and hope you have great successwith your irst book.
Hi Julie I too spent time this week in the hospital hope you are getting better each day.
Linda Howard is one of the authors I am in the process of reading every book she has written and I am enjoying her very much.
Read JR Ward’s new book and loved it.
Zoey is giving it a 3 paws up as she thought although a wonderful read not the best of the Brotherhood books.
Just finished, Laugh out Loud funny, Fearless Fourteen by Janet E.
Where does she come up with this funny crazy stuff.
Zoey is giving this hilarious book 3 paws up cause the ending fizzled just a little. I did notice that zoey made several extra trips to her pee pee pads while reading over my shoulder.
Now on to HOT PROPERTY just picked it up on my way home from the hospital and can’t wait to spend some quality time with Carly this weekend.
Hugs to all. jeannie (and Zoey)
Comment by jeannie and zoey — June 21, 2008 @ 1:42 pm
Julie, you’ve been in the hospital! I’m sorry to hear about that. Guess I need to go read some of the blogs from the time I was off the computer. Glad to hear you are getting better. Take care & get well.
Everyone enjoy your day.
Comment by Donna M — June 21, 2008 @ 1:51 pm
I enjoy reading about reality in relationships. Some of my favorites scenes have been written by Jennifer Cruise especially in her book “Bet Me”. Her characters usually start off on rocky groung but when they finally get it right they expolode off the pages!
Comment by Carol R — June 21, 2008 @ 1:58 pm
Hi Jill,
You’ve mentioned some of my favorites because I’m a huge Linda Howard fan. “Dying to Please” had some great love scenes, like when they were on the floor of the hero’s gym.
Comment by Jane — June 21, 2008 @ 2:01 pm
Hi, Jill!!! Welcome to the jungle and congrats on your first Silhouette Romantic Suspense release! Enjoy the excitement of it all, and here’s to many, many more!
Great blog today! I absolutely AGONIZE over writing love scenes, but I’m usually very happy with the “outcome”, so to speak. And I enjoy reading them. From the sweet and sexy to the raw and primal ones — depending on the story, of course!
Jodie — What can I say except
Comment by Janelle — June 21, 2008 @ 3:05 pm
Thanks for sharing. How wonderful to hear from you. You are an inspiration.
Comment by Debbie — June 21, 2008 @ 3:18 pm
Thanks so much for this blog. It has been helpful to me. I love the scenes you mentioned above. I think the realism depends on the story and the author. I do love Linda Howard. She has some of the must rememberable sex scenes for me.
Congrats on your first book! I actually bought the ebook version from Harlequin when it was first available and can’t wait to read it.
Comment by Stephanie S. — June 21, 2008 @ 3:54 pm
OK I’m back. I had an RWA meeting and my first booksigning this morning. Sold out, whoo-hoo!
Thanks so much for the warm welcome. What a great bunch of bloggers here at Plotmonkeys. *so excited*
Hi Julie! Best wishes for a smooth recovery.
Cas, thanks. Hope you enjoy my book.
Carol R., I loved Bet Me! Crusie is great.
Jane, the gym floor scene from Dying to Please! OMG. *fanning myself* That was hot.
Hi Janelle! Thanks for having me.
Stephanie S., glad the post was helpful. I think writing it helped me figure out some things as well, what works for me as a reader and why.
Comment by Jill Sorenson — June 21, 2008 @ 5:15 pm
Hi Jill! Good to see you here and congrats on selling out at your booksigning today. Next time I won’t wait to grab my copy.
Comment by HelenKay Dimon — June 21, 2008 @ 8:09 pm
Yay, Julie’s back in the house…er, jungle!! Glad you’re getting better.
Jeannie - I too loved Fearless Fourteen but agree with you about the ending. A bit weak, but I giggled a lot and that’s what I really read them for. Right now I’m reading Phury’s story…phew, boy, it’s a little tough to get through. They get darker and darker and I’m not sure how much further I’ll be able to go with them. It isn’t Phury’s issues I’m struggling with, its the others. But I love those Brothers so I’ll probably go to the end of the road with her on that series.
Janelle - I meant every word I said!!
Congrats, Jill, on selling out! How awesome is that!!!
Comment by Jodie — June 21, 2008 @ 9:15 pm
WELCOME Jill! I’m sorry to be so late. I have a family crisis going on, but I wanted to say hi and thank you for mentioning THE BACHELOR!
Comment by Carly — June 21, 2008 @ 10:16 pm
Yup, Make it Memorable is a good one.
I remember the gutwrenching ending of Linda Howards Sarah’s Child, the memorable storyline of Barbara Delinsky’s Three Wishes and same goes for Kristin Hannah’s Home Again, SEP’s scene in Kiss an Angel where the hero demeans himself for want of a better word re the scene with the tiger and a female character - he does this for the heroine; funny snappy dialogue of SEP’s Chicago stars books, and Erin McCarthy’s and the ending on the football field between the h/h in It Had to be You (I believe it is that one) - unbelievable.
Comment by Pat L. — June 21, 2008 @ 10:24 pm
HelenKay,
Thanks for being there with me at my first signing! Hope we have good luck with the next one as well.
Carly,
It was my pleasure to mention THE BACHELOR! And to read it, uh-huh. I saw the pattern (is that what it’s called?) for crochet panties on your web site and now I wish I could knit, LOL.
Pat,
Three Wishes, yes. So memorable and moving.
Comment by Jill Sorenson — June 21, 2008 @ 11:11 pm
Congrats on the new book and I really like the cover. One of my favorites authors - who is not on this board LOL - is Susan Donovan. She is very funny in what she write and the books are also very hot.
Missy
Comment by Missy — June 21, 2008 @ 11:17 pm
Jill, your post was really fantastic. It was thought provoking and made me consider what it was that really drew me to certain kinds of romances over others. And your advice, especially about the characterization and how love scenes can enhance that, is very helpful. Congratulations on your release!
Julie, I hope your recovery is coming along well.
Comment by Karin — June 22, 2008 @ 4:22 am
Thanks so much to Carly, Julie, Leslie and Janelle for haivng me! I really enjoyed writing this entry. Plotmonkeys rock.
Extra thanks for the congrats and well wishes.
Robin
Kelly R.
I had my 4-year old-daughter draw your names out of a hat! Please contact me at jillsoren1@aol.com with your mailing info.
Thanks again!!!
Jill
Comment by Jill Sorenson — June 23, 2008 @ 11:15 am