When It’s So Bad, It’s Good

WELCOME TO Cheeky Reads Sabrina! The first guest of a Month of Kisses. I adore Cheeky Reads and am constantly checking out her reviews. Now, let’s here what she has to say about kisses. 😉

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While most romance readers love to sigh and fawn over their favorite first kiss scenes like they’re reliving their own sweet first experiences, I want the awkward, real, not-quite-right first kiss between my hero and heroine.

There’s something unexpected, but yet more realistic, about that first kiss not quite living up to the characters’ expectations. It lifts the drama of all that pent up tension and frees the characters from the overwhelming idea that they’ve just got to get it on! Instead, there’s new tension that’s based on more than just the physical and the reader can really see how much of this attraction goes beyond heaving bosoms and a nice pair of arms…um, I mean eyes.

I mean I want them to get it right later. But first, let them to have to work at it, to be surprised by each other and yes, laugh together and at themselves. Let them question their feelings without the story always being so tangled in the “It’s only a physical attraction.” conflict blow off so many authors can too easily fall back on.

There are innumerable great scenes to be made from a first kiss miss and so much that can be done with the emotions that result. Not to mention that a good writer knows that readers shouldn’t always get what they *think* they want or expect. I want that unexpected surprise. When a writer surprises is when that story goes from good to great for me and a first kiss scene is a fantastic place for a writer to really play with surprising the reader.

So next time you sit down to write that first kiss scene, think of surprising your reader. What can you do differently in that scene that lifts it above the norm and makes readers remember it? And maybe, just maybe, write am awesome disaster of a first kiss that leads the characters to a lifetime of practice getting it right!

So, do you like an unexpected or unusual first kiss? How do you feel about those not-so-perfect ones or have you ever even read one of those illusive scenes before? What are your thoughts on this as first a reader, and then as a writer?

Kissy-Kissy Cheeky Girl Sabrina

Cheeky Reads is the Sassy Girl’s Guide to Romance Books, a review and book blog that covers all romance genres. If you’re looking for reviews without spoilers, Cheeky Reads is your site – you wouldn’t want your best friend telling you the storyline details or ending so we don’t either! Visit me at  www.cheekyreads.com or stalk me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cheekyreads.