Writing Sensual Love Scenes without S-E-X

Our guest at Seekerville today is Stephanie Newton, a brand new Love Inspired Suspense author. Her first book, Perfect Target, will be released in March. She, her pastor husband and two daughters live on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Thanks for joining us today, Steph!

I cut my reading teeth in middle school hiding in the attic with my mom’s copy of Kathleen Woodiwiss’ Shanna—the beginning of a long and varied love of romance. My favorite thing even now while reading a book is feeling that little thrill in my stomach when the hero and heroine finally get it. They’re made for each other. Or maybe they don’t realize it yet, but nevertheless they’re beginning to understand that they can’t stay away from each other. These are what I call love scenes.

Writing these scenes can be tough, especially when there are very strict guidelines about what your characters are and are not allowed to do to express their physical attraction for each other. Frankly, while I find some of the guidelines confining, mostly I tend to look at them as a challenge. How can I write this scene as emotionally charged as possible while keeping the physical relationship at the “sweet” level? In my opinion, these scenes are vital to a believable book, because let’s face it…in real life, sensuality plays an integral part in what we think and feel about that significant other. So, here are a few things that I try to remember as I write (with some examples from Perfect Target, my March release from Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense).

Love scenes come about from actions that show the hero or heroine’s heart. Love scenes shouldn’t be a surprise to the reader. They should grow naturally out of the action of the story. The hero or heroine should feel irrevocably drawn to the other person because of that person’s actions even if it is contrary to her beliefs about that person.

Bayley snatched the cordless phone from the kitchen wall, her finger on the nine before her mind registered what she’d seen. Moonlight glinting off sun-bleached hair. Cruse. She’d told him she didn’t want him inside her house, so he’d slept on her deck instead. In a bent-up, neck-cricking position in a too-short plastic chair. Foolishly, tears pricked her eyes. She’d had a lot of protectors over the years…None of them had cared a lick how she felt about them being in her space. But Cruse did.

Love scenes involve all the senses. One of the most important things to remember is that every encounter between the hero and heroine leads up to these very intimate moments. The two characters should be aware of each other from the beginning—a sort of hyper-awareness--building the suspense as their relationship grows to create a love scene that is both moving and believable.

At three in the morning, the moon had traveled across the sky and angled across the water in a rolling ribbon of light. Bayley joined Cruse at the rail. When she glanced up at him, he wasn’t looking at the moon anymore. His eyes were on her face. A long piece of her hair, floating in the breeze, brushed Cruse’s cheek. He took it between his fingers and very deliberately tucked it behind her ear, his fingers sliding along the sensitive skin at the curve of her neck. He leaned toward her. In the bright moonlight, she could see his eyes dilate as he gazed into hers. He didn’t move away, just stood, a breath between them.

Love scenes show the hero and heroine’s feelings—physical and emotional. I’ve read some hot love scenes, but unless those scenes draw me into the characters’ emotions through their senses, then there’s no emotional buy-in for me, the reader. And to me, that’s really the point.

Bayley walked through the kitchen door and closed it, pressing her back against it. The sense of danger had shifted away from the constant anxiety she knew so well. This new fear startled her in its intensity—that the walls she’d worked so hard to build around herself could be breached so easily by a cop who gave up his good night’s sleep to make her feel safe.
If the hero and heroine’s actions show their heart, if the scene involves all the senses, and the characters’ emotions are an intrinsic part, you’ll have a scene with impact on the reader and the characters.

Love scenes are an essential part of reading romance for me. My favorites are those where the attraction between the hero and heroine is nearly palpable, yet the author manages to show how the relationship between them is growing. Oh, and the ones that give me that funny tickle in my tummy, kinda like when my husband sends me that secret look over the kids’ heads.