Now, I welcome the delightful Elley Arden, author of Marrying the Wrong Man, as she talks about romance … and sex!
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Romance vs. Sex
Sex isn’t necessarily romantic. We all had first times, didn’t we? And of course, what is or isn’t romantic is a very subjective thing. Making love on a bed of roses while candles flicker around the room? Most of us would agree that’s romantic. But giving into passion in the bed of a pickup truck in the middle of a rainstorm? That can be romantic, too. Just not in the classic sense.
Romance novels haven’t been “classic” in a long time. Oh, I know you can find books that follow a formula from years ago, and there are plenty of readers who adore those books. But more and more, publishers and readers are clamoring for sex scenes—detailed sex scenes—and not just one in every book.
When I started writing romance, I couldn’t imagine writing explicit sex scenes, so I skipped that part. A big patch of white marked the spot where my characters where getting busy. They could’ve been knitting for all I knew. I was truly uncomfortable enough that I didn’t give those scenes any real thought. But one night, as I stayed up long past my bedtime reading, skipping entire passages of a book just so I could get to the Happily Ever After, I realized something I NEVER would skip was a sex scene. Heck no! I read the good ones twice. And right then I knew … when it came to my writing, I had to stop closing the door and walking away just when things were heating up.
The next time I was alone with my writing, I scrolled down to the white space and told myself to write get it over with. Write the worst sex scene in the history of the world. I had to get the first time out of the way before I could get any better at it. In the end, it wasn’t bad, but it was definitely missing something. I didn’t know what it was then, but I bet I know now. There wasn’t any romance. No excitement past the physical. No mystery. No escape from the drudgery of everyday life. No revelry. They did a deed. Went through the motions. Performed stilted choreography. And it was flat. Unfeeling. Like a couple unskilled teens in the backseat of a car.
After eight published romance novels, I’d like to think I’m better at it now. I’d like to think I know what I’m doing. But, sometimes I get lazy. I’m tired. I have a headache. I forget to shave. *winks* Whether it’s sex on the page or sex in real life, the romance part takes work.
Bottom line: It’s easy to go through the motions. It’s harder to make it mean something.
What do you think? Have you read sex scenes that were lacking? Does the romance of the moment turn you on more than the actual deed? When it comes to love scenes in novels do you like more, less, explicit, or tame? It’s something to think about.
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MARRYING THE WRONG MAN
Author: Elley Arden
Author Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: May12th, 2014
Word Count: 50,000words
Publisher: Crimson Romance
Format: Digital eBook
ISBN: 9781440579639
Blurb:
Morgan Parrish returns to Harmony Falls after her spectacle of an almost wedding and her father’s colossal fall from grace. She’s broke and infamous. But that’s nothing compared to the secret she’s been keeping.
Life is finally on the upswing for Charlie Cramer. He’s sober and chef of Chargrilled Bistro. But his peace is shattered, when the woman he loves—the woman who left him—shows up in town with shocking cargo: the baby he’d begged her to keep and raise with him.
When fate steps in and Morgan takes a job working in Charlie’s bistro, things heat up—in and out of the kitchen. Can they learn to trust each other enough to love again? And is that love enough to keep them up when everyone else is trying to tear them down?
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Add MARRYING THE WRONG MAN to your TBR pile on Goodreads!
Other books in the Harmony Falls series:
BATTLING THE BEST MAN:
Goodreads | Amazon| Barnes and Noble | iBooks
CRASHING THE CONGRESSMAN’S WEDDING:
Goodreads | Amazon| Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Books-A-Million | Powell’s
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Excerpt:
I should have washed my hands of you.
“No!” He held up his hand. “I don’t want to hear any more from you until I’ve said what I’ve wanted to say for the last two years.”
She stuck out her chin and locked her jaw like she expected the words to pack one hell of a punch.
“I hate what you did,” he said. “All of it. I should’ve told you to go to hell when you broke things off, saying you wanted your daddy to be proud of you, and that meant you couldn’t be with me. I should’ve washed my hands of you then. But no, I let you cry on my shoulder too many damn times, and twice that led to … ” he sneered, “other things. Justin and I may have grown apart long before you two got engaged, but I still owed him more respect than that. I owed myself more respect than that. Falling in love with you was the stupidest thing I ever did. No wonder I ended up a drunk. You damn near destroyed me.”
Her lip quivered. “I didn’t mean to.”
“Really?” He fisted his hands and lifted his face to the sky for a roar. “Tell me you would’ve stopped that wedding had my sister not stood up and stopped it for you.”
She opened her mouth but shut it again.
“That’s what I thought.” He shook his head. “You’re sick. But the good news is, I’m not … not anymore. You might be stuck in Harmony Falls, but you better stay the hell away from me.”
Her gaze shot to the house again, but this time she gasped.
He turned in time to see Phyllis’s head. “Is everything okay? I heard yelling.”
“Shut the door!” Morgan’s whole body jerked like she was readying to run.
“I can call the cops.”
“I said shut the … ”
And then a child cried.
Charlie’s blood ran cold as Phyllis slammed the door. “Who was that?”
“Nobody.” Morgan rushed toward the house. “Leave, Charlie, or I’ll call the cops myself.”
A child. Whose child? The hairs on the back of his neck stood. “Morgan … ”
But she didn’t stop, and she slammed the door behind her like Phyllis had done, leaving him gaping in the driveway with the sound of a crying child ringing in his ears.
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Author Info:
Elley Arden is a born and bred Pennsylvanian who has lived as far west as Utah and as far north as Wisconsin. She drinks wine like it’s water (a slight exaggeration), prefers a night at the ballpark to a night on the town, and believes almond English toffee is the key to happiness.
Elley writes provocative, emotional, contemporary romances, where Mr. Not-My-Type ends up being Mr. Right.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
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Giveaway:
Win some awesome prizes:
A $15 gift card for Amazon or Barnes & Noble (winners choice) plus a signed copy of Crashing the Congressman’s Wedding AND Battling the Best Man! (US residents only)
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b050ef13/
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Romantic Reads and Such 