The Misadventures Of Super Librarian

I've been remiss in posting lately - my deepest, sincerest apologies for those of you who can't get enough of my blog. This is of course assuming that anybody is actually reading it other than my older sister. I'm always more than happy to hear from cyberlurkers - just follow the link on the right to Wendy's Bookworm Corner and you'll find an e-mail form right there on my home page.

The only interesting tidbit going on at the moment is a discussion that has popped up among TRR's review staff. One of our faithful has decided to write a piece on the sexiest moments in romantic fiction - and she naturally needs examples. Who are we to refuse?

I provided my vote with a book I recently reviewed - Standing In The Shadows by Shannon McKenna. I'll pretty much read any book thrown in front of me (occupational hazard) - which means I can read a "just kisses" romance right after reading one that would give my father a stroke. McKenna falls into the stroke category, as she is published under the Kensington Brava banner.

I read a lot of Brava books - mainly because I love a good barn-burner - so I feel fairly confident is saying that McKenna is their rising star. Her sex scenes are never silly, tend to be emotionally messy, and the best part is - there's tap dancing. By tap dancing I mean the build-up leading to that first sexual encounter - sometimes taking several chapters. Foreplay if you will.

Which made me realize that the foreplay is often the sexiest moment for me in a romance novel. Go figure.

My other vote went to a wonderful early Pamela Morsi novel, Courting Miss Hattie. Anyone who has ever read Morsi knows she does not write sexually explicit books. In fact - they tend to fall somewhere in between my PG/PG-13 radar. While this is true for Courting Miss Hattie - it is the way the author writes those love scenes that had me practically melting into my favorite reading chair. It also helps considerably that her couple goes from best friends to lovers - giving them just the right amount of awkwardness when exploring their true feelings for one another.

Sometimes the journey can be more fun than actually arriving at your destintation - and I think that is what appeals to me in a well-written romance novel. One theory anyway....