Have you ever read or experienced a kiss that made your toes curl? What was it about that kiss that made it so very good??? Was it the attraction? The emotional intimacy?

Last week, we talked about how clean romances do sexual tension better, and it got me thinking about how Clean Romances Do Kisses Better too. 

While some readers may think of kisses as the gateway to hotter love scenes, Clean Romances stop at kissing – some even only do one kiss per book. Other authors have no problem creating a few shared kisses between their characters.

Why Clean Romances Do Kisses Better

“The whole point of a romance is the ROMANCE. You have to have that relationship first, otherwise once the romance cools what are you going to talk about?”

Christie Kern, @writercbk219

It’s a Romantic Tease

Whether the characters were attracted to each other forever or just realizing that they are interested in one another, everyone knows that this Clean Romance only promises a kiss. That mental expectation means that readers are anticipating a kiss. That anticipation laces through every character interaction with the potential to build even more anticipation. 

Stories might tease that a kiss might happen, but then the characters are interrupted either by their own choice or an external source. And now, we want that kiss even more!

Book Recommendation: Just The Way You Are by Pepper Basham

“All those almost kisses that get interrupted bc as a reader you’re like KISS ALREADY but secretly we like that it gets dragged out, interrupted, miscommunication in the way, etc, whereas I find that stories doing the deed are pg. 17 are a bit lackluster.”

Christie Kern

Emotional Intimacy Comes First

For many Clean Romances, emotional intimacy is an ingredient before the first kiss. This means that the characters create connections via conversation and shared experiences. Each time the characters have an opportunity to know the other better, their mutual desire for more grows. As a reader with an inside look at the character’s internal world, this drives the desire for a physical expression of attraction. 

Many readers find more satisfaction in a kiss between characters when the emotional connection has been fleshed out. 

All that Sexual Tension Builds

Clean Romances avoid open-door love scenes, which means that book characters are limited in the ways that they can express their attraction to each other. Authors and readers rely on the push and pull of attraction, emotional intimacy, and the character’s internal worlds to create sexual tension throughout the story. And it all builds to a kiss. 

That moment is like a firework finale where the characters finally get to act on something they’ve been imagining for sometimes three-quarters of the book. It’s breathtaking.

What do you think? Do Clean Romances do kisses better? What makes the kisses so great (or not great)? I’d love to hear what you think!