On the Third Day of Christmas
Hot looks are one of the conventions in romance fiction that don’t get enough attention IMO. It’s amazing how much sexual tension a good writer can create through glances that linger and looks that sizzle with desire. Often the look is an exchange between H/H, but sometimes it is one lover looking at another and the reader is privy to the gazer’s thoughts. There is a long tradition in Western literature of the female as object of the desirous male gaze. Maybe it’s the English major combining with the romance fan that makes me notice particularly when a romance writer reverses the tradition and gives the reader the male as object of a heated female gaze. These are three such hot looks from three romances on my keeper shelves.
1. “Elegant, he was. And beautiful, she thought, in a way so uniquely male, and as wonderfully competent and precise as the handy little machine he used to run figures. Not a man to run across sunny fields or to lie dreaming under a moon.
“But he was more than she’d first imagined him to be, much more, she now understood.
“The overpowering urge came over her to loosen that careful knot in his tie, unbutton that snug collar and find the man underneath.”
2. “Now he looked utterly unfamiliar. The sleek, exquisitely groomed _____, in the moonlight filtering through those small, overhead windows, looked well, like Bacchus, the god of wine. He would be perfectly at home in a shadowy wood, vines wound in that mop of curls, a sleek mat of hair beginning at his waist.
“Without noticing, _____ had frozen in her chair, not making a sound, as if a wild animal stalked her chamber without seeing her. She felt a blend of attraction and fear, of amusement and shock.”
3. “She looked down at him, at his strong throat, the silky dark hair falling to touch his neck. She was suddenly fascinated by the lobes of his ears. She wanted to lick the place below them, where his pulse beat. It suddenly occurred to her that there must be secret little places like this everywhere on his body: corners, curves, softness and strength that could be explored like Lacao.”
Do you recognize these hot looks? What sizzling glances from romance fiction do you remember most vividly? I’ll identify the three hot looks later today. It’s more fun if you guess. One lucky poster who comments before midnight CST will win a pair of sizzling paranormals that include some hot looks. Check back every day for the next nine days to enter for other fantastic prizes!
Wow, those are some steaming hot looks!! And, alas, I don’t recognize any of them. I love scenes like these, though. They add such richness to the story and give lots of interesting information about the one making the observation. Great picks, Janga!
I know I’ve read 2 and 3. And I think I know the author of three (though I could be wrong.) But I’m utterly clueless about 1. I remember reading 3 though–the ear lobes thing I definitely remember.
Afraid I didn’t recognise any of those quotes, but I have one of my own that I rather like.
This is from Christina Dodd’s ‘My Fair temptress’ where Lady Caroline, a disgraced débutante is hired from the Governess School to teach the Earl of Huntington how to woo a lady. Caroline is hidden behind a screen, observing her client for the first time through a peep hole. It shows the first stirrings of desire in a woman I think and the man hasn’t actually seen her yet! *grin*
After listening to his voice, she had peeked through the holes in the screen and laid eyes upon the most striking man she’d ever had the good luck to view. The impact of his form, his visage, remained with her still.
Huntington was tall, taller than she by at least six inches, and he sported a pair of shoulders that gave a woman a sense of shelter. His body was strong-boned and sturdy, not willow-thin like so many stylish aristocrats. His hair was a luscious, dark brown, with kisses of gold, and he wore it long and tied at the base of his neck, like some aristocrat of old. His face was sculpted from the finest clay God ever created, with jutting cheekbones, an authoritative nose, and a jaw too pronounced to be called anything but obdurate. The sun had toasted Lord Huntington a lovely brown, providing a striking setting for a pair of eyes so blue they shocked with the impact of his gaze.
I don’t know the first two but the third is from LIKE NO OTHER LOVER by Julie Anne Long, one of my favorite historicals of this year.
I recognize them, but I couldn’t tell you from what books they are from.
I think PJ is right about the third book. I only recognized it after the mention of Lacao. I have no idea about the other first two.
I have no idea where those quotes came from. I thought I knew number three but, if PJ is right and I’m sure she is, than I’ve no clue. It looks like I’m going to be adding even more books to my TBR pile.
Glad you appreciated the steam, Kelly. LOL!
Manda, you aren’t going to believe you missed #2.
Q, I’m a Dodd fan from way back. She does sizzling looks so well.
Right you are, PJ, and I think you’ve read the others too.
Amy, we do puzzlers on the EJ/JQ board every Monday, and your response is the most common one there, The passage is familiar, but the details escape us.
Jane, I almost blanked Lacao because I thought it would give it away, particularly since it’s from such a recent book.
Santa, I know you’ve read #2.
The answers:
1. Born in Sin, Nora Roberts
2. Pleasure for Pleasure, Eloisa James (the famous dress scene)
3. Like No Other Lover, Julie Ann Long
Whew, they indeed give those sizzling looks and words that describe them so well that I so can picture them! Its so hard to remember from just a paragraph what books they are, but so good to read about them! I mostly remember the personality too from the story about the hero, but too his looks, but it all comes together as one. For example last night I was reading a ebook and even today I was thinking about this hero! About the emotional connection they had, how intense it was and how I so connected to it. So its the story as a whole that gives me everything of the hero, included that look, that touch, that makes them sparkle together!
Would love to be in for these paranormals. I’m curious when they are all determined which they are! Someone mentioned Julie Long and thats her new one right? Writing it down!!
Caffey, Like No Other Lover is Julie Ann Long’s new book, the second in her Pennyroyal Green series. It’s wonderful!Michelle Buonfiglio named it a tie for Best Historical of 2008
LOL, I read #1 eons ago and, of course, I read #2. I really have to go back into both Nora Roberts and Julie Anne Long.
Darn it Janga. I have read number #2 so should have recognised it!
Now if you had chosen the corset scene, I would have got that.
It’s been years and years…and hundreds of books… since I read Born in Sin. May be time for a re-read on that series.
I almost said Pleasure for Pleasure for #2 but talked myself out of it and my book is loaned out so I couldn’t go check. The Bacchus comment was just so Eloisa.
Great passages and great fun!
Arrgh, Janga! I thought number two might be PFP, but I couldn’t remember the windows. Sigh. And I’ve read that one more than once. There is no excuse.
And I just read LNOL less than a month ago!!! I really am crap at this game!
I haven’t read #1 so for that one I’ve got a valid excuse