Sex and Innocence: An Irresistible, Erotic Combination #BodyTalk
By Cara Bristol
Back in the day, almost all romance novels
featured innocent heroines. Good girls most certainly “didn’t” and novels never
featured “bad” girls. The heroine remained a virgin until she married.
Now romances are not only erotic, but kinky.
Which makes innocence all the more appealing. A
heroine doesn’t necessarily have to be a virgin to be innocent. Innocence is
more a state of mind, a way of looking at the world with wonder and optimism.
Nor does it mean naïve. One can still be smart and perceptive while still being
innocent.
When innocence is brought to a sexual encounter
in a romance novel it stirs a newness and freshness to an act that in real life
can become perfunctory or run of the mill. There’s surprise and awe, and discovery. How the hero deals with that
innocence reveals much about the kind of man he is.
Innocent heroes are more rare, but they do
exist. I see it most often in science fiction romance where the alien/cyborg is
mated for the first time (of course, he somehow still manages to be a skilled
lover even though he’s a virgin).
Body Talk contains a couple of story
excerpts in which the heroine begins the story as an innocent. Educating his Bride is set
in the 1950s. Margaret is a virgin when she marries her older, sexually
experienced, kinky English professor.
The patience and concern Henry shows her on the wedding night demonstrates how
much he loves her, and her pleasure and joy in her first sexual experience shows
her eagerness to learn what Henry wants to teach her.
Another story, the Goddess’s Curse, was
inspired by the myth of the Amazons. According to Greek mythology, these women
warriors lived apart from men until it came time to reproduce. Goddess’s Curse heroine Reena has never
seen a man, but has heard from her cousin how base and brutal they are. Then
she meets a man and discovers that not everything she was told is true. Her
hero, Garat, is also innocent in his own way. After a bad experience with an
evil woman, he has avoided women—but when he meets Reena, he’s irresistibly
drawn to her.
An excerpt from Body Talk
(Educating His Bride)
It’s the 1950s, and college
co-ed Margaret drops out of school to marry her English professor, Henry. This scene is taken from their wedding night.
“Go shower while I can still let you,” he said
gruffly.
Margaret nodded and sneaked a peek at the
towel. Her eyes widened at how it tented.
Henry growled. “Go.”
She grabbed her toiletry case and dashed for
the bath.
“Don’t
you want your nightgown?”
“Yes. Thank you.” She snatched the set from the
foot of the bed. After locking the door, Margaret plopped her case onto the
sink and pressed her hands to her warm cheeks. Wasn’t marriage supposed to
settle you? She felt dizzy, topsy-turvy, like she’d ridden one of those crazy
spinning carnival rides.
She hung her nightgown and robe on a hook then
reached behind to undo her dress. By twisting her arms and arching her back,
she was able to work the zipper down—until it snagged on the fabric and refused
to budge another inch.
Margaret cracked the bathroom door open. About
to pull back the covers, Henry turned.
“I, um, need help,” she said. “My dress got
caught.”
“Let me see.”
She crept outside and presented her back.
He tugged gently on the fabric and the metal
tab, and then she heard the zipper slide. The dress sagged and she clutched it
to her chest. Silly to feel so shy. She wore a slip, and soon he’d see her
naked anyway.
“You’re set.” He brushed his lips against her
nape.
Her senses went haywire. “Thank you,” she
gulped and scrambled for the bathroom again.
While the tub filled, she stepped out of her
dress and hung it on another hook; later, she would transfer it to the closet.
Male clothing lay folded on a small table. With no other wall hooks remaining,
she draped her petticoats over the neat stack, along with her full-length slip.
She unsnapped her stockings from the garters and rolled them off, taking care
not to run them, then wiggled out of her girdle. The rubbery foundation garment
had left her skin sweaty and marked. She hoped the red streaks would disappear
by the time she finished her bath. After removing her bra and panties, she
gathered up her unmentionables and hid them in the folds of her petticoats then
snapped on a shower cap to keep her hair dry.
Tonight’s the night I become a wife.
Despite her mother’s warnings, Margaret felt
almost giddy as she stepped into the tub.
Body Talk Blurb
Sometimes the best way to say ‘I love you’ is through touch…
Remember when your favorite paperback books
used to naturally open to the scenes you'd read over and over, the ones that
made you laugh, tugged your heart or got you hot and bothered? In Body Talk, USA Today bestselling author Cara Bristol has compiled
full-chapter excerpts of the sexiest scenes from her most popular and favorite
erotic romances. These story excerpts will tug at your heart, captivate your
imagination, and stir your senses. You’ll visit the familiar…and escape to the
unexpected in a variety of subgenres including: contemporary romance,
BDSM/spanking romance, science fiction romance, romantic comedy, and even a
historical romance selection.
Come share some tender, erotic moments in some
of Cara’s beloved stories.
USA Today bestselling author Cara Bristol
writes erotic romance in several subgenres. Her romances have ranked no. 1 in
science fiction romance, BDSM erotica,
and holiday fiction on Amazon. No matter what the subgenre, her books are
character-driven stories with sizzling chemistry between the hero and heroine
and a touch of humor. Besides her list
of fiction credits, she is the author of Naughty Words for Nice Writers, a sex scene thesaurus for romance writers. Cara lives in Missouri
with her own alpha hero, her husband.
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Thanks for hosting me, Liz!
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