The Magic In the Dance

It's all about the dance. There's magic in the choreographed steps to love. Or so I like to think.

I read a lot, and my primary interest is in romance. I write erotic romance, my favorite type of stories, actually, where love is expressed through physical means, and the relationship often progresses in those physical intimacies to deepen emotional ties.

Which leads me to the topic at hand...The magic in the dance. To tease or not to tease? 

I'm not a big fan of the wham bam, where at the middle of paragraph one on the first page, the couple is getting busy. I love watching a couple work toward a connection. There's just something about the dance a couple waltzes to get to that true love state that's all the fun.

I'm not saying a couple can't be intimate right away, or that it will ruin the story. But so often, that happily ever after comes without issue, and it's just not...fun. What obstacles did the couple face? How did they counter their challenges? It's like that idea that you can't experience highs without the lows. The love with the loss.

I love a story where the couple can't stand each other, then gradually fall in love. Or that couple that falls in immediate lust, acts on it, then has to barrel around a host of problems that come with it--and no, I'm not talking about secret pregnancies, but emotional troubles.
Some of my favorite plot points are:

• Enemies to friends to lovers
• Rivals in business
• Younger sibling of the other's best friend
• Friends forever, thus a hurdle to overcome into deepening the relationship

What are some of your favorite teases? Or a book where the tension is so great that you can't stop turning the pages? 

Merry Christmas and happy holidays. And if you haven't stopped by already, take a look at my blog for a contest that ends Dec 8th.  We've got some great prizes. And that's no tease.