A Kiss to Build a Dream On

Yesterday, Edith Shain, the nurse from the VJ-Day picture of The Best Kiss ever, died at age 91. According to the news article, she never really knew who it was that kissed her in Times Square, even though that’s one of the most iconic images ever.

image

Marguerite Butler said she was going to smooch her husband in honor of Ms. Shain – an idea I totally support! Smooch your partner then do it again.

Kissing is often a short scene in romances, especially erotically charged scenes that move on to kisses in “Other Locations.” But good kisses in romance are wonderful. One of my recent favorites is Tessa Dare’s from One Dance with a Duke (which you might not have heard me talk about ‘round these parts) wherein the kiss wasn’t just a kiss:

She’d suffered a number of Mr. Poste’s kisses, back when he’d courted her. Could it truly have been almost ten years ago? Those horrid kisses still lurked in her memory: wet, grabby embraces that had made her feel helpless and ashamed.

But this was different. So different. The Duke of Morland had spent the past several hours assaulting her feelings with one rude, arrogant remark after the other. The man had no notion of polite discourse.

But this kiss… now, this kiss was a conversation.

Cheers to you, Ms. Shain. What are some of your favorite kissing scenes? Who writes good kissing?

 

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  1. Sheila says:

    Nora Roberts without a doubt, from the varied reactions of the first kiss to the happily ever after, I haven’t found another author that makes every first kiss unique in some way.

  2. MamaNice says:

    Han Solo and Princess Leia…whether it’s that smokin’ kiss in the Falcon, or the one before he’s “frozen” and she tells him she loves him (his response…“I know.”) The chemistry is great…and you gotta love the build up:
    Solo: “Afraid I was going to leave without giving you a goodbye kiss?”
    Leia: “I’d just as soon kiss a wookie.”
    Solo: “I can arrange that. You could USE A GOOD KISS!”

  3. eaeaea says:

    The rainy kiss in Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels – 3 pages of smouldering sensation. Unforgettable.

    On the big screen – for sheer contrary impact – tortured Nic Cage kissing spinsterish Cher (his brother’s fiance) in Moonstruck. She slaps him and yells “snap out of it”. They are both tranformed by passion. I love that movie.

  4. Star Opal says:

    First thing coming to mind (at way too early in the morning to be remembering anything) for great kisses are:

    Mr. Impossible, by Loretta Chase. The scene on the boat, where they both keep their hands on the door. Out of kissing moments, it’s always stuck with me.

    The movie Dear Frankie. When Lizzie and The Stranger finally kiss, it’s like wow. And you can see her letting go just enough to allow herself that little something (if you haven’t seen Dear Frankie I highly recommend it), it’s an incredibly kiss.

    Miniseries North & South. Completely anachronistic PDA for the win! kiss. I admit, it’s all about his looking into her eyes and the hand holding for me. It’s very sweet, while at the same time contains everything these two characters having been trying to say to each other, but somehow keep mucking up.

    RIP Ms. Shain.

  5. Bonnie says:

    Nora Roberts without a doubt, from the varied reactions of the first kiss to the happily ever after, I haven’t found another author that makes every first kiss unique in some way.

    Yep.  What she said, for sure.

  6. Kati says:

    For my money, it’s Lisa Kleypas. Man, you practically *feel* the sensation when one of her heroes lays one on the heroine. My particular favorite is Jack Travis. The man knows how to kiss, that’s for sure!

  7. Sandy says:

    Julie Garwood’s historicals—ALL of them—have some of the hottest kissing scenes as far as setting up sexual tension.

    So sorry to hear Ms. Shain passed away.  That photo graces my daughter’s bedroom wall.  I didn’t have the heart to take it down when she married and moved away.  It’s just too beautiful, especially to the history teacher.

  8. Donna says:

    I love Alexia & Lord Wooten’s first kisses in Gail Carriger’s Soulless. Funny and passionate and I just want in on it. There’s a commercial on TV that says the average person spends some many thousands of hours kissing. I’m seriously below average.

  9. DianeN says:

    I’ve enjoyed any number of kisses written by Suzanne Brockmann. I especially like how disbelievingly grateful some of her heroes (Ken “Wild Card” Karmody in Out of Control, for instance) tend to feel during those kisses, like “this incredible woman is actually kissing me and she even seems to be enjoying it!” You gotta love a humble hero…

  10. Kristina says:

    I second Sandy’s Julie Garwood.  She has the sweetest kissing scenes and her heros are always so tender.  I absolutly adore Garwood romances.

    For the hotness factor… Lately I’ve been reading of all thing Romantica centering on BDSM themes.  I just have to admit it’s rocking my boat right now.  But some of the deep “you’re mine” kisses in Cherise Sinclairs Club Shadowlands series are amazing.  And her characters and story lines are actually pretty romantic and sweet.  With leather cuffs and floggers thrown in.  :0)  (all bought on Allromanceebooks.com as discovered from this site)

  11. Jrant says:

    I’m embarrassed to write this, as I am not fond of the books overall, but the kissing in the Twilight series was fantastic. Seriously. For PG-13 books that were touted because of their “pro-abstinence” message, those few kissing scenes were incredibly steamy and erotic.

  12. quichepup says:

    Miniseries North & South. Completely anachronistic PDA for the win! kiss. I admit, it’s all about his looking into her eyes and the hand holding for me. It’s very sweet, while at the same time contains everything these two characters having been trying to say to each other, but somehow keep mucking up.

     




    Yes! Definitely!
    The smile at 3:50 makes me melt too.

  13. orangehands says:

    I’ve been re-watching Gilmore Girls and the first kiss scene between Loreli and Luke is one of the best ever.

  14. wendy says:

    Thanks quichepup. I have N & S on DVD but I couldn’t resist another look. For mine the most romantic thing I have seen is when Margaret kisses his hand.

  15. Shannan says:




    Yes! Definitely!
    The smile at 3:50 makes me melt too.

    I think that’s the most swoon-worthy kissing scene I’ve ever seen.

  16. Patricia says:

    Nick and Lottie at the end of Lisa Kleypas’ Worth Any Price. I’ve always loved that one. And I second (or third or forth at thiis point) the kissing in the rain scene from Lord of Scoundrals.

  17. kh says:

    bridget jones diary so hot espically in the snow
    the karte kid part 2
    rachel and ross

  18. Dusk says:

    That kiss that takes 100+ pages to happen in some Hannah Howel novels. The pent up sexual frustrations (+ 10 points if he’s a “ruttin’ fool” whos avoiding her for “noble” reasons) and getting interupped before they can do anything more (+ 5 for each meddling family member)  🙂

    Ditto with the Nora Roberts 🙂

    & Lynsay Sands Arugenueas (SP??)

  19. Kaylee says:

    I have lots of favorite first kiss moments, but the one that comes to mind right now is from Pleasure for Pleasure by Eloisa James.  When Mayne is teaching Josie how to kiss, at first she thinks it’s a bit boring, just pressing their lips together, but suddenly the kiss turns into something more, something about how she can smell him. 

    So sad about Ms. Edith Shain’s passing—and I’d never heard that she didn’t know who kissed her.  I had this whole story made up in my head about that picture—how he just grabbed her and kissed her passionately, and they later went on to get married and had lots of impetuous kids.

  20. Theresa says:

    My favorite is from Judith Ivory’s The Proposition.  The slowness and buildup from the kiss is incredible.

  21. Pam says:

    My favorite book kiss is the first time Monk & Hester Latterly kiss in Anne Perry’s mystery series.  I think it was in The Sins of the Wolf.  It is the culmination of books’ worth of tension as Monk and Hester fight their attraction.  They’re on the verge of dying, so it’s more emotionally intense that sexually charged as I recall.

    Movie kiss: Aurora/George and Chopin in Impromptu.

  22. Jenn says:

    Han Solo and Princess Leia…whether it’s that smokin’ kiss in the Falcon…

    A lot of the Han/Leia tension is pulled from Rhett/Scarlett in Gone With the Wind.  Does this look familiar?

    “Don’t giggle,” he said, and taking her hand, he turned it over and pressed his lips into the palm. His lips traveled to her wrist and she knew he must feel the leap of her pulse as her heart quickened and she tried to draw back her hand.

    He laughed softly.

    “Don’t pull away! I won’t hurt you!”

    “Hurt me? I’m not afraid of you, Rhett Butler, or of any man in shoe leather!” she cried, furious that her voice shook as well as her hands.

    “An admirable sentiment, but do lower your voice. Mrs. Wilkes might hear you. And pray compose yourself.” He sounded as though delighted at her flurry.

    “Scarlett, you do like me, don’t you?”

    That was more like what she was expecting.

    “Well, sometimes,” she answered cautiously. “When you aren’t acting like a varmint.”

    He laughed again and held the palm of her hand against his hard cheek.

    “I think you like me because I am a varmint. You’ve known so few dyed-in-the-wool varmints in your sheltered life that my very difference holds a quaint charm for you.”

    This was not the turn she had anticipated and she tried again without success to pull her hand free.

    “That’s not true! I like nice men—men you can depend on to always be gentlemanly.”

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