I spent over an hour on the phone last night talking with a friend who has recently developed an obsession for clean romance novels. In particular, this happily married mother of two with a handsome, successful husband has developed an incurable crush on the heroes in Marcia Lynn McClure’s Shackles of Honor and The Visions of Ransom Lake.
Since this type of infatuation seemed so out of character for my down-to-earth friend and since I’m in the business of writing and marketing clean romances, I gave her a call and picked her brain on what made Mason and Ransom so irresistible.
Besides the fact that McClure’s unique blend of passion and wit elicits giddy romantic reactions in her readers, there is something irresistible in these two heroes that drove my friend’s heart to pumping and propelled her to walk around the house for days with what she referred to as a “silly grin on her face.” Her reactions reminded me of myself at 18 in the initial stages of first love. To come across a book that makes you feel like you did when you were young and in love for the first time (a book that leaves you far from feeling like you need to take a shower just to wash off the filth) is a rare treasure in today’s world.
After over an hour of analyzing the personalities of these characters, we came to an important realization about women. Women don’t really want smut. As a matter of fact, they want quite the opposite. They may think they want erotic descriptions, but they really don’t. Women want to FEEL something. They want to feel what they felt when they were young and in love, and none of that has to do with sex. As a matter of fact, Mason in Shackles of Honor was particularly attractive to my friend because he was so honorable and chivalrous. As difficult as it was for him to keep himself from the heroine, he did not cave. He respected her too much.
Women, whether they want to admit it or not, want to be protected and championed by a virile man who will not only shield her from villains but also from his own baser instincts. A man who has the courage and strength to practice self-restraint and respect for the woman (in spite of her ability to drive him completely mad with desire) is far sexier than the man who seduces her into premarital relations. This kind of man makes her feel like a woman like no other man can.
Still not convinced? Still think women can only get a thrill from reading intimate details of erotic encounters? I believe it will only take one scene from Shackles of Honor to convince you otherwise. Click here to find out.
Keywords: romance novels, what women read, chivalry, chivalrous men, what women want
What Women Want