by Rebecca Brooks
I sometimes hear authors say they find sex scenes awkward to write. I get it. It’s hard to know what to get the characters to do. It can feel silly. And what if people I KNOW are going to read this?!?
(True story: my dad reads everything I write. He just texted me this morning to say he was “probably the only dad reading Make Me Want on the beach.” I’m sure that’s probably true!)
But I can’t worry about what anyone else is going to think as I’m writing. My job is to think about the characters. What do they want? What do they need? And how can I convey that through every glance, touch, and heart flutter—especially when the moment of truth arrives?
My secret is dialogue. I like my heroes very outspoken in the bedroom. There’s nothing like a strong, rugged, dirty-mouthed hero to send my heroines over the edge!
But dirty talking is about more than just saying something filthy—just like sexy writing overall isn’t (just) about using “bad” words. Don’t get me wrong, those are fun—and I use plenty of ’em! But without emotion behind them, they can feel empty and…weird.
The right sexy dialogue shows what the characters are thinking, feeling, and wanting as the action unfolds. It brings the reader right into the moment, so we can feel how much they crave each other. After all, sex is about emotion, so much more than it’s about the mechanics of what they’re actually doing!
My favorite part of writing hot sex scenes is how they change and develop over the course of the novel. In my new release, Make Me Want, Tyler is a wildland firefighter who gets a sexy stranger out of a jam by pretending to be her boyfriend. The two wind up having a wild one night stand under the stars…and then discover they’re new coworkers. Oops!
The sex they have when they think it’s just one night with a stranger is passionate and uninhibited. It’s different from the sex they have when they know they so shouldn’t do it again, but they can’t keep their hands off each other. And that’s different from the sex they have as their fake relationship turns into something…real.
I love tracing the emotional arc of a story through these moments of physical and emotional intimacy. There are lots of great romances with closed door sex scenes, and I definitely don’t think a book has to be explicit to be sexy and exciting. But my stories feel the most complete to me when I unpack all those layers of detail and emotion—especially in the bedroom (or field, or tent, or office, or car, or…). So bring on the sex!
And bring on sexy wildland firefighter Tyler McCall. Want to read more about Tyler and Abbi’s scorching hot nights? Here are the details!
Fake boyfriend, real sparks.
“I can’t get enough of Brooks’ dirty-mouthed mountain men!” – Samanthe Beck, USA TODAY bestselling author
Abbi Haas likes them big, bad, and out of her bed the next morning. So when a smoking hot firefighter shuts down a possessive ex by pretending to be her boyfriend, she’s happy to play along—and stay for the no-strings-attached sex under the stars. But her knight with bulging biceps had better not think she’s some damsel in distress. She’ll handle her ex like she does everything: on her own.
Wildland firefighter Tyler McCall is supposed to be taking a break from danger. First step to having fun: pick up a sexy stranger by pretending he’s her man. Too bad his fake girlfriend is also his new coworker…and their little white lie has already spread. Tyler knows he should walk away before he gets burned. But he can’t stay out of trouble, and there’s no way he’s letting her go.
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