This morning, my son hugged me and said, ‘You smell so good, you rival the aroma of bacon.” High praise, since guys across America worship the meat and can wax poetic over the scent of it frying. That same kind of "aroma recall" affects us when we read, and the intimacy of how it affects us during the experience is very cool to explore. Read more...

As a sane, self-sufficient, contemporary professional women, you may find it tricky to explain to friends and colleagues why the idea of a guy trailing you 'cause he's convinced he's your life mate to guard -- and maybe, um, mark -- is flippin' romantic. Don't forget to give 'em all the important deets. Like he's part wolf. And he's the star of Kresley Cole's much-anticipated, genuinely fun and entirely addictive "Pleasure of a Dark Prince." Read more...

There’s a trend in romance toward heroines who are imperfect, and who are more “real life” sized. While that’s refreshing, many readers still dig a gorgeous, seemingly “perfect” heroine. But do we lack self-esteem if we dream of being in her pretty place as we read? Read more...

In the same way some folks have flashbacks when assailed by certain scents or sounds, sometimes I’m reminded how much I enjoyed a particular section of a beloved novel by the junk-food smudges on a page or cheez-puff crumbles in the crease. But some folks never eat while reading, especially if they've got e-devices. Where do you stand on the binge-read nosh dilemma? Read more...

Playful tweets between friends yesterday turned into a choppy slice of erotic twitterature. Classic sensual romance scenarios were riffed on with delicious, humorous and purposely-poorly-penned purple prose. But did our funfest give folks a really bad impression of erotic romance? Read more...

IMHO, there’s no sex so mind-blowing that it’s worth having to put up with an ill-mannered child. Yet if the guy cooking up the lovin’ were some hottie chef a la that naked one on TV, a practical girl might nanny his bratty progeny in return for some fringed bennies. If it happened in a romance, it’d be Louisa Edwards’ exceptional “On the Steamy Side,” and it’ll probably show up on everybody’s Best of 2010 lists. Read more...