Seducing the Reader

Seducing the reader is about coaxing them—with your words and your voice—to suspend disbelief and become immersed in your story for hours. They never want to leave that story world. They can’t stop turning the pages. Can’t put the book down until they find out how it ends. Will these characters, who are like real people, achieve their goals? Will they fall in love and end up together? At the end, the reader puts the book down with a sigh and wishes the story could go on forever.

With your writing, you never want to do anything to jar the reader or yank them out of your story. Everything should flow smoothly, be logical and well motivated.

In romance, you also want to charm the reader into falling in love with your hero. Most romance readers are women who want to escape for a short while. A large part of that escape is fantasizing about a sexy, hot man who deserves love, a hero the reader finds irresistibly attractive.

In real life, not every woman is attracted to a given man, unless he’s something spectacular and larger than life, like Gerard Butler, Hugh Jackman or Viggo Mortensen. Those guys can seduce the viewer every time. These hunky men have a combination of a gorgeous face, a great body, intelligence, charm, confidence, and maybe a sexy accent or a sense of humor. These guys are real men, but they’re also larger than life in some ways and they appeal to a broad range of fans. To seduce your reader into falling in love with your hero, he should have the same broad appeal.

The heroes in the novels on my keeper shelf are ones I fell in love with. They are so real, and in most cases imperfect and damaged… in need of love and healing. Every woman wants to be THE ONE who tames him, heals him and captures his heart… the only one he thinks about. We want to see that strong, tough man’s vulnerabilities because that’s when he will touch our hearts most profoundly.

And perhaps your love scenes literally seduce the reader by making them wish their significant other were home at that moment so they could act out their fantasies. Making your reader feel all the intense emotions associated with falling in love will give them a natural high that is seductive and addictive… luring them back for more in your next book.

My book, Kilted Lover is up for Preditors & Editors (TM) Readers' Poll Print/Electronic Romance Novel published in 2009...


My anthology, Secrets Volume 27 Untamed Pleasures is up for Preditors & Editors (TM) Anthology...

Hope you will vote. Thanks!!

I'm also guest blogging today at Night Owl Romance about men and their emotions. I'm giving away a Kilted Lover ebook over there. Stop by to sign up for their newsletter and then leave a comment for a chance to win! (Your comments must be at Night Owl Romance for the contest.) Thanks!