Heating
Up Summer Romances with Sizzling Details
By
Kelli A. Wilkins
Happy Summer everyone!
To celebrate
the summer months, I’m posting a “Summer Romance Series” of blogs. Today
I’m sharing a few thoughts on how authors use details to spice up sultry summer
romances.
Close your eyes and imagine yourself at the beach. The
ocean waves are rolling into shore… you feel the sun on your skin and the warm,
gritty sand beneath your toes… the air smells like salt water mixed with
coconut-scented suntan lotion… You open your eyes and see a tanned hunk
standing in front of you. A bead of sweat drips down his six-pack abs…
Did it feel like you were on the beach? Could you
sense everything happening around you? Good, because conveying sensory details
to readers is an excellent way to draw them into the book and make them part of
the action.
More than anything, readers want to get inside the
story, feel what the characters are feeling, and live vicariously in the world
the author has created. When writing a summer romance (or any romance), authors should make the most of the five senses to
bring the story alive. Exploring all the details of a scene gives the reader
the experience of “being there.”
Here are a few examples of how authors bring everyday
surroundings to life and enhance the sensory details in a story:
What’s
the weather? How does the weather influence the action
in a story? Is it too hot and humid to move? Does a sudden thunderstorm send
everyone at the baseball game running for cover? Or is it a perfect breezy
summer day? When does the scene take place? At an early morning sunrise? In the
blazing afternoon heat? A cool summer night?
Liven it up with color! Summer colors are usually bold and bright. Authors
can use details to describe the heroine’s hot pink bathing suit, the hero’s
cherry red convertible, or the vibrant turquoise beach towel they make love on…
Add some flavor: The sense of taste is usually hard to work into a romance,
but authors can get inventive. When the characters kiss, what do they taste? Zingy
lemonade? Beer? Mint chip ice cream? Spicy BBQ? Does the heroine taste like the
strawberries she’s just eaten?
The
sounds of summer: Summer is a great time of year for main
characters to be outside, so what do they hear in the background? Kids yelling
and playing games? Music? Splashing in a pool? Carnival-ride sounds from a
boardwalk? Sea gulls calling? Lawn mowers blaring?
Look around: What do the characters see as they go through a scene? Fireflies?
Bees buzzing around flowers? A tattoo peeking out from under a bathing suit? Her
long tan legs? Are people watching them kiss on the beach?
Breathe deep: The sense of smell
isn’t always crucial to a romance, but having a hero follow his nose to the scent
of burgers cooking on a grill, or relaxing in the comforting smell of smoke
from a campfire can enhance a scene. Maybe the heroine is turned on (or off!) when
she smells suntan lotion. Don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers. Flowers
are blooming all summer, and the heroine can be an avid gardener who loves the
scent of roses, while the hero has allergies.
Reach out and touch: One way to pull
readers into the action is to describe what the characters physically feel as
they go through a scene. Authors can describe sweat trickling down the hero’s
back, the brisk coolness of walking into an air-conditioned room, jumping into
a cold lake, rough sand under bare feet, or even what it feels like to touch
the hero’s hot, sweaty skin…
My summer paranormal romance, Confessions of a Vampire’s Lover,
is set at the beach. (Yes, it’s quite an unusual setting for a vampire
romance!) In this book, I used a variety of details to describe the hero’s
obsession with the sun, sand, and surf (or as he put it: wax, water, and
waves).
I contrasted all that with details of his nights spent
with the vampire heroine (the moonlight reflecting off the ocean, making love
on the deserted beach, and swimming at night). By enhancing the details, I showed
how Brian and Anya lived in completely different worlds (literally, night and
day) and still found summer love.
I incorporated a lot of “summer” details into my
contemporary romance, Trust with Hearts. In this sizzling
tale, Curtis and Sherrie fall in love over the course of a summer. I used the
hot and sticky weather, cool summer drinks, and sultry summer nights to build
heat between the two characters.
Here’s a look at my summer romance, Trust with Hearts:
Trust with Hearts
After a bitter breakup, Sherrie Parker seeks refuge at her cousin Dave’s house in rural West Virginia. Early one morning, she runs into Dave’s other houseguest, a singer named Curtis Taylor. The last thing Sherrie wants is to share living quarters with a country music crooner – even if he is sexy, in a cowboy sort of way.
Thrown together by
circumstances, Sherrie and Curtis get off to a rocky start, but soon discover
they have more in common than they ever imagined. Unable to fight their growing
attraction, they give in to their desires and start a sizzling summer romance.
Everything is perfect
between them until Sherrie discovers that Curtis is keeping secrets from her –
and his biggest secret of all will change everything. Can their newfound love
survive, or will destiny keep them apart forever?
Read reviews and order your copy of Trust with Hearts here: https://www.kelliwilkins.com/trust-with-hearts
The next time you read a summer romance, pay closer
attention to the little details the author has added. Notice how they draw you
deeper into the world of the characters and the story. And don’t we all want to
get swept away into another world for a while?
I hope you enjoyed this
“Summer Romance Series” blog. Visit my site www.kelliwilkins.com
to learn about all of my books, read more blogs, and get links to my social
media.
Whether you’re writing a summer romance, or losing
yourself in one on a lazy afternoon, enjoy the summer!
Kelli
A. Wilkins
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
Kelli A. Wilkins is an award-winning author who has
published more than 100 short stories, 24 romance novels, and 9
mystery/thriller/horror ebooks. Her romances span many genres and settings, and
she likes to scare readers with her horror, mystery, and thriller fiction.
Her latest book, The Route 9 Stalker, was
published in January 2026. This mystery/thriller is set in Central NJ and
follows Detective Jim Rourke on a disturbing new case. Meet him for the first
time in The Route 9 Killer.
Kelli's 24th
romance, For Love’s Sake, an epic historical/fantasy
romantic adventure, was published in January 2025.
In 2024, she
released Surreal Escapes, a collection of 7
speculative/spooky stories. Anything can—and does—happen in this anthology.
Follow Kelli on her Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKelliWilkins
and visit her website/blog www.KelliWilkins.com
for a full title list, social media links, and more.
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