Scenes that Rocked Your World

The mancandy had to work yesterday.

I say had to work as if this were something new, but those unfamiliar with his line of work, it goes something like this: mancandy manages an arcade. Among his many duties, 9am to 11pm Mondays rank among the bits I hate the most. Unfortunately, what with managerial duties being what they are, he worked all of Valentine's Day.

So we're celebrating the day of Cupid's Throat-Punch today. It started with a beef roast sliding into the crockpot, liberally doused in a cherry balsamic marinade that is like mana from heaven. Seriously. It's like... mmm. Crack and gold and something just as addicting as both but even more hardcrore.

So I spent Valentine's Day working, too.

And while Twitter lit up with the typical well-wishes and bah humbugs of the holiday, I edited a sex scene.

...What?

Anyway, this got me thinking, y'all. Among the many reasons I read romance, I'd be flat out lying if I didn't admit to enjoying a well-written sex scene. Sure, the character arcs, conflict, action and adventure are thrilling, but I love it when it all comes together in that moment of absolute vulnerability.

And I don't care how practiced a person is: if there is a climax, there is at least a moment of rampant chemical lobotomy.

But the ones I love the best aren't just the typical horse and pony show. They always put something on the line; it raises the stakes, makes it important.

Currently, my favorite love scene of all time is from Karen Marie Moning's jaw-dropping, ridiculously vibrant Fever series. Most notably, Dreamfever. If you've read it, you know what I'm talking about it.

Without spoiling anything, all I can say about it is that we get to see a side of a man we never expected existed. He laid it all on the line—and even though it made him vulnerable, even though our heroine wasn't in any frame of mind to appreciate it, that dedicated determination landed him squarely in my heart.

While Dreamfever's scene was raw emotion stacked on raw lust, there's the sweeter kind that doesn't thrust (ah-heh, go ahead and snicker—we're all twelve at heart) into your heart so much as creep in. Teresa Medeiros's One Night of Scandal is so bloody poignant that I read and re-read it, practically squee'ing with joy every time as our hero finds his boundaries assaulted, his borders negotiated, and his rigid control snapped like a brittle matchstick by the heroine who is too freaking good to be the woman meant for him.

Now, I have to admit I turn more towards books for my random entertainment than to movies, so I'm curious: are there any television programs, movies or whatnot that pack the same kind of punch for you? Or are you a book fan, too?

At the risk of sounding too naughty for public consumption: what are your favorite love scenes?

Now, I totally admit to using sex as a weapon, a tool, a security blanket and more when I write. We're only human. We all have various reasons for wanting to be close to someone else, be it genuine or wracked with ulterior motives. I wrote a scene for Blood of the Wicked, due out very soon on May 31st, that had me both hurting for Jessie and face-palming at Silas. I can't wait to see what you all think when you read it.

Happy reading, lovelies! — K.