Chronicles Of A Romantasy Author: Being Out-Flirted By My Characters
Being a Romantasy author demands a willingness to embrace the fantastical, the impossible, and the wonderfully awkward. Within the realms of my storytelling, characters ride dragons into epic battles, entangle themselves in love triangles, and even enter forced marriages with wealthy vampires. Respectively, the characters of my Heavy is the Head duology and Love Bites novella are much better than me at many things, including one of the most important elements of a successful fantasy romance story: flirting.
Is Anyone Else Already Blushing? Just Me? Okay...
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Is Anyone Else Already Blushing? Just Me? Okay... ✨
Flirting is the lifeblood of a successful fantasy romance. It injects that electric, romantic tension that keeps the pages turning. Now, I won't confirm or deny my personal flirting skills, but let's just say Calla, Mekai, Sevin, Bisi, Dawn, and Jett have got this game down to an art – and I'm just here for the ride.
Let’s start with the Heavy is the Head series. Picture this: you meet the Prince of the Realm, and he asks you to accompany him during his homecoming parade. You’re so beside yourself that you forget to tell him your name and he immediately dubs you "Flower" like he’s known you forever.
My reaction? Cue the butterflies doing the Cha-Cha Slide in my stomach.
His mischievous gaze glimmered as a smirk grew on his mouth.
“Flower, I’ve got an idea,” he said.
“My name is Calla Emery, not flower.” Until she wed, she wore her surname proudly.
“Well, that worked fast. I never got your name.”
Let's face it, who can focus when a prince is laying on the charm? I probably would’ve missed a vowel in my name accidentally.
And then there's the banter that had me giggling and kicking my feet. Calla, with a witty retort, unintentionally flirts back with Prince Mekai in a scene when they’re alone in a carriage. Calla might have walked herself into this banter battleground, but this would’ve had me folded like a lawn chair, full Alabama! (If you get it, you get it lol!)
“What’s got your panties in a bunch?” he remarked.
“Since when is it appropriate for a monarch to comment on the panties of a commoner?” The words left her mouth faster than her ability to stop them.
When Prince Mekai broke into a husky chuckle, she realized she quite admired the shape of his lips. The gaze behind his playful azure eyes intensified as he leaned forward. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you say that.”
She went still. The warmth in her stomach only intensified. Damn him.
You do what you must with this but I hope it makes you pick up the book! I can’t drop all the Heavy is the Head duology gems, right?
Now, let's sink our teeth into Love Bites, a novella starring Dawn Arnold, a vampire-human hybrid who entered a forced marriage arrangement with a full-blooded, rich vampire named Jett Alexandru. Here's the twist: Dawn despises her full-blooded counterparts, and Jett is more interested in a succulent neck than marrying a difficult woman. However, the moment Dawn reluctantly agrees to tie the knot with Jett, all bets are off and the flirting fest begins! These two can’t even sit at a dinner table together without going at it.
“Full bloods think they can do what they want, don’t they?” she continued, mouth full.
I chuckled and leaned forward as if that would satisfy me.
“Please.” I lowered my voice. “If I could do anything I wanted right now, it wouldn’t be watching you eat...” I trailed off because what I wanted to say was a mouthful. I wanted a mouthful of Dawn.
“Well, aren’t you such a well-behaved blood sucker,” she said.
You're probably wondering about my hypothetical dinner table performance, right? Well, let me spill the metaphorical tea. I'd be eating to my heart’s content and probably talking with my mouth full – not purposely, of course. Jett would’ve looked at me with a raised brow, but in my world, my husband would confirm I’d always be his little dumpling. It might not be the smoothest dining etiquette, but hey, I'll gladly take the sweet affirmation. Love you, babe.
This next scene is one of my favorites. Dawn and Jett have an obligation to make a public appearance. Aware that Dawn's formidable walls are beginning to crumble, Jett decides to unleash the full force of his charm, causing even the coldest hearts in the room to melt. Jett was smooth as marble, y’all! With his 200+ years of experience, he makes flirting seem as easy as sipping fine wine.
“So we’re just going to stand here and look at each other?” I asked abruptly.
Jett nodded, his skin moving against mine. “Like lovers do,” he murmured, his hands roaming low on my back, caressing my curves possessively. “To them, it appears as if we are whispering sweet nothings... like I want to sneak a kiss without them catching us.”
Want to know what I would have done? Smiled like a giddy fool. I would have cheesed my ass off and said nothing beyond yes, no, and of course. If I was Dawn, the headlines would’ve read how “enthusiastic” I’d been to marry Jett. Let's be honest, Jett is a wealthy vampire – enthusiasm is practically a given. But I certainly wouldn’t have known how to return his flirting favors with him caressing me like that.
I’m a certified lover girl,
It is what it is. Now, could someone kindly assist in cleaning up the puddle of chocolate that used to be me in aisle one?
