Pleasurably intense midbook longing in Your Scandalous Ways

One of my favorite things ever in any historical is when the author has cranked up the longing between the H/H to a feverish and breathless level. And about halfway through the book, the narrative is pinging back and forth and the longing is spiralling like crazy, and the tension for them to get together is nearly unbearable.

Do you know what I'm talking about? Of course you do! I just love that. Now, don't get me wrong, I like the tension to 'get resolved' if you know what I mean, but I so so enjoy when it builds in a super huge way.

A recent outstanding example of this was Scandal by Carolyn Jewel. Whew, that was some great midbook longing! Which reminds me, I have to get Indiscreet. Also, Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase.

Anyway, right now I'm reading Your Scandalous Ways, also by Loretta Chase, and getting that great hit of midbook longing. Actually, the longing starts well before the middle of the book.

One very satisfying thing Chase does is to take a detail from one scene and re-use it. Like, at one point, Francesca Bonnard, our elite Venetian prostitute heroine, is trying to sort of 'seduce' spy James Cordier on a wager. (You don't think I could bring you to your knees,"came her voice, cool and taunting. "Would you care to make a wager?" and he does.)

So they're in this enclosed gondola. And she proceeds to completely ignore him and langorously take off her gloves (and we know Loretta Chase loves gloves!)

She let the second glove drop onto her lap.

She adjusted the bracelets, letting her fingers trail lightly over the pearls and diamond circling her now naked wrists.

She lifted her hand.

He tensed.

She didn't touch him.

She touched herself, bringing her index finger to her right ear. She made a light path along the curve of her ear and behind it, lingering at the place below her ear where she liked to be kissed.

She felt him shift in his seat.

She ignored it. She pretended to be alone, enjoying her treasures, herself.

Then later, he's at her place, trying to do something connected with his spy goal of getting a packet of letters... "But here she was, all creamy smooth and sinfully curved under an mere wisp of cloth."

Cordier often tries to use positive self-talk to stifle his longing. During this later scene (and really through much of the book) he says things like: You've been tortured by experts, laddie. Pretend it's torture. Later, This isn't why you came, the voice reminded, that inner voice that had kept him alive for all these years.

But it doesn't work. Soon this:
He wanted to lose himself in her scent, in her. He wanted to forget everything else, to heed only this siren's call.

And
He knew there were no forevers and there was always a way out, yet he lost his way, lost his balance. He lost the warning voice, his guide.

Anyway, that bit from the gondola comes back:

He kissed her, but not on the wicked smile. He kissed her temple, and one spot at the top of her cheekbone. Then, remembering what she'd done last night, he followed the path she'd traced with her finger, around the delicate curve of her ear, and down. He pressed a tender, lingering kiss upon the spot where she'd paused.

She trembled.

Then, so did he.

Gulp. But of course, somebody comes, so the longing continues to build.

And of course, the longing of Francesca for James is just as intense. It is just so enjoyable to be in this part of a book! Not every historical is set up this way, but so many are. Maybe I'll be sick of it one day, but I'm not yet.

I know contemporaries, paranormals and other subgenres can contain a lot of longing, too--Nalini Singh totally comes to mind for great paranormal midbook longing, but I generally feel it more keenly with historicals. I think it's all the clothes and rules.

Questions

1. So, okay, this is only the second Loretta Chase I have read. Is she just really really good at pulling this off? Should I be going on a Loretta Chase binge?

2. Can you recommend any other books that have intense midbook longing?

Carolyn Jewel: do you think I'm a sucker?

Great Moments from Last Night's Reading
Book: Scandal by Carolyn Jewel
The view from halfway through

Yes, you read that right, do you think I'm a sucker? Do you think I will fall for your little trick of making your heroine Sophie a writer and lover of trashy books? The poor girl, nearly ruined by her no good husband, scribbling away at night, publishing under a secret name, having to hide her unladylike pursuit from from society? Yes, apparently you think I will be easily enchanted by all of this.

And you are right! I'm totally enjoying it. I'm eating it up. I love reading about lady authors.

And Banallt, what a great hero. It's not enough that you give him such a cool name, or make him the reformed rake--no, you make him a fan of Sophie's trashy novels. How can I resist?

Scandal toggles between two time periods: 1812, when Banallt was still a rake and first met Sophie, and 1815, when they meet again and Banallt's reformed but Sophie doesn't believe it.

The fun writer scene
There's this great scene that takes place in 1812 when Banallt is staying in Sophie's home as a guest of her drunkard, soon-to-die husband and Banallt discovers this manuscript Sophie's been working on and she discovers him reading it, and she's horrified he'll realize she's this authoress. They have this wonderful exchange where all she wants is for him to put down her manuscript and leave her, but he won't let go of it.

When she finally confesses her pen name, it turns out he has read and loved nearly all her books.

Lord Banallt sat up. He was still holding her pages, drat the man. "Not The Murder of Gilling Fell?"

"You've read it?" Her heart leaped.

He brought in his legs and leaned toward her. "Can this be so? The authoress of The Desert Corsair and The Orphan of Hopewell Moor sits beside me?

"I'm astonished," she said. Despite herself, she was immensely flattered. "You've read my books?

They go back and forth a bit until slowly, she realizes what a dreadful mistake she'd made putting her secret in the hands of a man like Banallt. She begs him not to tell her husband or anybody. There's this little power dance, and a kind of insinuation creeps in that perhaps he'll be silent in exchange for certain sexual favors, but then he assures her, "Your secret is safe with me, Mrs. Evans."

She stepped back and hit the chair. He caught her upper arm, steadying her. He leaned closer. "Lovely, sad little Sophie Mercer Evans," he said in the voice of Satan himself. "When I take you to bed, I assure you, it won't be because I've coerced you. It will be because you want to be there."

Oh, what a proper thing for a rake to say!

How to tell if your other suitor is WORTHLESS
Then, as if this isn't enough, in the 1815 timeline when Sophie is a widow, there's this quite suitable Duke by the name of Vedaelin vying for her affections. Here is all you need to know about him--when he and Sophie discuss the fate of a young heiress being duped by a gold digging cad, Vedaelin says:

This, Ma'am, is what comes of a girl whose reading is not strictly regulated."

She [Sophie] turned to a path less crowded. Vedaelin followed. "How so?" she asked.

"Horrid novels, Mrs. Evans." His expression of revulsion told her everything she needed to know about his opinion of such works.

Yeah. Say no more, Vedaelin. It's not like the novel thing takes central stage here, but I love how it's used. Half through, Scandal is completely and totally delivering on a lot of the reasons I love Regencies - the world of clothes and carriages and rules, and the nobility of the heroes. All so very delicious.

Proper reviews: Isn't It Romance, Renee's Book Addiction, Book Binge, Dear Author; Paintings from Wikipedia commons: portrait of Queen Caroline of Naples by Giuseppe Cammarano; portrait of Adam Mickiewicz by Walenty Wańkowicz.