When reading a romance, the kisses are such an important aspect. You can learn a lot about a relationship from the type of kiss the two characters share. I'm personally a huge sucker for the kissing scenes, both in books and on the TV screen. These are my favorite kissing tropes and why.
The "I thought I lost you" kiss: This kiss can happen when the dying character wakes up from their coma or appears in the Love Interest's office or house. Usually features some tears, some dramatic running, and a confession of love and angst. There are lots of these in the Mortal Instruments series (especially between Magnus and Alec!)
The fight kiss: Now, this kiss only makes this list when it's in the middle of an argument between the characters, especially if the argument is about how they're scared for the other person. No physical fighting here please. That's almost an instant turn off for me. But when the Love Interest is having a passionate disagreement about how they can't stop thinking about the other, or how the other irritates/scares/angers them and then, in the middle of the fight, one of them grabs the other by the face and kisses them strongly. *sigh* Such a beautiful moment!
The passionate, surprising reveal of feelings kiss: Yes, I know, this can fall into the second type of kiss, but I file this one under scenarios that typically don't involve a huge fight before. For example, when the LI shows up at the main character's house in the rain to admit their romantic feelings, or after a plot point of no return. The best and worst of these (for me) is when you know one of the LIs is going to do something pretty dangerous and probably self-sacrificing, but they can't die without telling the other how they feel...and planting a pretty passionate kiss on their lips. *swoon*
The distraction kiss: This can be to distract the LI from blowing their cover, to distract the enemy from noticing them, etc. Has anyone watched the Acorn TV show Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries? Think about episode 7 in the café. *chef's kiss* This kiss has to be done very well. It needs to be surprising, and it needs to be meaningful. I don't like this trope used when they could get away without it. It needs to be necessary. And at least one of them needs to be surprised senseless.
The tender caress kiss: I'm a huge softy. I love my cute, clean romances with lots of smoochies. This kiss has such a tender place in my heart because it can imbue so much emotion by the calm, sweet way that the LI guides it. Usually, this kind of kiss comes after the relationship has already been established, so it doesn't fall under the slow burn type of category. But it still makes my stomach drop and my heart beat a little faster when it happens.
On the flip side, however, there's a whole lot of kissing tropes that I can't stand, and really drive me nuts. My gut might still react to them because I'm still human, but my brain hits a wall as I think, "this is weird."
The inconvenient timing kiss: You know what I'm talking about, those kisses that come after declarations of love in the middle of traffic, on a battlefield, or while the main characters are trying to sneak around enemy territory. I get it, facing imminent danger makes us want to express secrets we've kept hidden in case we never get the chance to say them, but it's so awkward to read about a couple kissing in the middle of New York traffic. Like, wouldn't they get a ticket or hit or something?
The in the middle of a fight kiss: This is the physical fight. The one where not only are irritations and insults being thrown, but fists and plates. To me, this is promoting a very abusive relationship and shouldn't be presented as romantic on both sides. It's one thing if the author is demonstrating bad behavior that the other character isn't going to support, but when both characters respond positively to the kiss, I'm sitting there scratching my head.
"Can I kiss you?"/"You should kiss me.": This kiss is SUCH a mood killer for me! Now, before you drag me away to be burned at the stake, I very much understand how important these sentences are in the context of consent. Consent is a huge hot topic right now, as it should be, and I'm not knocking that. All I'm saying is I have a hard time getting into kisses with these statements, at least early on in the relationship.
Kiss on a dare: This is sooooo overused in YA and Teen books, it isn't even funny to me at this point. I much prefer kisses as a part of a game (think book 2 of The Mortal Instruments in the Seelie Court) than characters daring each other to kiss. Now banter kisses are a different thing, but as a whole this trope gets a scrunchie nose from me.
Possessive/controlling kiss: Just no. NO. I'm very tempted to close the book and never open it again with this one. Again, it's highlighting a very toxic trait in LIs that we don't want in real human relationships, so why do we obsess over it in fictional ones?
Did you agree with my favorites? What are your favorite bookish kisses?
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