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How to Write a Swoon-Worthy Sweet Romance Novel
Romance novels aren't like other genres and hitting all the things that romance readers want can be tricky. How do you make your readers believe your characters are falling in love? How do you show that sizzle of attraction? How do you write a good kissing scene? How do you bring in the much-needed tension but still have your characters flirting and getting closer? In this book I take one of my romance novels (Acting Married) and I go through the entire novel with you, basically interrupting myself to tell you what I was thinking as I was writing the novel. It's like watching a movie with commentary. I pull back the curtain so you can see why I started it the way I did, why I decided to put certain scenes in, and what pushes the romance forward in the book. I preface all this with what I consider the essentials of a good romance novel, and I end with my list of well-loved romance tropes that you can draw from in order to write your own bestselling romance novel.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 4, 2018
343 people are currently reading
181 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
February 23, 2020
I'm giving it two stars because the first 10% of the book was informative. It was nothing life changing but it did help me work out a plot point. The rest if the book was an entire novel by her with interjections, and I gave up after a chapter.
April 15, 2018
This book is gold
I found so much helpful information in here. So often I read books on writing and it feels redundant, but as a sweet romance writer, it's tough to get such specific information. I especially appreciated Victorine's explanation of the one to ten levels of emotional and physical connection. She did a wonderful job explaining her process of methodically pushing characters together, having an action/reaction cycle and then having them pull back each time. It was a concept I understood, but it was always a bit fuzzy. But Victorine's explanation and examples from her book were crisp and easy to grasp. I had so many aha moments while reading this book. It was so eye opening for me and I feel like my sweet romance books are going to be so much better after reading this book.
I found so much helpful information in here. So often I read books on writing and it feels redundant, but as a sweet romance writer, it's tough to get such specific information. I especially appreciated Victorine's explanation of the one to ten levels of emotional and physical connection. She did a wonderful job explaining her process of methodically pushing characters together, having an action/reaction cycle and then having them pull back each time. It was a concept I understood, but it was always a bit fuzzy. But Victorine's explanation and examples from her book were crisp and easy to grasp. I had so many aha moments while reading this book. It was so eye opening for me and I feel like my sweet romance books are going to be so much better after reading this book.
May 8, 2018
The first part had the potential to be informative, but it was rushed and didn't bring anything new to the table. The rest of the book (most of it, actually) was her analysis of a fiction book she wrote, so it was basically a waste of time. Especially considering she rushes things in her fiction too.
August 27, 2021
On my continuing quest to learn everything I can about writing and editing romance and women's fiction, I picked up this book without knowing anything about the author. It was NOT what I'd expected, but it's a great book.
This is NOT your typical craft book. Lieske only gives 25 pages of description regarding the romance genre (meet cut, attraction, repelling, dark moment, etc.). Then, there are a few pages at the end of the book where she lists and explains a bunch of romance tropes. The rest of the 320+ pages are actually her novel (Acting Married) which she interrupts to point out all of the things she described in the first 25 pages. She not only points out moments of subtext, she explains why she put it in that spot. It's very much a hands-on learning experience.
If you're looking for a how-to-write-fiction book, this isn't for you. If, however, you have a good understanding of fiction-writing basics (showing; voice; characterization; pacing), this book is excellent for showing you how to take the fundamentals and put them into a romance novel. If you're interested in writing romance, I highly recommend this book.
Rate PG for some drinking.
This is NOT your typical craft book. Lieske only gives 25 pages of description regarding the romance genre (meet cut, attraction, repelling, dark moment, etc.). Then, there are a few pages at the end of the book where she lists and explains a bunch of romance tropes. The rest of the 320+ pages are actually her novel (Acting Married) which she interrupts to point out all of the things she described in the first 25 pages. She not only points out moments of subtext, she explains why she put it in that spot. It's very much a hands-on learning experience.
If you're looking for a how-to-write-fiction book, this isn't for you. If, however, you have a good understanding of fiction-writing basics (showing; voice; characterization; pacing), this book is excellent for showing you how to take the fundamentals and put them into a romance novel. If you're interested in writing romance, I highly recommend this book.
Rate PG for some drinking.
October 5, 2020
This book was a great look at how someone writes a romance novel. I loved how the author allowed us into her thoughts as she wrote one of her novels. The discussions about tropes and emotions were very insightful, and I will use what I've learned in my own writing. Thank you, Ms. Lieske!
December 27, 2018
Excellent Book for Writers who Want to Write Swoon Romances
This book gives the writer the ability to see the author's thought process every step of the way.
If you're thinking of writing a romance book than this is the book is for you.
This book gives the writer the ability to see the author's thought process every step of the way.
If you're thinking of writing a romance book than this is the book is for you.
April 26, 2018
There's nothing earth-shattering revealed in this book, but on the whole it crystallized some basic things about the tension-and-release necessary for the Romance genre.
It's really in three parts. The first part, and introduction, kind of gives you her background, an overview of what she is setting out to do, and her basic theory of romance writing (i.e. that there are levels and you have start with a lower intimacy level and then ratchet it up as you go, for example.)
The second, longest part, is her actual novel, Acting Married, interspersed with meta commentary about how she is providing the Hero with becoming a better guy character arc and each heightening of intimacy and pull back. This part was interesting (I'm an intermediate writer who started off in SF/F and so picked this up to dig deeper into romance tropes) and probably would be more useful for beginner/intermediate writers. After about two thirds of the way through this part I sort of stopped reading the Acting Married parts and skipped to her commentary. It got a bit long as most of it boiled down to "and here I have her pull back because I'm only halfway through the book."
The third part was the most fun. It's a list of bunch of Romance tropes (Bad Boy, childhood sweetheart, kidnapped woman, fake marriage, etc) with Lieske's commentary about how it provides conflict or how it might interact with other tropes. Very cool. Probably the most overall useful part of the book for what I was personally looking for.
So not a useful for more advanced writers, but kind of a cool reference for any level.
It's really in three parts. The first part, and introduction, kind of gives you her background, an overview of what she is setting out to do, and her basic theory of romance writing (i.e. that there are levels and you have start with a lower intimacy level and then ratchet it up as you go, for example.)
The second, longest part, is her actual novel, Acting Married, interspersed with meta commentary about how she is providing the Hero with becoming a better guy character arc and each heightening of intimacy and pull back. This part was interesting (I'm an intermediate writer who started off in SF/F and so picked this up to dig deeper into romance tropes) and probably would be more useful for beginner/intermediate writers. After about two thirds of the way through this part I sort of stopped reading the Acting Married parts and skipped to her commentary. It got a bit long as most of it boiled down to "and here I have her pull back because I'm only halfway through the book."
The third part was the most fun. It's a list of bunch of Romance tropes (Bad Boy, childhood sweetheart, kidnapped woman, fake marriage, etc) with Lieske's commentary about how it provides conflict or how it might interact with other tropes. Very cool. Probably the most overall useful part of the book for what I was personally looking for.
So not a useful for more advanced writers, but kind of a cool reference for any level.
September 10, 2021
Good, if general, advice. The list of common romance tropes at the end is very helpful. I liked the descriptions of story elements that Lieske defined as key ingredients for all romance plots. Not much different from other guides on romance writing, but has some extra insights into building chemistry between the characters.
As for the actual "example" novel? That's where I think this book falls somewhat flat. I wasn't really seeing much of the chemistry or attraction that was supposedly being built up, even with Lieske pointing them out in her personal notes. Which, by the way, I found distracting in some cases.
I mean, it was fairly interesting to get a deeper perspective into an author's mind and see how they make their choices when penning down the story, as well as see how someone incorporates the tropes and other tools to form a cohesive narrative. (Something that I thought Gwen Hayes' Romancing the Beat was lacking.) It just wasn't illustrated well in the example book. Guess I'm just not a fan of Lieske's writing style. The writing was far too economical and bare-bones -- needing to stick to that 50k word count, no exceptions -- and thus made for a rather wooden, artificial-feeling romance. Where were the feels? The butterflies? Nada. At least for me.
Honestly, I was more interested in reading about the hero bonding with the heroine's daughter. Now that was cute.
But anyway, as a writing reference, I would say this is a good starting place, but not like the ultimate "end-all" guide to romance. The example story fell short of the mark, but I can see what Lieske was trying to do.
As for the actual "example" novel? That's where I think this book falls somewhat flat. I wasn't really seeing much of the chemistry or attraction that was supposedly being built up, even with Lieske pointing them out in her personal notes. Which, by the way, I found distracting in some cases.
I mean, it was fairly interesting to get a deeper perspective into an author's mind and see how they make their choices when penning down the story, as well as see how someone incorporates the tropes and other tools to form a cohesive narrative. (Something that I thought Gwen Hayes' Romancing the Beat was lacking.) It just wasn't illustrated well in the example book. Guess I'm just not a fan of Lieske's writing style. The writing was far too economical and bare-bones -- needing to stick to that 50k word count, no exceptions -- and thus made for a rather wooden, artificial-feeling romance. Where were the feels? The butterflies? Nada. At least for me.
Honestly, I was more interested in reading about the hero bonding with the heroine's daughter. Now that was cute.
But anyway, as a writing reference, I would say this is a good starting place, but not like the ultimate "end-all" guide to romance. The example story fell short of the mark, but I can see what Lieske was trying to do.
April 24, 2021
2 books in one - 1 is ok the other is super subpar
Ok so I like how she formatted this - to give an example on how to write romance, she used her own romance novel and took time out to comment on the different tools/techniques. That part was good.
But her romance book itself? Super subpar. The storyline was ok, the characters were mediocre, and she used the same emotions/feelings over and over again. If I read the word "tingle" once more, I might've broken out into a rash. *Eye roll*
Honestly, I would never have finished reading this book had it not been for it being a how to book. I'm sure others like it, but had this not have been a how to, I would have added it to the DNF pile. It was hard to finish and it's not that it was poorly written or anything. It just was subpar. That's the best way to describe it.
I did get something out of it though from the how to part, so it's not all bad.
Ok so I like how she formatted this - to give an example on how to write romance, she used her own romance novel and took time out to comment on the different tools/techniques. That part was good.
But her romance book itself? Super subpar. The storyline was ok, the characters were mediocre, and she used the same emotions/feelings over and over again. If I read the word "tingle" once more, I might've broken out into a rash. *Eye roll*
Honestly, I would never have finished reading this book had it not been for it being a how to book. I'm sure others like it, but had this not have been a how to, I would have added it to the DNF pile. It was hard to finish and it's not that it was poorly written or anything. It just was subpar. That's the best way to describe it.
I did get something out of it though from the how to part, so it's not all bad.
March 24, 2022
Almost Like Director’s Commentary
Honestly, I picked this book on a whim. I’ve been reading a lot about the construction of literary genres and how to write them. So, I wanted to check out “romance”, as it’s incredibly popular but not a genre with which I have much knowledge or background.
I definitely picked the right book.
Not only does the author discuss various romance genre tropes and story beats, she provides the entirety of one of her own novels, interjecting her thought process along the way. It is very illuminating, almost like a director’s commentary for a film, and I found it both educational and entertaining.
Along the way, I also found that I think I like romance novels. I was engaged with this author’s story, and I may check out other examples soon… starting with her own follow-up to this book, “How To Write A Swoon-Worthy Second Chance Romance Novel”.
Honestly, I picked this book on a whim. I’ve been reading a lot about the construction of literary genres and how to write them. So, I wanted to check out “romance”, as it’s incredibly popular but not a genre with which I have much knowledge or background.
I definitely picked the right book.
Not only does the author discuss various romance genre tropes and story beats, she provides the entirety of one of her own novels, interjecting her thought process along the way. It is very illuminating, almost like a director’s commentary for a film, and I found it both educational and entertaining.
Along the way, I also found that I think I like romance novels. I was engaged with this author’s story, and I may check out other examples soon… starting with her own follow-up to this book, “How To Write A Swoon-Worthy Second Chance Romance Novel”.
July 31, 2018
I enjoyed reading this book by Lieske. It's actually my first book by her, but I'm definitely interested in reading more! First, I really enjoyed the story within the story - actually having a writer dissect their own story was fun and informative. Part of me wonders whether most of what she did came naturally and then she understood or made changes in edits? For me, I think it would be a lot to really delve into the story and constantly have my brain pulled in a few directions, but then again, we writer's have a tendency to surprise ourselves. The earlier, advice, portion of the book was great and gave me ideas for my own stories as reading it, and I found myself caught up in the fictional story, even though Victorine would say what was coming next. Overall, I'm lad I have it on my kindle, and I wish I had it in paper for my bookshelf!
October 30, 2019
*** 3.5 Stars ***
How to Write a Swoon-Worthy Sweet Romance Novel by Victorine E. Lieske is a fun resource about how to craft a romance novel. It's split into the following three parts: The first eight percent of the book introduces different elements of romance with examples of how to implement them. In the middle eighty-seven percent, the author takes her novel, Acting Married, and includes commentary throughout to explain the reasoning behind the elements that she employed in her writing process. The final five percent of the book is a useful list of romance tropes and their definitions along with information about which tropes tend to work well together. Overall, quite an enjoyable resource.
How to Write a Swoon-Worthy Sweet Romance Novel by Victorine E. Lieske is a fun resource about how to craft a romance novel. It's split into the following three parts: The first eight percent of the book introduces different elements of romance with examples of how to implement them. In the middle eighty-seven percent, the author takes her novel, Acting Married, and includes commentary throughout to explain the reasoning behind the elements that she employed in her writing process. The final five percent of the book is a useful list of romance tropes and their definitions along with information about which tropes tend to work well together. Overall, quite an enjoyable resource.
September 28, 2019
I liked the beginning of the book where it actually talked about writing a romance. About 2/3 of the book is one of the author’s stories with notes on what she was trying to do. She kept saying “In my head this is what I am trying to do” it felt like she wasn’t sure. I felt like I was tricked into reading one of the author’s stories and that’s not cool. I wanted a book to help me learn to write romances, but that’s not what this is. Two stars for being more of the author’s romance than about the craft of writing. (I am so glad I did not pay for this book and borrowed it from kindle unlimited.)
November 1, 2021
Lieske takes an interesting approach to this book. She first reviews basics for writing a sweet romance, but then she breaks down one of her novels, chapter by chapter. After providing a short excerpt, she explains what she did and why.
I especially appreciated how she reviewed the slowly upward movement of the sexual tension and levels of intimacy (much less than in steamy books but still very important in a sweet romance). It helped me to understand why in some romances I read, the intensity of the responses seem over the top for the state of their current relationship.
Very well done! And, since I'd already read her sample book, it was a delight to revisit the story.
I especially appreciated how she reviewed the slowly upward movement of the sexual tension and levels of intimacy (much less than in steamy books but still very important in a sweet romance). It helped me to understand why in some romances I read, the intensity of the responses seem over the top for the state of their current relationship.
Very well done! And, since I'd already read her sample book, it was a delight to revisit the story.
October 16, 2018
Lots of practical advice
There were several moments while reading this book that I want back and fixed so many things wrong with my MS. This book is loaded with nuggets of information and suggestions to help you understand pacing, heat level, character arcs and romance tropes. It wasn't one of those craft books that lists ways the author suggests to write a book, she actually takes you through on of her novels, taking you by the hand and commenting on her writing process. Excellent. Highly recommend
There were several moments while reading this book that I want back and fixed so many things wrong with my MS. This book is loaded with nuggets of information and suggestions to help you understand pacing, heat level, character arcs and romance tropes. It wasn't one of those craft books that lists ways the author suggests to write a book, she actually takes you through on of her novels, taking you by the hand and commenting on her writing process. Excellent. Highly recommend
January 25, 2019
Recommended to me by a fellow romance author to up my writing game. A great read for anyone who wants to understand what makes a romance novel work. Victorine takes you through one of her novels with a sort of director's commentary as you work your way through, explaining her reasoning for why she included certain things. I referred to it a lot while writing my latest book and am looking forward to hearing the reaction of my readers to all the things I've learned and cribbed from in this book! Vital for all romance authors who might be struggling with subtext, body language, or romance beats.
February 5, 2025
This book consists of 20 pages of craft talk and then the rest of it is a hands-on exploration of the author's own novel. I knew going into this book that this was the set up, which is why I've given it 4 rather than 3 stars. I also knew I'd only read the first 20 pages and stop. I'm not interested in the break down of her own (or most) novel. I can do that with the novels I enjoy reading.
Her craft advice is good. It's basic but as someone who doesn't write romance and simply wanted to learn some basics, I feel it's good for a beginner.
Her craft advice is good. It's basic but as someone who doesn't write romance and simply wanted to learn some basics, I feel it's good for a beginner.
April 20, 2018
Fabulous walk-through and how-to!
There is so much great information in this book. I love how the author walks you through an actual romance and explains how she builds story and anticipation for the reader. Really, it is two books in one...win-win! I know the description of tropes used in romance will be very useful for any romance writer, whether for a primary or secondary plot line. Highly recommend!
There is so much great information in this book. I love how the author walks you through an actual romance and explains how she builds story and anticipation for the reader. Really, it is two books in one...win-win! I know the description of tropes used in romance will be very useful for any romance writer, whether for a primary or secondary plot line. Highly recommend!
August 30, 2018
An interesting book. The way she takes one of her own novels and painstakingly breaks down what she was trying to accomplish in every little scene and section really brought home her lessons about raising the heat level and then pulling back. She was aware at every point what the heat level was, and where she was in her word count. It's a very systematic approach, and I found things to take away from the book.
February 14, 2019
Excellent resource for romance writers
Many books on novel writing aren't totally relevant to the romance genres, where we have our own conventions. This book is great for beginner romance writers, as Victorine explains the essential tools needed upfront, and then takes the reader through one of her books, explaining scene by scene and sometimes paragraphy by paragraph why she wrote what she did. Highly recommended.
Many books on novel writing aren't totally relevant to the romance genres, where we have our own conventions. This book is great for beginner romance writers, as Victorine explains the essential tools needed upfront, and then takes the reader through one of her books, explaining scene by scene and sometimes paragraphy by paragraph why she wrote what she did. Highly recommended.
October 3, 2019
Useful
This was a very useful book with helpful tips. The bulk of the book included a breakdown of one of the author's romance books. Although it was a very useful demonstration, I wish there wax a link to buy the book just before it jumped the readthrough and explanation because the story would be more enjoyable to read without distractions first (not that that's the purpose of this book, but I love reading so just saying).
This was a very useful book with helpful tips. The bulk of the book included a breakdown of one of the author's romance books. Although it was a very useful demonstration, I wish there wax a link to buy the book just before it jumped the readthrough and explanation because the story would be more enjoyable to read without distractions first (not that that's the purpose of this book, but I love reading so just saying).
January 5, 2021
I loved this practical how-to that walks you through the major structures and points of a sweet/clean romance in a no-nonsense way. Voctorine's writing is clear and witty and her breakdown of her own book clearly demonstrated the plot and character points she was teaching. The list of tropes at the end gave me so many ideas for kicking off my own novel. Would definitely recommend this as a craft book to anyone looking to jump into romance writing.
January 26, 2022
Enjoyed the book within the book! Super helpful.
I thought Victorine's method of teaching romance writing, by walking us through each step of a book she's written, was great! The reader is able to see the bones of the creative process from start to finish. I've been sold on this authors stories as well as learning more about how to write a romance myself. I highly recommend this book!
I thought Victorine's method of teaching romance writing, by walking us through each step of a book she's written, was great! The reader is able to see the bones of the creative process from start to finish. I've been sold on this authors stories as well as learning more about how to write a romance myself. I highly recommend this book!
September 8, 2022
Very useful resource
What a well written, useful resource for anyone wanting to understand what goes into writing a romance novel.
The information at the start gave me lots to think about, and I found the commentary enlightening. It was well set out so as to not detract from the novel that the author used as an example.
I will be referring back to this book when I write my next novel.
What a well written, useful resource for anyone wanting to understand what goes into writing a romance novel.
The information at the start gave me lots to think about, and I found the commentary enlightening. It was well set out so as to not detract from the novel that the author used as an example.
I will be referring back to this book when I write my next novel.
June 24, 2024
2.5 stars
This was disappointing. This wasn't a "how to" book. Almost the entire book was just one of her novels with her explaining a little of what she was thinking when she wrote it. I don't understand why this is rated so highly. It took much too long to mine for the few useful tidbits. The story itself was good, but I didn't pick up this book to read a romance novel. I picked up this book the learn how to write a romance novel.
This was disappointing. This wasn't a "how to" book. Almost the entire book was just one of her novels with her explaining a little of what she was thinking when she wrote it. I don't understand why this is rated so highly. It took much too long to mine for the few useful tidbits. The story itself was good, but I didn't pick up this book to read a romance novel. I picked up this book the learn how to write a romance novel.
October 11, 2019
Brilliant! For those of us who like concrete examples, author Victorine Lieske offers several chapters of instructional material followed by an annotated copy of one of her romance novels. The annotations explain the whys and wherefores to her writing choices/plot twists/characterization, etc. A fast read and an edifying one as well.
February 23, 2020
So helpful in understanding what a sweet romance is compromised of and what sweet romance readers are looking for! I really enjoyed all the tips and also reading through one of Victorine’s books with her personal comments explaining why she did certain things with her plot & characters. Would recommend for any sweet romance writer or anyone looking to start writing in that genre.
September 6, 2020
What she thought while writing
This book starts out telling you how to write romance. Then it tells you what she thought while writing. She would take a piece of a book she wrote and then explain why she wrote it that way.
I liked the romance book she used as a example better than the rest of the book.
This book starts out telling you how to write romance. Then it tells you what she thought while writing. She would take a piece of a book she wrote and then explain why she wrote it that way.
I liked the romance book she used as a example better than the rest of the book.
September 7, 2020
This was such a fun read. The author first gives you the basics of writing a romance, then takes you through a short romance she'd written and gives you some of the behind-the-curtains looks at why she wrote what she wrote. Great for anyone looking to up their romance game, and sweet enough to be a learning tool for writers of all ages.
January 24, 2021
Some good advice
I learned a thing or two in this book and I liked the trope list at the end. I felt like the characters could’ve been more interesting at times. I liked the advice throughout but I think my main problem were the characters. But, all in all, I enjoyed it and am glad I read it.
I learned a thing or two in this book and I liked the trope list at the end. I felt like the characters could’ve been more interesting at times. I liked the advice throughout but I think my main problem were the characters. But, all in all, I enjoyed it and am glad I read it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews