First Kisses and Thanksgiving Gifts

There are few moments in a new relationship so memorable as that first kiss. *sigh* When I think of the stories I enjoyed reading most, the romantic films I loved best, or the dates from my own past that still make me grin like a teenager, it’s those first kiss scenes that often spring to mind.

In Pride, Prejudice and the Perfect Match, Dr. Will Darcy and Beth Ann Bennet are not looking for love, and neither of them thinks finding a “perfect match” is even possible. Beth is trying to do a sociology research project and Will is trying to win a bet. Sometimes, though, life holds a surprise or two up its sleeve…LOL.

Here is the first kiss from Beth & Will’s love story:

Will’s grip on Beth’s hand tightened as he swiveled her around to face him. A momentary panic shimmied down her spine and settled in the arches of her feet. She’d be ready to spring away in an instant if she needed to.

Only, she knew she wasn’t afraid of him but, rather, of her unexpected, unwanted attraction to him.

She caught his expression, noticing the upward curve of his lips, the tilt of his brows, the amused glint in his eyes. Will was laughing at her. Silently maybe, but still. How dare he—

Perfect Match - cover - Brant - 470x710“Did anyone ever tell you that you ask a lot of questions?” He tenderly pulled her to him, the front of her borrowed dress grazing against his navy sport coat. His cologne tickled her nostrils. He smelled as she’d always imagined a Caribbean evening might. A wonderful, spicy scent.

He bent his head toward her, his lips hovering mere inches from her nose. She could see the bristly shadow on his chin and a hairline scar above his left temple. She reached out to trace it. Those clear blue eyes pierced her with calm reassurance.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you since Tuesday,” he murmured, his breath a whisper against her skin.

She leaned in even closer.

“It may be customary to wait until the end of the date but, as you know, I’m an impatient man who likes be where the action is.” He unfurled a cautious smile. “Do you have any objection to my moving up the timetable a bit?”

With him so near, smiling at her with an uncommon, respectful restraint, Beth didn’t object to anything at all. The moment she shook her head, Will’s lips came down to meet hers.

***

Hope you enjoyed that snippet! Do you have a favorite first kiss from literature or, better yet, from your own romantic life? If you’d like to share, I’d love to hear about it! Happy Thanksgiving, Austen Friends!! I’m truly grateful for all of YOU. xox~Marilyn

 

 

24 comments

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    • Anji on November 21, 2016 at 1:55 am
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    First kisses can be so romantic arne’t they? I wish I could say the same for mine with my husband of nearly 40 years (next year). It was one of those comedy moments where we both moved the wrong way at the same time and ending up banging foreheads together! Once we’d finished rubbing our respective sore spots, then we had to kiss each others’ sore spots better, of course. Then one thing led to another and we got it right in the end.

    I’m already signed up to your newsletter Marilyn, so thanks so much for such a generous giveaway and for making it international. Looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us next year.

    1. Oh, Anji, that is a *fabulous* first kiss story!!! And you know I love comedy, so I enjoyed it all the more. 😀 Thank you for sharing it with me, and congrats to you and your hubby on almost 40 years together — that is truly wonderful <3 . xoxo

    • Glynis on November 21, 2016 at 6:08 am
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    I have this book but have not read it yet. I look forward to doing so especially after reading this excerpt. The first kiss which immediately comes to my mind that I loved reading is in the opening chapters of Imperative by Linda Wells. It definitely had me gripped and still does each time I read it.

    1. Glynis, thanks so much for getting this story! I really hope you’ll enjoy the novel whenever you read it!! And thank you as well for telling me about Imperative. I’ll have to read that one! 🙂

    • BeckyC on November 21, 2016 at 9:31 am
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    Wonderful excerpt. So fun to revisit. Thank you for the generous giveaway!

    1. Becky, I’m so pleased you enjoyed revisiting that story moment — thank YOU!! xox

    • Carole in Canada on November 21, 2016 at 10:25 am
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    Love this story! Thank you for that lovely excerpt from it. The one thing I remember most, is my initial reaction to meeting my husband for the first time, 36 years, 9 months and 17 days ago. He walked into my office and my palms got sweaty, my stomach had butterflies and I swear electricity sparked between us! Evidently, he felt it too!

    1. Carole,
      *swoon!* Thank you for sharing that sweet memory, and I *love* how you remember the exact day you met your husband and how the years just disappear in recollecting such a magical moment! <3 Thanks so much for your kind comments about my story, too!! So glad it's one you enjoyed! xo

    • Karen Laird on November 21, 2016 at 12:45 pm
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    The first kiss Fred every bestowed on me was on Thanksgiving evening 1978. We were sitting in my grandmother’s living room, watching some Christmas movie that had me teary eyed.
    He slipped his arm around me and kissed the tears away… The rest is history. We got married January 1979.

    1. Awwwww!! Karen, that is just such a heartwarming story! What a kind man he is. I especially love how your first kiss with Fred was on Thanksgiving…always something to be grateful for in the years that followed!! Love to you, my friend! XO

  1. Thanks, Marilyn! I purchased my copy of P&P and the Perfect Match and signed up for your newsletter. 🙂

    My first kiss was on a jetty at South Mission Beach in San Diego. I was 16, and we were watching the waves break over the rocks. It was very romantic! 🙂

    Thank you for your lovely giveaways! (Crossing my fingers!)

    Warmly,
    Susanne 🙂

    1. Susanne,
      Thank you so much for picking up a copy of the story (I so hope you’ll enjoy it!!) and for signing up for my newsletter 😉 . xox Ohhh, what a lovely setting for a first kiss, and at Sweet Sixteen, too!! Thanks for sharing that happy memory!

    • Brandy on November 21, 2016 at 1:55 pm
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    Thanks Marilyn. Got my copy
    Would love a chance to win this great prize package.

    1. Brandy,
      YAY!!!!!! So glad you got a copy of the story…thank you!! Really hope you’ll like it 🙂 . xoxo

  2. Lol–my first kiss was a disaster, as neither of us knew what we were doing! Loved the book, by the way. It’s in my collection!

    1. Melanie,
      I’m so honored to know that you loved the story and have it in your collection – thank you!!
      And LOL about that first kiss… Mine was more on the disastrous than romantic side, too 😀 .

    • Carol on November 21, 2016 at 2:35 pm
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    Waited for that first kiss in the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice. Glad it finally came! Your entire group of your Pride and Prejudice Variations: Double Dipping, Holiday Man, on Any Given Sundae, Pride and Prejudice and the Perfect Bet, including Pride and Prejudice and the Perfect Bet were all great reads. While I have purchased all of them, the great gift package would be super! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

    1. Carol, I was waiting (breathless!) for that big moment in the ’95 film, too!!
      And I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your kind words about my stories… Thank you — it means the world to me!! XO Wishing you a fabulous week! 🙂 🙂

    • Jennifer Redlarczyk on November 21, 2016 at 2:37 pm
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    Hi Marilyn, I loved this book and I LOVE first kisses! We are all so romantic at heart. Thanks for your post.

    1. Jennifer,
      It’s still such a thrill to hear that friends enjoyed reading this story — thank you so much! And, yes!! I suspect all of us Austen fans are true romantics 😉 . I know I can’t get enough of love stories with happy endings… xoxo

  3. First kiss with my husband (also my first kiss ever!) was 19 years ago on Thanksgiving. We’d waited months to mark the occasion with a romantic stroll atop a hill overlooking a valley, a la Oakham Mount. Unbeknownst to us my 12 year old brother was watching through binoculars, which he then passed around all the visiting family members–and it was not a chaste peck. We can laugh now–love first kiss stories! Off to buy the book next… 😉 Thank you!

    1. That is such a fantastic first kiss story, Renee!! And how very romantic that he became your husband ♡. I’m laughing aloud imagining your little brother and his binoculars! I hope you were able to get him back for that at some point 😀 – LOL! xo

    • Sheila L. Majczan on November 28, 2016 at 7:29 pm
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    I love to go on the Internet and pull up kissing scenes. Of course, the N&S railroad platform one is a favorite. But there are videos of “The best Regency movie kissing scenes” and the like. I have read this Perfect Match book and the following one about Jane and Bingley. They were lovely reads. All those give aways sound go generous. Count me end.

    I love scenes when so much angst has happened that the two are then drawn like magnets irresistibly together. Persuasion (Amanda and Ciaran) has a scene like that in the movie when she has read “that letter” and goes out to find him and they walk together. Kisses are not described in the books but some of the movie version do grace us with what we want and desire!

    1. Sheila, thank you SO much!! Thrilled that you enjoyed both Perfect Match & Perfect Bet 😀 . Yay!! And I hear you on that North & South scene… *swoon* Agree with what you said about the movie versions filling in some of those romantic moments we’d all love to see brought to life. The Amanda & Ciaran “Persuasion” is just so good at showing their mutual longing. Love that film!! xo

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