Growing up, watching my favorite TV shows (or reading my favorite books, although there wasn’t much selection in YA back in the stone ages), I’d ship a couple hard, waiting for the magical moment when they’d finally kiss. Oh, those melting first kisses, that were all passion and feeling, and resolution of all that tension. Kind of makes you want to hug your pillow to your chest and sigh, right? I know I did.

And it’s still true for me, even as a jaded adult. When Sheldon finally kissed Amy on “The Big Bang Theory” I was so shocked, but immediately let out an “Awwww!” The way it started as sarcastic, because they were arguing about Sheldon’s lack of romance, but then it caught, and he stepped in close, realizing that he really did want to kiss Amy. So great.

Then, there’s the “almost-kiss.”

As a writer, it’s one of my favorite reader torture devices. Yeah, I know, the groans are audible. But—think about it. You have a couple that’s practically setting the snow on fire with desire and the tension is unbearable. They’re drawing together, this close to kissing…

And the phone rings. Or the parent comes home. Or headlights shine through the car window.

Or, or, or…

While this is terribly frustrating for both the characters and the readers, it makes for great tension. It draws out the longing for the moment when they finally come together. It’s also a great reason to stall the romance just a bit longer—so the reader wonders if the other shoe is going to drop on a “maybe, if” couple. This is what romance is made of. “Will they?” is a huge part of the attraction.

So, while most of us hate it when this happens—myself included with other authors I read—it’s one of the best ways to demonstrate the passion between two people, without quite closing the deal. Because once that tension is gone, it’s hard to recapture. Those first kisses need to sparkle, at the right time, in the right place, making “almost-kisses” a perfect plot tactic for YA authors everywhere.

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KENDRA C. HIGHLEY lives in north Texas with her husband and two children. She also serves as staff to four self-important and high-powered cats. This, according to the cats, is her most important job. She believes in everyday magic, extraordinary love stories, and the restorative powers of dark chocolate.

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Pitcher Dylan Dennings has his future all mapped out: make the minors straight out of high school, work his way up the farm system, and get called up to the majors by the time he’s twenty-three. The Plan has been his sole focus for years, and if making his dreams come true means instituting a strict “no girls” policy, so be it.

Lucy Foster, needlepoint ninja, big sister to an aspiring pitcher, and chicken advocate, likes a little mayhem. So what if she gets lost taking her brother to baseball camp…at her own high school? The pitching coach, some hotshot high school player, obviously thinks she’s a hot mess. Too bad he’s cute, because he’s so not her type.

Problem is, they keep running into each other, and every interaction sparks hotter than the last. But with Dylan’s future on the line, he has to decide whether some rules are made to be broken…

Disclaimer: This book contains a crazy night of moonlit skinny-dipping, a combustible crush, and kisses swoony enough to unwind even the most Type A athlete.