TCO is so excited to bring you 12 Days of Kissmas. We have 12 of your favorite authors ahead over the coming days, bringing you beautiful pictures of men kissing that the authors have chosen themselves, along with exclusive posts, excerpts, and giveaways. The idea sprang from a conversation with an author that just turned into a “what if…”, and when I started asking a few authors, they immediately said they were in. Make sure you enter the giveaways, as there are lots of them! Thanks for stopping by, and a HUGE thank you to all the authors for their generosity, and loving spirit. Happy Holidays to everyone!
As this is a Kissmas blog 
post, I thought I’d delve a bit into the history of kissing. Hopefully I might be able to surprise you with some of the things I found out.
Kissing- or snogging, smooching, necking to call it by another name – is something we in the Romance genre know a lot about. We write it in our stories, we use it to express affection and passion between two (or more) men and we certainly do not hold back when it comes to describing the act itself. On various parts of the body, not just the mouth, might I add.
There are two different schools of thought on how kissing evolved. One is that it’s an instinctual, natural reaction and one we are primed to be spontaneous about. The other is that it’s developed from so called ‘kiss feeding’ where mother’s masticated food for babies and then fed into them via mouth. However, as not all cultures kiss, it could be said that this is more a learned action that one of instinct or nature. A study in 2015 stated that less than 46% of the population kiss as a societal norm.
Kissing has been detailed in the Kama Sutra, was rife with the Romans and Greeks and in India it was thought to be a gesture of ‘sharing one’s breath’. I like that description, it invokes tenderness and mutual need. Kisses could be performed for various reasons- sexual, romantic, respectful, religious, peace, friendship, familial or even ritual.
There are different types of kisses. The internet will detail over 50 but I think the ones we probably all know more about is the deep, passionate French kiss with tongue, the cute Eskimo kiss, the platonic forehead kiss, the air kiss, the Spiderman kiss and even the blood sucking vampire kiss.
Animals kiss too. There is documented evidence that elephants do it with their trunks, monkeys and primates do it mouth to mouth and certain species rub noses.
Check out the adorable pictures below of meerkats and other animals indulging in this pastime.
http://kissingmatters.com/pucker-up-furry-lips-10-species-kissing-in-the-animal-kingdom/
If you want to be a voyeur of the kiss, then watch these short videos which will make you feel all oooh and aaah and get the blood pumping……
Want to find out a bit more about ‘the kiss’?
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hide-and-seek/201402/the-history-kissing
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jul/19/history-of-kissing-lips-love
https://www.gadventures.co.uk/blog/a-brief-history-of-kissing-across-cultures/
PROMO BIT
New from international bestselling author Susan Mac Nicol
SIGHT UNSEEN
Based on an idea from L.A. producer and actor, Nicholas Downs, Susan and Nicholas have developed a story straight from the heart.
In a gripping tale of lovers fighting against the odds
comes a story of universal appeal about rejection and acceptance
and finally finding what is real and true.
RELEASE DATE JANUARY 26th 2017
Preorder:
Amazon
Sometimes We Don’t See Love Coming
A stolen weekend in the Florida Keys drove 17 year olds Nate and Cody to a deeper and hotter connection than either could imagine. They were meant to be together. Then for reasons only Nate knows, they weren’t.
Now best friends, the yearning remains, despite the long-ago secret that drove them apart. When tragedy strikes, they find themselves in the dark and must grope their way back to who and what they are…and what they are meant to be.
You can also add it to your Goodreads TBR
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33123863-sight-unseen
Susan Mac Nicol is giving away an ebook set of the first 3 Men of London books. For a chance to win, just leave a comment on this blog post. Do you enjoy second chance love stories? What is your favorite part about them?
I love second chance love stories. Sometimes the couple split just because of a silly mistake or they are just too young. When they meet again their love rekindle and will burn so much stronger. Love is love.
I enjoy second chance stories they are one of my favourite tropes. (I have all the books)
Thanks for the interesting post about kissing. I did not know that less than half of the populations kisses as a societal norm.
I do love second chance stories. My favorite part is the transition moment when one or both of them start to realize that it’s not over.
Happy holidays!
I only have the first, been waiting until I collected a few more 🙂
Well it kind of depends on the story for me. A majority of the time I do enjoy it. I like seeing the characters work through their issues and I also like seeing a grand gesture.
OMG love the kissing vids swoon!