Crafting Chemistry: Writing Believable Connections in Romance Books
Chemistry. It's that elusive and electric spark that gets hearts racing and keeps pages turning. In the world of romance novels, chemistry goes beyond a flirtatious glance or a brush of the hand—it’s a zing of a deeper connection that makes two characters irresistible together. You’ve probably experienced chemistry in your own life. That unspoken yet undeniable connection is earth-shaking, and capturing that feeling in a romance book gives readers a chance to relive those emotions on the page. But writing chemistry between characters is a bit more complicated. It isn’t just about physical attraction; emotional, intellectual, and sometimes spiritual bonds pull two characters together as well.
Well-crafted chemistry lures readers into the story, makes them root for a relationship, and tempts them to stay up way past bedtime to see how it all unfolds. For a romance author, creating believable connections between characters is crucial, elevating a story from good to unforgettable. Here’s what you need to know so you can write that sizzling chemistry into the pages of your own romance book!
How to Write Romantic Chemistry: The Key Elements
I’ll get into more actionable tips in a moment, but first I want to highlight a few important aspects of a book that help support electric chemistry.
Dialogue. Think of late-night conversations that linger in your memory—with the witty banter, the shared laughs, and the vulnerable moments where you reveal a piece of your soul. Authentic dialogue lets sparks fly and gives readers a front-row seat to the developing connection.
Common Values Between the Characters. When the values, goals, and dreams of two characters align, their connection deepens and develops the chemistry to something more than just surface-level attraction. Even characters who are in the Enemies stage of enemies-to-lovers or those who are total opposites should have some common ground to bond over.
Conflict. A little friction between characters can really amp up chemistry. A push-and-pull dynamic keeps readers on edge, eager to witness how these characters will overcome their differences and find their way to each other. Tension ultimately makes the eventual resolution that much sweeter.
Examples of Successful Chemistry in Contemporary Romance
There are obviously a lot of books out there with insane chemistry, but these are two that inspire me the most. They’re a great place to start if you want to improve your own writing.
The chemistry jumps off the page in Forget Me Not by Julie Soto. We see vulnerability in the characters with their past emotional scars, and we’re rooting for that second chance. From the moment we meet them (in the current timeline), we know there is a significant connection between them, even though they seem to want nothing to do with each other. This couple has a lot to unpack and a lot to overcome, and it’s amazing to watch them work through it together.
Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn is another one of my faves with undeniable chemistry. Their relationship blooms at a beautiful pace and we really get to see throughout the book how well these two guarded characters interact together and open up to each other. They’re both incredibly observant and see the other’s true self, making their chemistry layered and nuanced.
Tips for Writing Chemistry in Your Own Books
Focus first on crafting your characters. Without well-rounded and complex characters, you’ll struggle to craft believable chemistry. It will just feel manufactured and forced. To avoid this, your characters should feel like real people with their own quirks and flaws, and that makes it much easier for readers to believe in their connection. I’m a plotter so I like to go into projects with a good idea of who my characters are, and I make a whole character sheet on them to figure out their personality, their flaws, and their fears. If you’re a pantser, then you’ll hone in on your characters during revisions—and work on layering in that smoldering chemistry.
Build in conflict. Engaging conflicts highlight chemistry. When characters face obstacles together, or have to deal with their own conflicts to grow individually, that charged connection becomes more evident and compelling. I often ask myself, “What is the worst possible thing that could happen right now to these characters?” Whatever that answer is often points me in the right direction to make sure the tension will always run high.
Work subtext into your dialogue. Not everything needs to be said outright and in literal terms. People in real life say things loaded with subtext, and so should your characters. Sometimes those true feelings simmer just beneath the surface of their words. I like to show what characters really mean not only through what’s going on in the character’s head (since I typically write first person POV), but also with body language—see the next point!
Fine-tune the character’s body language. Physical cues can convey chemistry. A hand on their back as someone gets into a car, a knowing glance, or even the way characters position themselves around each other says a lot about their connection. Remember that, as humans, our thoughts, actions, and words don’t always align, so playing with body language and dialogue can make for some incredibly dynamic interactions. A character may think, No way, she broke my heart and I’m over her, but if that woman is the first person the character seeks out every time they enter a room, then we can tell that’s not actually the case.
Balance the physical and emotional connection. I read a book recently where the physical connection was intense—like, superbly done!—but the emotional connection was severely lacking. That ultimately made it feel like the characters were only focused on sex and not getting to know each other. Don’t make this mistake! While physical attraction is important, emotional bonds tie characters together. The physical connection can make for fun spicy scenes and certainly plays a role in believable chemistry, but the non-physical bond is what makes for a believable Happy Ever After (HEA).
Let the character’s minds wander. If you’re writing in first person, there can be moments where they’re thinking of the other character. Do they want to kiss them? Are they reflecting on a past conversation and how good it felt to confess something to this other person? They may not initially know what to do with these wandering thoughts, but this tells the reader that there is just something about this other character that they can’t shake from their mind.
Watch your pacing. Unless you’re writing insta-love, the characters’ feelings for each other should build and build. It might start with a recognition from the main character in one scene that the other character is good-looking, in another scene they may have a disagreement and have to work toward what feels like an impossible solution together (and it’s a satisfying success when they do), in yet another scene there may be some kind of emotional confession of a character’s past…you get the idea. You as the writer know that the emotional confession will happen, but it can’t happen in chapter one.
Take a unique approach. Chemistry isn’t all about grand gestures or steamy moments. Sometimes, the quiet, unexpected interactions are the ones that reveal a deeper connection. In my debut novel, The Half of It, June and Aidan connect over the conflicting, hard feelings they have over the respective losses in their lives—June’s late mother and Aidan’s late brother. While the conversation is heavy, it ends with them laughing almost to the point of tears. I love this moment a lot, because it shows how these two understand each other in a way that no one else does.
Tease the desire. Two characters finding their way to one another does not happen in a straight line—they will have moments of emotional and physical closeness as well as times they’ll push the other away along the journey. There’s a moment in The Half of It when June and Aidan are having a physically close moment (!) in public (!!), but June is sick and ends up turning around and throwing up in to a bush. Sexy moment destroyed. But giving readers a taste of the closeness to varying degrees, over and over, hits home that the feelings are not going away.
Put your manuscript away. This is common writing advice that I hate, but it really does work: after writing a draft, take some time away from it. It’s so much easier to find places where the chemistry needs tweaking when you return to the book with fresh eyes. I don’t like taking breaks, but I recently returned to a manuscript after a few months away, and I was able to quickly see the places where the characters’ chemistry needed work.
Listen to your gut. Trust your instincts. As you reread what you’ve written, if something feels off about the chemistry—maybe it’s forced or some of the vulnerability in later scenes doesn’t feel earned—then dig deeper to understand why.
Get feedback from others. Beta readers and critique partners provide invaluable insight into whether the chemistry you’ve written feels true and authentic. They’ll let you know what is and isn’t working, and this gives you a great way to figure out what you need to tweak. I’ve found critique partners through classes I’ve taken and Critique Match, and I hire beta readers from Romance Writing Facebook groups or Fiverr.
How to Avoid the Common Pitfalls of Writing Romantic Tension Between Characters
Pacing is one of the hardest things to nail when it comes to writing romantic tension. I personally think it’s helpful to figure out in each scene how Character A feels about Character B, and vice versa. Looking at that as a whole helps me determine if there are spots where the chemistry is fizzling out or coming on too strong without a good foundation. If you know at what percentage in the book you want certain moments to happen—a recognition of a character’s own feelings, a first kiss, sex, etc.—then you can also work backwards in your manuscript to figure out where to place certain beats.
Another mistake, more common in spicy romance, is focusing too much on physical attraction. Noticing each other’s appearance is natural, but that’s not the only aspect of attraction. Physical attraction is so subjective too, but the more emotional side of connection—being vulnerable, having common goals, shared values, etc.—often speaks to a wider audience. If you can envision your characters 10 or 20 years in the future, would they realistically be together? What would their days be like when the passion has worn off? If imagining that leaves you with an unclear vision in your head, then you may want to strengthen how these two connect outside of the bedroom.
I’ve also already mentioned it a couple times, but remember the power of conflict. Chemistry in a book will fall flat and feel less exciting if there isn’t something at stake or some sense of urgency. A chapter here or there where we get to calm down and just watch the characters interact and have a good time is fine, of course—but for the most part, you want the story to be propelled forward. Give your characters lots of obstacles to overcome, because those challenges let their connection shine. If you’re struggling in this department, I definitely recommend meddling in your characters’ lives (*cue the cackling*). My “What is the worst possible thing that could happen right now” question can help complicate things and make that HEA not so easily won!
Last, avoid overly contrived or too-convenient scenarios—which, I know, seems a little at odds with my “worst possible thing” question. But make sure your Worst Possible Thing is still somehow be grounded in the story. Forced situations written solely to create chemistry come off as inauthentic. Something that I think helps here a lot is foreshadowing or, as Romance Editor, Author, and Instructor Jeanne DeVita calls it in her classes, “breadcrumbs.” If it’s going to be a big surprise in the middle of your book that one of the character’s exes comes back to town, then the ex should be mentioned at previous points in the story and play some role in the growth or development of said character. Don’t just throw them in for the sake of making the love interest jealous. You should drop hints for those bigger reveals, and in doing so readers will look back and connect the dots, understanding that this was part of the plan all along, even if they didn’t predict it.
I also think early readers are helpful with pointing out scenes that feel a little too easy. With my free novella, Match Made in the Maldives, a few critique partners mentioned that the main characters, Luna and Finley, were always brought together by circumstance and not by choice. During revisions, I needed to work in some moments where they purposefully sought each other out. That helped make the desire much more evident, even if they played off looking for the other person as no big deal. Just remember to keep your moments as organic as possible, and chemistry will develop naturally through character interactions.
The Magic of Chemistry
Mastering the art of believable chemistry is a journey any romance author would want to go on. Red-hot chemistry is about more than just the physical allure—it’s about weaving a connection that feels alive and electric on the page. That kind of connection is what lies at the heart of a romance book, and when done right, it’s absolutely magical.
