I - Blogging Challenge "Innocence and Virginity in Romance Novels"

A to Z Challenge is posting every day in April except Sundays (we get those off for good behavior.) And since there are 26 days, that matches the 26 letters of the alphabet. On April 1, blog about something that begins with the letter “A.” April 2 is “B,” April 3 is “C,” and so on.

Today's letter is I
Innocence and Virginity in Romance Novels

I admit it. I am a total fan of books where the protagonist loses their virginity. I need to me more clear about that statement. I am a fan of where an ADULT protagonist loses their virginity. I have no use for child/youth virginity stories. 

Lets start by me sharing some of my favourites. 

My #1 all time favourite virgin was Jamie Fraser in Outlander. 

"Does it bother you that I'm not a virgin?" He hesitated a moment before answering.
"Well, no," he said slowly, "so long as it doesna bother you that I am." He grinned at my drop-jawed expression, and backed toward the door.
"Reckon one of us should know what they're doing," he said. The door closed softly behind him; clearly the courtship was over.” 




It is so rare when an author makes the hero of the story the virgin. I have no idea exactly why I am drawn to those virginity stories. However in Outlander Jamie losing his virginity is not the main plot. It is but a blip in the story really. I just makes Jamie seem more endearing. It stands for his strong character and his values. In his young adult life (22 yrs old), taking into account the historical times, he just didn't feel he had anything substantial (land/money/protection) to offer a woman. Jamie had plenty of opportunity to shed his virgin status, he just opted not to bed prostitutes.  

Sir Mark Turner in Courtney Milan's Unclaimed just may be the only other male virgin I have read about. Sir Mark even wrote a book, Practical Guide for Men on Chasity which maked him a celebrity. Just like Jamie Fraser in Outlander, Sir Mark may be a virgin but he is no saint. He just wants to lose his virginity in the right circumstances. I enjoyed this story a lot and award 5 stars. 

“Do you think that an eyeful of breast and buttocks will have me so besotted that I will forget all my principles? I'm a virgin, Mrs Farleigh. Not an innocent. I've never been an innocent.” 

Lisa Kleypas and her book Devil in Winter was another fabulous virgin story. Sebastian in this story is such a rouge and despicable. There really isn't much to like. Evie is sweet and is desperate and as such makes a deal that Sebastian cannot refuse. 

“Sebastian left the bed and went to the washstand on unsteady legs. He felt dazed, uncertain, as if he were the one who had just lost his virginity instead of Evangeline. He had long thought that there was nothing new for him to experience. He had been wrong. For a man whose lovemaking was a practiced blend of technique and choreography, it had been a shock to find himself at the spontaneous mercy of his own passions. He had meant to withdraw at the last moment, but he had been so mindless with desire that he’d been unable to control his body. Damn. That had never happened before. Fumbling with the clean linen towel at the washstand, he made a project of dampening it with fresh water. By now his breathing had returned to normal, but he wasn't at all calm. After what had just happened, he should have been satiated for hours. But it hadn't been enough. He had experienced the longest, hardest, most wrenching climax of his life…and yet the need to have her again, open her, bury himself inside her, had not faded. It was madness. But why? Why with her?” 


Do you like virgin stories too? What are some of your favourites?