[...] it Romance? and Jessica of Racy Romance Reviews have both written wonderfully snarky posts about smell. Romance heroes and heroines seem to recognize the most obscure fragrances. Authors also have odd [...]

Has someone brought up the “smells like sunshine” one?
What does sunshine smell like?

This is something I say to my boys when they come home from the pool – it is the combined scent of sunscreen and chlorine, which evokes a reminder of my own childhood days spent hanging out at the pool. Summer and sunshine – what a lovely smell.

As for scents in a romance novel – at times they are well thought out and evoke a wonderful smile or memory that triggers that smell. At other times, you think whaaaat???? Like most of the others who posted, I wonder about the use of some emotions as smells. Of course saying “he smelled like lust” brings to mind the scent of sex and good or bad, you know what the author is trying to paint a picture of.

Some invoked smells though make me “ew” – roses for instance make me think of old ladies and lavender is too musty for my taste. Sandlewood though – yum, kind of leathery, kind of musky, kind of smoky, definitely a turn on for me.

I don’t mind the use of smells to create a scene, as long as they are not too obscure so as to make you wonder what exactly that smells like. Or to out there and it makes you think someone needs to bathe – quickly. Whoo ha’s smelling like peaches? Just what has our heroine been up to?

[...] the sense of smell. If you haven’t read it yet, treat yourself and go over to check out  Smells Like Romance Spirit: On the super noses of our heroines and heroes. It’s worth the [...]

And I like the smell of laundry, but I don’t think it’s a very “sexy” scent. Very homey, though.

And really, if you’re falling in love with a guy, you should like the way he smells. If the smell is off-putting, you know you’ve got a villain in the scene.

But particularly in historical romances, scents like lavender, rose, verbena, and bergamot were used extensively to keep clothing and stored items and even the air smelling nicer. No Febreze in those days.

So I’m defending the “smells like” scene. But it’s sensual, so just like the sex scenes, verrrry easy to go wrong.

Factoid of the day: bergamot is the stuff that makes Earl Grey tea different from regular tea.

Has someone brought up the “smells like sunshine” one?
What does sunshine smell like?

The only thing I can figure is that smell of laundry dried on a clothesline in the sun … does this mean the person is being compared to, um, laundry?

I agree with Tumperkin again. I’m also fed up with the number of people who, on threads about cleanliness in romance, insist that unshaven legs (on women) are disgusting/unclean.

So glad I am not the only one with that annoyance.
Though maybe it is more the women never caught out with the stubble..
Another being the Virgins or determinedly single ladies who have brazillians??
WTF is with that??

Sorry I got slightly off topic there.
Has someone brought up the “smells like sunshine” one?
What does sunshine smell like?

I like my windows to the soul to have curtains, thank you.

Now that’s a great future post title.

I agree with Tumperkin again. I’m also fed up with the number of people who, on threads about cleanliness in romance, insist that unshaven legs (on women) are disgusting/unclean. In addition, even though I’d noticed that mouths tend to smell a little bit stale first thing in the morning, I didn’t have a concept of “morning breath” until I started reading US romance blogs, and I certainly didn’t realise it was supposed to be a problem which is so vile it stops people finding each other attractive “the morning after.”

I’m from the US, so I could describe to you the exact commercial that perpetuated that particular idea. :- I always find it kind of ridiculous, myself.

Some smells are overused (sandalwood, I’m smelling at you

That reminded me of John Masefield’s poem which begins like this:

Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir,
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.

The next time a character smells of sandalwood and tastes of wine I’ll be convinced they’re a “barque of frailty”

I’m waiting for the truly liberated romance h/h who thinks, [...] “Smells like living organic matter!”

I wonder if that’s most likely to happen in a zombie romance.

And some might be metaphors — “the smell of fear” is certainly used across fiction and is not to be taken literally.

I’m not so sure about that. People do start to sweat when they feel frightened:

When threatened, many animals release chemicals as a warning signal to members of their own species, who in turn react to the signals and take action. Research by Rice University psychologist Denise Chen suggests a similar phenomenon occurs in humans. (Science Daily)

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it’s a shame that so much romance is so sanitised. I realise that a lot of readers don’t want to face up to the reality of what people smell like when they’re having sex (hint: it’s not ‘honey’ or ’sweet cream’) but some of us would like a more authentic reading experience.

I agree with Tumperkin again. I’m also fed up with the number of people who, on threads about cleanliness in romance, insist that unshaven legs (on women) are disgusting/unclean. In addition, even though I’d noticed that mouths tend to smell a little bit stale first thing in the morning, I didn’t have a concept of “morning breath” until I started reading US romance blogs, and I certainly didn’t realise it was supposed to be a problem which is so vile it stops people finding each other attractive “the morning after.”

Maybe they smelled like they hadn’t bathed in a week

It does depend on how hot it is, how much exercise the person has been taking, and whether they keep the smelliest parts of their body washed, but people don’t all automatically smell rank just because they haven’t showered/had a bath for a while.

All in all, the impression I get from romances and the threads about smells in romances is that men are occasionally allowed to smell of sweat and have body hair, but women should not. Heroines may sweat, but judging by the examples Tumperkin gave in another post here, the heroes sweat more, and smell more, whereas perhaps heroine-sweat just glistens a bit during/after she’s had sex and adds to the generally high humidity level. In general, outside sex scenes, my impression is that even a hero’s sweat tends to be referred to euphemistically e.g., as Meri mentioned, a smell that “was uniquely his.”