Unwrapping the Kiss - Is a Kiss Just a Kiss or Is it Much More?

The final book in the Vamp City series by Pamela Palmer has finally released. OF BLOOD AND PASSION is an exciting, action-packed, thrilling, edge of the seat nail-biter but oh, has it some great kissing too. If you haven’t read this series yet…do…it’s amazing!

When I think of a kiss though, I’m reminded of one of my favorite songs…As Time Goes By, originally written for the 1931 Broadway musical EVERYBODY’S WELCOME by Herman Hupfeld, but made famous in CASABLANCA when sung by Dooley Wilson. Just as Ilsa can’t forget that song, she can’t forget the kisses she shared with Rick…but is a kiss just a kiss, or is it more?

There are so many types of kisses to be shared—sweet kisses between a parent and child, friendly kisses between friends, and those sweet, inviting, tender, yet hesitant kisses between lovers, which can turn into turbulent, fiery, passionate, and enthralling experiences of which love songs, and romance novels are written.

So when you and your lover come together as one, lips teasing, and caressing before becoming locked together, tongues entwined, and then your bodies eventually wrapping around each other in rapture…time melts away. Passion flares, and the more you kiss, the more the passion builds. 

Wow, that’s some mighty fine kissing…right? Have you ever wondered why it is we kiss?

When reading a good romance there’s nothing more inviting, scintillating, and teasing to our imaginations than a good first kiss, a breath-stealing seduction kiss, or a farewell kiss making our hearts ache with desperation.

Well, I was fascinated to learn that women and men kiss for different reasons…at least scientifically. It seems a woman kisses a man so she might collect information about him as a possible mate and a man kisses a woman…well, he does it to woo her into his bed. Why doesn’t that surprise us, ladies?

Kissing has special effects on the brain as it stimulates all the senses. A kiss allows us to see, smell, taste, hear, and of course, feel our partner.

She kisses him to collect information and he kisses her to seduce her.

Both sexes kiss to become emotionally closer. It seems our lips have a large number of neurons, which pick up even the slightest of messages. When our lips touch and take in all this amazing information, five of the twelve cranial nerves then escort these intense sensations to the brain by way of the spinal cord, brain stem, and thalamus to the somatosensory cortex. 
Perhaps that’s why a really hot kiss can send shivers down our spines, eh? Amazingly enough, a vast majority of this brain region is devoted to processing sensations from around the nose and mouth, which gives our lips and tongue their exquisite sensitivity.

Kissing affects more than just our senses though, it also boosts our blood pressure and increases our pulse rate. It dilates our pupils, deepens our breathing, and raises levels of oxytocin in our brains which is the chemical associated with attachment, trust, and bonding. But kissing also lowers the levels of cortisol in our bodies which reduces stress. So kissing not only brings us pleasure, enables trust, and creates attachment, but it also relaxes us. 

Sounds good to me!

Kissing can and will create an emotional bond for both sexes. But what a woman collects from kissing a man goes far beyond sight, smell, taste, and touch, she also obtains essential data about certain genes in the immune system and by using this information can decide subconsciously whether or not a man will make a good mate. Wild, huh?

Perhaps that’s the reason so many women say that a first kiss tells it all.

So what about a man? What is behind his wanting to kiss?

Well, he collects a bit of information too…it seems the scent of a woman’s breath can tell him about her fertility. Isn’t biology grand? But the main reason for him kissing a woman still lays grounded in his desire to seduce her. It seems men prefer wetter kisses because his saliva is loaded with testosterone and by transferring it to a woman, he can create a sexual craving in her. The sloppier the kiss, the more testosterone the man transmits and in turn, the more she’ll desire sex with him.

Nature sure does make it hard for us to say no, doesn’t it?

In the end though, both agree that a good kiss brings a man and woman emotionally closer together. A good, tender, passionate, sensual, and sensitive kiss can lead both to decide each might be a suitable partner, spouse, and co-parent. On the flipside, a bad first kiss can kill a possible relationship faster than poison—a very good reason not to eat garlic and onions on a first date. Like I said…it’s all about that first kiss.

Over ninety percent of people around the world kiss but even in cultures where men and women find kissing disgusting, lovers instead lick, rub, suck, nip and blow on each other’s faces prior to making love. Nearly all kinds of other creatures kiss too, or caress around the mouth. Bonobos, our closest chimp relatives, kiss with a deep tongue kiss. Dogs lick. Moles rub noses. Elephants put their trunks into one another’s mouths. Albatross tap their bills together. So throughout nature, kissing is natural but in the end, a kiss can be the start of something wonderful. So perhaps a kiss isn't just a kiss but wonderfully, so much more...

“The kiss started out tender, a caress, a promise, before slowly catching fire. Within moments, his mouth was plundering hers, and hers his, flames bursting to life all down the length of her body and deep, deep inside. Her breath grew ragged, her flesh burning as his lips trailed across her cheek, and down to the base of her neck.”

                                 –OF BLOOD AND PASSION by Pamela Palmer

See what I mean?

Happy Reading Everyone!

   

   

Unwrapping a Review of OF BLOOD AND PASSION, a Vamp City novel by Pamela Palmer

So tell me, did you read the first two books in the Vamp City series by Pamela Palmer? I love this paranormal romance series. It’s like nothing I’ve ever read before. The world of Vamp City is a place of magic, horror, and lost salvation. A BLOOD SEDUCTION unnerved me for weeks, and A KISS OF BLOOD left me yearning for more and for answers to so many questions…but it’s finally here! Or will be next week. OF BLOOD AND PASSION, the final book in the Vamp City series by Pamela Palmer is releasing on July 14^th and my darlings, it is most certainly worth the long wait to find out what happens next. Nope, you won’t get any spoilers out of me, so don’t ask.

***eARC provided by author in exchange for an honest and unscripted review

Blurb for OF BLOOD AND PASSION:

They call her the last sorceress: Quinn Lennox, the only hope of the vampires who are trapped in Vamp City watching their dark otherworld slowly die. But an ancient curse shackles the magic Quinn needs to save not only the vampires she’s come to call friends, come to care for, come to love, but her beloved brother as well.

Arturo Mazza, the ruthless vampire who once betrayed Quinn, and has since waged a steady and relentless war upon her heart, vows to help her break the curse. But when the mission requires them to face Cristoff Gonzaga—the brutal and vicious vampire to whom Arturo once pledged undying fealty—Quinn must find a trust in Arturo that will test the very foundations of her soul.

~*~             ~*~             ~*~              ~*~           ~*~

Quinn and Arturo, as well as Micah and Kassius, have teamed up to protect Neo and his underground railroad for humans escaping Vamp City, find a cure for Zack who is suffering a magic sickness, and to form some plan to save Vamp City. Quinn understands she holds the power to save and restore Vamp City and although at one time, she had no desire to save it, now she fears its demise and the deaths of her new friends. After trying to restore the magic and failing, something miraculous is beginning to happen—many of the vampires are regaining their souls and with them, their respect and caring for humans and Slavas.

Arturo is hoping his old friend and master, Cristoff, will regain his soul as well so the evil vampire will cease his search, and destroy mission against Quinn, the woman Arturo has come to love. Although Quinn is still wary of Arturo’s loyalty to her over that to Cristoff, she puts her trust in him once more. She just hopes her trust is well placed or everyone in Vamp City will die…or worse.

Pamela Palmer created a terrifying, brutal, and sadistic world in Vamp City. While reading A BLOOD SEDUCTION, I couldn’t help but wonder how such a sweet and romance minded writer could conjure such ultimate evil. After reading A KISS OF BLOOD, I knew that within the crumbling magic of Vamp City, there lies a world of honor, goodness, and caring, which just needed the right person to bring it out into the light. Quinn Lennox is that person. Arturo had begun to emerge from his not so likable persona whom we first met, and we began to admire and even fall a little in love with the not always nice vampire.

In OF BLOOD AND PASSION, we get answers to questions brought up in the first two books, even as more questions emerge but which are brilliantly answered as well, and then with a final battle we learn who stands honorably with Quinn the sorceress, and whether or not Vamp City can be saved.

Pamela introduces us to more new fabulous secondary characters, as well as new aspects of this magical city, new dangers, lots of action, angst, and edge of the seat nail biting excitement. This is an amazing adventure with an incredible ending.

It’s been over two years since the release of the second book in the series, A KISS OF BLOOD and frankly, I was beginning to think we’d never learn what happened to Quinn, Zack, and Lily but the wait is nearly over for everyone, and thank you, Pamela, it was worth the wait.

I highly recommend that if you are already a fan of the Vamp City novels, you will want to grab a copy of the final book, OF BLOOD AND PASSION by Pamela Palmer as soon as it’s available. If you’ve never tapped this amazing series, start at the beginning and be prepared to have your hair stand on end a bit, be fearful to turn out the light after reading, and to be blown away by the intensity and creative world that is Vamp City.

Each book has held its own power, life force so to speak, its own magic, but I think OF BLOOD AND PASSION might just be the best one of the three. Yes, it gives us answers. Yes, it gives us an ending and closure but more importantly, it brings us what we look for in any romance…it brings us a complete and total feeling of satisfaction when it’s over. I’m actually sad to see this series close, but the feeling I felt at the end made it…magical.

Happy Reading Everyone!

OF BLOOD AND PASSION, a Vamp City novel by Pamela Palmer, self-publish, release date – July 14, 2015, available in ebook formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobobooks. (I'll get the other links for you on release day)

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