Pheromones: A Monster Romance Field Guide
The Scent of Longing
It never stops being fun when authors play with real-life biology to add depth, drama, and spice. And few biological tools are as seductive or as versatile as pheromones. It’s not much of a stretch to bring them into Romance. After all, the entire point of pheromones is to send a message. In genres where body language can speak louder than words, they’re an easy win.
Whose Nose Knows?
Humans produce pheromones, and they’re often linked to sexual attraction. That makes this motif fair game across every Romance subgenre and not just the ones with claws and fangs. You don’t need to write a shifter or alien to make pheromones feel authentic. Imagine a love interest getting a whiff of fresh sweat on a T-shirt after a run, and suddenly that scene is doing a lot more narrative work.
That said, a heightened sense of smell can make pheromones far more narratively potent. This is where werewolves and other shifters come in. With their animal instincts and acute senses, they’re the poster children for pheromone-based tension. You can’t throw a stick in an omegaverse novel without hitting a scene where an alpha catches a whiff of an omega’s need. If you made an omegaverse trope bingo card, “the scent hits and everything changes” would be your free square.
Why Does This Work So Well?
Tension
There’s nothing quite like a contradiction between what a character says and what their body reveals. If a main character says, “I’m not interested,” but their love interest can smell their arousal? That’s delicious tension. It is classic, undeniable, and full of slow-burn potential.
Immersion
Romance is an escape, and immersion is a major part of achieving that goal. Rich, sensory writing pulls readers deeper into the story, and we cannot forget the importance of smell. Describing what the character hears, tastes, and smells can transform a scene from readable to magnetic.
Plot
For authors ready to go to the next level in story-crafting, pheromones can be a full-on plot device. For example…
What if your main character catches their lover’s scent and is overwhelmed. Not in a swoony way, but in a run away and make bad choices way?
What if a character’s pregnancy changes their scent, and someone else figures it out before they do, turning a private revelation into a chaotic power shift?
Final Thoughts
In speculative romance, pheromones are fertile ground for drama and intimacy. It is like garlic. You can throw that stuff into about anything and it makes the dish taste so much better. Maybe garlic isn’t the best comparison, but y’all get the gist.
Selected Further Reading
Monster Pucker by Clio Evans and Ashley Bennett (bonus winter holiday book ❄️)
The Orc Sworn series by Finley Fenn (speaking of bingo cards, referencing Finley Fenn could my my blog’s free space)
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