What Do Women Want? by @JoanReeves #RomanceGems

I've been thinking about a married couple who are perilously close to splitting apart—except the husband doesn't know this.

No, I'm not talking about me and my husband. *g*

**Giveaway Alert**

**Details at End of Post**

Actually, the man and woman whose relationship is on the skids are imaginary—fictional characters who are enticing me to write their story.

You see authors think about characters as if they're the people next door.

Back to my story idea. When dense hubby learns he's skating on thin ice, he's bewildered and asks, "What is it you want?"

This made me laugh because I immediately thought about what Sigmund Freud famously said, "The great question that has never been answered, and which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, is 'What does a woman want?'"

I'm pretty sure Freud never asked his wife that question even though he and she had been married 53 years.

If he had, Mrs. Freud could have told him precisely what she wanted whether it was "Pick up after yourself, Siggy," or "Romance me into bed."

What Women Want

The women characters we create have wants hidden deep inside. Allowing her to voice her wants and needs is part of her growth from the beginning to the end.

In my novel Romeo and Judy Anne, high school principal Judy Anne Palmer wants to stop being the oldest virgin north of the Rio Grande.

Her attempt to accomplish that kicks off the story action, but what she really wants is a real life. To do that, she needs forgiveness. From herself.

Luckily, her one-night Romeo isn't one-night material, and that's when Judy Anne's life gets very complicated.

What Women Say About What They Want

"Every woman wants a man who'll fall in love with her soul as well as her body." —Rainbow Rowell

"What women want is what men want. They want respect." —Marilyn vos Savant

"Women want to see the truth. They don't want to see some perfect girl." —Reese Witherspoon

"Women want love to be a novel, men want it to be a short story." —Daphne du Maurier

"Women want to talk first, connect first, then have sex. For men, sex is the connection. Sex is man's language of intimacy." —Esther Perel

"Women want to be treated as equals, not sequels." —Kathy Lette

"Many men honestly do not know what women want, and women honestly do not know why men find what they want so hard to comprehend and deliver." —Deborah Tannen

"I don't think any woman wants to be known for being beautiful or busty. I think you want to be known for who you are." —Jamie Lee Curtis

"Every woman wants to be first to someone, sometime in her life and that desire is the explanation for many strange things women do." —Eleanor Roosevelt

Dave Barry sums it up very nicely.

"What women want: To be loved, to be listened to, to be desired, to be respected, to be needed, to be trusted, and sometimes, just to be held."

Judy Anne doesn't know she wants that, but she definitely needs it. Romeo and Judy Anne, ebook available on Kindle and audio on Audible.

Popup Giveaway

Right now, what do you want? Leave your answer in Comments along with your email addy written out. (Keep it PG 13.) *g*

All of the eligible comments will be entered in a Random Drawing. The winner will be contacted by email.

This Giveaway is open through midnight, Thursday, January 23, 2020. Winner will be announced by January 25, 2020.

The Prize if Winner is in Continental U.S.A.

A spiral bound journal in which you can write a list of what you want and show it to your honey. Forget hints. Just show your sweetie the list. Or not. *LOL*

The Prize if Winner is outside the Continental U.S.A.

An ebook copy of Romeo and Judy Anne.

Oh, I need to finish the Dave Barry quotation. Being one of the greatest humorists ever, he ended his answer to what women want with what men way: "What men want: Tickets to the World Series."