Match the Author With the Love Scene

Posted on February 14, 2006

In celebration of Valentine's Day, we're sharing question #24 from GQ magazine's new quiz about Vice President Dick Cheney entitled "You Don't Know Dick." The full quiz appears in the March, 2006 issue.

24. Which of These Passages is Not Excerpted From a Lynne Cheney Novel?

[ A ] "I was still under the impression that his taste in extramarital sex ran to patrician bluebloods, the discreet wives and daughters of America's ruling dynasties. But when I saw Romana at the top of the townhouse stairs in a flesh-colored peignoir, things fell into place."

[ B ] "He could feel her heart beneath his hands. He moved his hands slowly lower still and she arched her back to help him. He held her breasts in his hands. Oddly, he thought, the lower one might be larger. One of her breasts now hung loosely in his hand near his face and he knew not how best to touch her."

[ C ] "Let us go away together, away from the anger and imperatives of men. We shall find ourselves a secluded bower where they dare not venture. There will only be the two of us, and-in the evenings I shall read to you while you go work your cross-stitch in the firelight. And then we shall go to bed, our bed, my dearest girl."

And the answer is...? It's B. Both A and C were written by Lynne Cheney. B is an excerpt from the latest novel by Dick Cheney's indicted former chief of staff, Scooter Libby. And yes, in "C" that's a female character talking to another female character.

If you're looking for someone who knows how to write a hot love scene, you'd be better off skipping the novels of politicians (and their wives) and diving into one of Marjorie M. Liu's books. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

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