Yes or No to Valentine’s Day?

By Kimberly Quinton

Have you made Valentine’s Day plans? Are you going for the traditional romantic date or are you doing something different? Maybe a weekend adventure or a surprise evening for your special someone? I love holidays and am having so much fun plotting my Holiday Hearts series. Christmas has it’s own magic that surrounds the season, so it was easy to get into the romance and emotion when writing HerWish Before Christmas. Valentine’s Day is unique and presented it’s own challenges when I wrote Cupid’s Promise.

I started the book knowing who the main characters were and that the story would revolve around a lingerie store and Lena would have to put Marcus through a series of romance related tests. Everything else fell into place while I was pantsing my way through it.

When Lena and Marcus agree to work together, he claims to know exactly what women want when it comes to romance and that figuring it out is easy. Of course, Lena has to try to prove him wrong, but her tests backfire on her.

I had so much fun thinking about what I would put them through as they grew into a couple. Marcus does pretty well, he wasn’t joking when he said he knew how to woo a woman. Especially in what I consider the “light romance” activities, like picking a bouquet of flowers or cooking a romantic meal. But Lena pushes him and he eventually has to open up to genuine emotion instead of keeping his feeling superficial and easily controlled.

I have to confess, my husband and I have been married for almost eighteen years and we don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day. But I love a good date story and I’m a sucker for big romantic gestures. My Dear Hubby won me over when he sang to me on my eighteenth birthday! And that’s a part of what I put in Lena’s personality—the view that romance isn’t about what you give, it’s about the intent and the sincerity of the gesture. If what you’re doing is from the heart and the intent is to give your loved one pleasure or show your love—it’s romantic. Unless it’s a fatal attraction kind of thing but that’s a blog for a different day!

What I would love to know is what do you consider a romantic date for Valentine’s Day? Or are you anti-Valentine’s? I’ve got a copy of HerWish Before Christmas, Holiday Hearts #1 for one lucky commenter.