How Romance Authors Spend Valentine's Day

Do you ever get curious about how your favorite romance author who delivers on the stories that have us falling in love day after day spend the the most romantic day of the year?

Curious about how romance authors spend their Valentine's day? Found out [exclusively] here!

I asked a few authors and I honestly teared up at their responses. So sweet and goodness, I wish I wasn’t spending the day single, yet again. (But I think I’m really okay being single most days, but these stories.)

Carolyn Brown, Cowboy Brave

Valentines Day makes us think of chocolates, roses and romance, right? That sounds like the happy-ever after-ending to a good romance book. The hero and heroine have overcome all the obstacles that an author can throw at them, and the time has come for a commitment. In real life though, that happy-ever-after brings with it another set of obstacles: finances, raising children, jobs, sticking out the hard times and enjoying the good times. I still have the Whitman’s Sampler box that held my first box of chocolates from Mr. B, along with the sweet letter that went with it. They came all the way from Germany where he was stationed in the military. After more than half a century, Mr. B and I still enjoy Valentine’s Day—not with chocolates and roses, but just spending the evening together. Maybe I cook. Maybe we go out to a restaurant. The important thing is that we can still say, “I Love You,” and mean it, not only on Valentine’s Day but every day of the year.

Grace Burrows, My One and Only Duke

I will spend Valentine’s Day in the company of a handsome, honorable gentleman whose entire goal in life is to be worthy of the happily ever after his lady dreams of. In other words, it will be a typical writing day for me. Once I get my words done in the morning, I will enjoy a couple of hours in the company of another handsome, honorable gentleman over at the horse barn. We’ll walk, trot, canter and maybe gallop, and then I will feed him a carrot, give him a hug, and go home to read over the pages I wrote in the morning. So many heroes, so little time, that’s me!

R.C. Ryan, The Cowboy Next Door

After a day of writing, we’ll spend Valentine’s Day sharing a quiet dinner at our favorite restaurant. But at some point in the evening we’ll return in our minds to that other day, early in our marriage, when we’d planned a special celebration: sitter arranged, reservations at a restaurant we could barely afford, a pretty dress I’d been saving for a special occasion, and a love letter I’d labored over for days. Then, reality stepped in. After taking great pains with my hair, I called him to say I’d had to cancel the sitter because our infant son was feverish and teething. He admitted he’d been putting off a call to me. He couldn’t get home to help. He had to work late. hen he finally arrived home, looking rumpled and frustrated, he found me walking the floor, the only way I could get the baby to sleep. He took the baby from my arms and told me to get off my feet for a few minutes. I slumped into a chair, tucked my feet under me, and didn’t wake until after midnight. Alarmed I jumped up to find on the kitchen table a cup of my favorite tea, long-chilled, a small heart-shaped box of chocolates and a faded red rose stuck in a water glass. With tears in my eyes I crossed the room to thank my husband and found him sprawled on the sofa, still cradling our infant son to his chest, and both of them sound asleep, my love-letter stuck between them. In that moment my heart overflowed with so much love, I thought it might burst.

Since that day, we’ve spent Valentine’s Day at fancy restaurants, at a secluded cabin in Northern Michigan’s ski country, and even an exotic suite in Las Vegas. But nothing can come close to what we shared that long-ago night.

BEST VALENTINE’S DAY EVER.

Don’t forget to download your Valentine’s day cards!