Michelle will be giving away a copy of her book, Still The One to one winner. Comment to enter.

Thanks so much for having me at Romance Junkies!

Ahhh…..Valentine’s Day–a time for love, affection and perhaps a bit of bone-crushing pressure to live up to expectations?

There are two distinct camps around February 14^th–those who relish the grand gestures and gifts involved – whether candy, jewelry, flowers or a romantic date night. Then there are people who maintain that it’s a commercialized holiday and balk at participating. I’m somewhere in the middle. I have to admit that after a couple of kids and decade of marriage the lingerie thing doesn’t hold a lot of appeal, flowers feel like one more thing I’m responsible to keep alive and I’m pretty self-sufficient when it comes to keeping a decent supply of chocolate in the house.

But I still like a little wooing (what women doesn’t?) which made me think about what romance means to me. Okay, I write romance so spend a lot of time trying to create a perfect love on the page. In my book, Still The One, there’s a scene where the heroine (Lainey) comes home from a long, exhausting day to find that the hero (Ethan) has gone out of his way to leave her favorite meal in the fridge, even though it’s not something he personally likes. Still The One is a reunion romance so it’s been over 10 years since Lainey and Ethan have been together and the fact that he remembered what she liked and brought it to her–while not a grand gesture–was one that was deeply meaningful to Lainey.

I realized I wrote that scene because that’s the kind of romance that means the most to me as well. Something that is personal and thoughtful. In that way, my hubby can knock it out of the park because he knows me so well. Even if it’s just a piece of my pie from the local bakery it’s special because he takes the time to stop and pick what he knows is my favorite. This Valentine’s Day I’m making him a batch of breakfast burritos for the freezer – he leaves for work at the crack of dawn so will be able to quickly grab and heat something yummy before he leaves. Not that either of us would say no to being jetted off to a tropical island but since that isn’t our current reality, we make the most of the love at hand.

What about you? Do you like the traditional romantic gestures or put your own unique spin on Valentine’s Day? Comment for a chance to win my February Harlequin Special Edition release, Still The One.

About the Book:

Only a distress call could summon Lainey Morgan back to the small hometown she had run from, leaving her family—and the man she adored—standing at the altar. Yet even fame as a globe-trotting photojournalist couldn’t erase the pain of losing the baby Ethan Daniels had been marrying her for. Still, he always had been the best veterinarian around—and the stray dog that had attached himself to her needed attention. Almost as badly as she did…

As for Ethan, Lainey was driving him crazy all over again, and ten years away had only made him want her more. She had done the unforgivable, true, but he was beginning to discover that she had suffered more losses than even he knew about. Both of them had done some growing in the past ten years. Maybe this time, forever could be within their grasp….

Read an Excerpt

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