August is Romance Awareness Month

August is Romance Awareness Month – the month to add a little romance back into your life. Whether that means special date nights with your significant other or curling up with a romance novel or romantic movie, set aside some time to focus on romance. I blogged recently about some of my favorite romantic movies, romcons, and classic romantic novels, just to give you a few ideas. 

I thought Urban Dictionary had the best definition of romance: 

True romance is doing something special or unexpected for someone you love, even though you don't have to. Romance isn't a greeting card, it isn't Valentine's Day, it isn't a box of chocolates, and it certainly isn't a dozen roses (unless you like that sort of thing). Real romance is not what modern society has been taught to think it is. Real romance isn't manufactured. It is completely individual. Romance is for showing the person you love that you're thinking about them. It shouldn't feel forced. There are no limits to romance; it can be shown by a handwritten note, by going for a walk, or even by making someone a sandwich. Romance is something simple and sweet that reminds your partner why they fell in love with you in the first place.

So, in that same vein, let's talk about some ways to add a little romance back into your life. Romance authors like writing about creative ways the hero and heroine can show how much they care for each other, and it’s often the little things that count. For instance, actively listening to your significant other is a perfect way to show you care. So are simple gestures. If you’re making yourself a cup of coffee, ask your SO if he’d like one too. And don’t wait for special occasions – stash a greeting card in a drawer or under a pillow for him to find, just because.

In Rescuing Lacey, the heroine shows her attentiveness to the hero’s interests when she gives him a beautiful watercolor set. In return, he shows he’s paying attention to their conversations when he gives her a very meaningful Christmas gift. 

Sometimes showing your love means giving, what looks like to outsiders, to be a very unromantic gift, but the gift means the world to the recipient. A friend once gave his wife a humidifier. Most people laughed it off, but to his wife, who’d been suffering with asthma related to the dry climate where they lived, cried over his thoughtfulness.

But showing how much you care doesn’t always have to involve gifts. During Thanksgiving dinner, in The Promise of Change, the hero notices the heroine is cold, and without prompting, rises from the table to get her a sweater. It’s all about attentiveness and genuine concern.

This month I’ll be blogging about all things romance. So stay tuned. And I love to hear your ideas for showing your significant other that you care.

I'll also be giving away print copies of my books, so check out my Facebook page for weekly giveaways!

Top 5 Most Romantic Classic Novels of All Time

Continuing my theme of "top five most romantic," since I'm at the national conference of the Romance Writers of America this week, it seems only fitting that I should list my top five most romantic classic novels of all time. So here they are. 

#5 Wuthering Heights – Wuthering Heights is the turbulent and wildly passionate love-story of Cathy and Heathcliff, two people who cannot love together, yet cannot bear to live apart. Their love-hate relationship and unresolved passion eventually threatens to destroy them and many around them. But they’re two parts of the same soul destined to be joined for all eternity.

#4 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte’s classic story of a young orphan girl who overcomes cruelty,

loneliness and heartbreak and falls in love with her dark, dashing and handsome employer, Mr. Rochester, is one of great passions and dark secrets. A true Gothic tale complete with a shadowy manor house, unexplained noises, suspicious activities, and a brooding hero. But it’s the love of Jane and Rochester that make this number four on my list.

#3 Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell’s sweeping epic novel about the South during the Civil War. The saga tells the story of Scarlett O’Hara and the dashing, roguish Rhett Butler, beginning on the eve of the war through Sherman’s March, the Reconstruction Era and beyond. Scarlett’s evolution from spoiled Southern Belle to tough, smart business woman is one of the main reasons I love the story. Many find nothing to admire in Scarlett, but I admire her grit in the face of war, hunger, and death.

Rhett is the quintessential bad boy, but the one soft spot in his heart is for Scarlett. He not only loves her for who she is, he respects her smarts and her determination. She leads him a merry chase, but she finally succumbs to his relentless pursuit. While he does leave her in the end, I believe the two are destined to be together in the story after the story.

#2 Emma - Jane Austen’s brilliant novel about the beautiful, wealthy, meddling matchmaker, Emma,

who refuses to listen to her friend George Knightley when it comes to arranging marriages. Emma is stubbornly certain she knows the best match for all involved. The complications Emma runs into, with Austen’s cast of droll characters, each mistaken in their beliefs as to who loves whom, including Emma herself, makes for delightful comedy. Emma must learn she isn’t always right, but it takes a spark of jealousy to make her realize she has loved Mr. Knightley all along.

#1 Pride and Prejudice – Austen’s “darling child” celebrated its 200^th anniversary in 2013! It’s astonishing to think a novel published 200 years ago is still relevant today. For those of you who don’t know, this wonderful novel tells the story of the fiercely independent, Elizabeth Bennett, one of five sisters who must marry rich.  Along comes Mr. Darcy, wealthy, arrogant, and of course, quite handsome. Confounded by her, he plays the aloof, superior gentleman, determined to snub his nose at her and her family. But he soon finds himself unable to resist her wit, charm, and beauty. With delightful twists and turns, this comedy of manners is far and above my favorite romantic novel of all time. 

What novels would make your top five most romantic classics?