This week, on the Romance Writers Weekly blog hop we're asked to: “It's almost Valentine's day. What does that mean to you and why?”
Ooh, that's another good question. I'll be honest, my husband and I have been together for a looonnng time. So, many years we exchange cards and maybe a token gift, and that's about it. Sometimes we'll stay home and make a special meal (we like cooking together) or order in. Some years, we'll dress up and go out for dinner. One of my favorite Valentine's Day dinners was at a little place called Kelly's in Paso Robles which is, sadly, no longer there. Of course, we're not there either so... I don't recall all the dishes but we had a yummy goat's cheese salad with dried cranberries to start, and lavender creme brulee for dessert.
I do enjoy setting stories around Valentine's Day. ALL the characters in Sound of a Voice That is Still have Valentine's Days that...well, let's just say they fit the couples (at least it fit where they each were at that point in the series) so there was quite a range of experiences!
In Truth or Dare, my thruple enjoy two vastly different Valentine's Days together.
Many years ago, I wrote a piece of flash fiction that became the inspiration for today's featured story, Put a Ring Around the Rosie.
Now, hop on over to Jenna DaSie's page to learn what she thinks of Valentine's Day.
They say timing is everything, and that certainly has always been the case where Alex and I are concerned. We met nearly two years ago when he was hired to work at Cup of Joe, the coffee shop where I was already an old timer. It was lust at first sight, at least on my part, but I had a boyfriend then, and so did he. By the time we were both single and I’d worked out that he was bi, things between us had become complicated in so many other ways that it seemed much simpler and safer to just stay friends.
We were work spouses for a while, and then we weren’t. And when we reconnected with each other last month it was after a prolonged period of hurt feelings and miscommunication during which we barely spoke to each other at all.
Now, even though our friendship’s caught fire, so to speak, I feel like we’re both still recovering from that last, disconnected phase. Heaping a bunch of unrealistic expectations, or a need for chocolate hearts, plush toys, or rose colored anything on top of that seems like a little too much added pressure.
So we're back to the cutesy names that say nothing. Invention is a mostly Petit Verdot--a varietal about which I know very little. It's a dry, full bodied, inky dark wine with cedar and cocoa powder on the nose (along with some eucalyptus, I think?) and an intense dark chocolate/dried cherry flavor.
According to the website there are pronounced floral notes. I smell beetroot...but not in a bad way. There's a deep earthiness to it. The tannins in this wine are softer than a Zinfandel, but I think it would fill the same niche. Based on my interpretation of the description on the label, the Texas terroir elevates this grape in a way that put the label writer in mind of Michelangelo's work with marble.
That might be overstating things. This is a good wine--very enjoyable. Which is good considering I have another bottle of it! I'd pair it with anything Tex-Mex.
This week, on the Romance Writers Weekly blog hop we're asked to: “Give us a sample of your WIP.”
Ooh, another easy one! So there are two books I'm sort of working on at the moment. The first is a follow up to last year's Que Sera Syrah (see below).
If you've read the two Christmas freebies (links to those are below, as well) you already know that all three of the Martinelli sisters got engaged. The Our Big, Fat, Napa Weddings anthology will release some time in June.
I don't have a blurb yet for my story--Nice Day for a Wine Wedding--but you can get a sneak peek of the cover HERE.
Legs wants a super big blowout of a wedding while Clay isn't sure he wants a wedding at all--can't they just quietly elope?--and that's before their respective families start adding to the confusion! It's so much fun to be back in Oak Creek Canyon, and I LOVE writing wedding stories, so I hope you'll save the date!
You can read an excerpt HERE
My second story is a continuation of my Celtic Legends series--it features a selkie and a former fisherman turned reclusive lighthouse keeper. It is, somewhat improbably, a light BDSM (heavy on the bondage, because fishermen know ALLLL about knots) And, as it turns out, I do have a blurb, which you can find HERE
You can read an excerpt of that one HERE.
Now, hop on over to Jill Haymaker's page to find out what she's reading. And don't forget to check out her book, Mountain Hearts.
Two hearts damaged by grief are drawn together as kindred souls. To move forward they’ll have to face their pasts and lay their ghosts to rest. Can broken hearts dare to love again?
As it turns out, not everybody is happy for le tre sorelle. And that includes their Uncle Geno who’d assumed the property would come to him.
There are hoops to jump through, barrels to get over, and a mountain of regulations they'll have to scale. But these sisters are crushing it—and we don’t just mean the grapes.
They’re making wine, falling in love, and working together to restore their inheritance to its former glory, one pour decision at a time.
https://books.bookfunnel.com/POURDECISIONS
So this is one of my favorite sparkling wines, atm. It's crisp and bright. It's a pale greenish gold color with a pronounced citrus/green apple aroma on the nose. It's dry, which I like and which sets it apart from a lot of the other Heath sparkling wines. I believe it's mostly Chardonnay, but it's not oaky or buttery in the least. There are hints of mild spice--something like nutmeg, perhaps? Which, along with the previously mentioned green apple notes puts me in mind of apple pie.
This is the quintessential New Year's Eve toasting wine. It actually puts me in mind of the '22 Chardonnay from Arrington Vineyards in Tennessee that I sampled a couple of years ago. Only sparkly.
I imagine the Martinelli sisters will be discussing sparkling wines when they start planning their weddings in a couple of months--and I'm sure they'll all want their own, signature bubbly. But this would definitely be a great choice for one of them!
