Be Your Own Valentine #valentinesday #commercialism #familycelebration

This month is widely known for Valentine’s Day, but not everyone celebrates in the traditional sense. I have invited a friend Alana Loren to tell us how she celebrates and why she chose this way and tell us about her newest book. Hi Alana.

I’ve never been much of a romantic. No princess waiting in a high tower for a knight on a white horse to rescue me. I mean, I was a divorce attorney for 30 years—kind of the opposite thing, right? So when I finally grow up, what do I write? Romance novels, of course!

In the same vein, I think even the most non-romantics among us look on Valentine’s Day with appreciation and hope. Really, it makes those who forget every birthday, anniversary and other special occasion come together to remember their loved one. I mean, how can they forget? The reminders are everywhere! So one day a year you may be honored by your beloved, thanks to commercial America.

Many of the years I was a young woman, I spent as a single mom, so I celebrated with my girls. We would go to the bakery and get special heart-shaped, decorated cookies and sit down to eat them together. Love is love is love, as Lin-Manuel Miranda says. This could be seen along the lines of the single people who celebrate themselves—they get the present they want most because they choose their own. (not that the last-minute plastic heart with red Skittles your lover picked from the CVS Valentine’s leftovers wasn’t great. No, wait. It wasn’t great.)

But isn’t that the most important love? Love of self? Thanks, Whitney, and her Greatest Love of All. When we cherish and care for and treasure ourselves, we stand as a shining example to our children, and we are able to care for and love others. Because when it comes down to it, the world goes on around us with its tragedies and hatred and discrimination and sadness. Only the light of our love will keep us and those we care for strong against the storm.

Title: Conviction of the Heart

Series: The Pittsburgh Lady Lawyers

Author: Alana Lorens

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Release date: June 2012

Cover Artist: Kim Mendoza

Genre: romantic suspense

Pages: 310

Family law attorney Suzanne Taylor understands her clients’ problems–her own husband left her with two babies to raise alone. Now that they’re teenagers, her life is full. The last thing she wants is the romantic attentions of a police lieutenant, no matter how good-looking.

Lt. Nick Sansone is juggling the demands of a new promotion and doesn’t need complications either. But when he sends a councilman’s battered wife to Suzanne for help, he realizes he wants to connect with the lovely, prickly lawyer on more than a professional level.

They are soon confronted with a different battle when the abused woman’s husband threatens retribution. The powerful, well-connected councilman can damage both their careers–not to mention hurt those they love. Can they bend enough to admit they need each other in a time of crisis? Or will a husband’s revenge take them down before they ever get a chance?

Excerpt: (Heat Rating(pg-R)

He contemplated the arrival of wine and hot bread with the strong aroma of garlic and cheese. He uncorked the bottle with a well-practiced hand, then poured them each half a glass of wine.

“So you’ve been bent on saving the world all along.”

She shrugged. “Some of it, at least.”

He could understand the sentiment. “I believe that’s what I do, too. God knows there isn’t much other reason to be on the street some days. I want to know I’m making a difference for some man, woman or child every time I step out on the street.”

He waited for her to mock him, as other women had over the years. Many women wanted to date a police officer. Some found it a ticket to an “E” ride, great benefits, good pay, the opportunity for them to hang out with the girls at the outlet malls all day and get their nails done. Some, with violent men in their pasts, thought being with a cop would protect them. Some just were cop groupies, taking the thrill and excitement of the profession by proxy.

But most denigrated his genuine need to serve as corny and fake.

Suzanne didn’t poke fun. She skewered him with a dissecting gaze. After a few silent moments, she ostensibly accepted him at face value. “Did you always want to be a cop?”

“Sure. I mean, the family history and all. Guess I never wanted to be anything else. Except an astronaut.” He grinned.

“You? Roger Ramjet? Hard to believe.” She laughed softly, and he thought the cool distance in her eyes mellowed. Maybe he had a chance with her.

“More Elroy Jetson, I think. You know, visions of the future, all of us with jetpacks to get where we wanted to go, whatever’s ‘out there.’” He gestured toward the ceiling. He saw her about to laugh and gulped some wine.

Their salads arrived, and he was grateful for the distraction. By the time they’d finished those, the bread and the stacked tomato, noodle and cheese bit of heaven that defined Vito’s lasagna, he’d discovered her to be an educated and interesting companion.

They’d talked their way through politics and religion. They’d danced through current events, books, movies, and a shared love of 1970s music. They’d discussed parents and the difficulties of being adult children.

Everything, essentially, except their feelings about each other.

All the while, he supposed she was appraising him. Her gaze perched often on his lips as he spoke, almost as warm as a touch. He imagined what they would taste like, those soft lips. He was ready. One of them had to make the first move.

As they sat over coffee and the remains of a shared tiramisu, he decided to go for it. He leaned forward, speaking quietly, almost a whisper.

“What?” she asked. When she leaned forward to hear him, he kissed her.

“Hey!” she said, pulling back. Expression alarmed, she picked up her napkin, holding it in her hand on the table before her, almost like a shield.

Damn it.

Buy Links: Publisher https://www.thewildrosepress.com/books/conviction-of-the-heart-pittsburgh-lady-lawyer-series-book-1

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Conviction-Heart-Pittsburgh-Lady-Lawyer-ebook/dp/B0089PTPAO

Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/conviction-of-the-heart-alana-lorens/1111476692

Meet Alana

Alana Lorens has been a published writer for more than forty years. Currently a resident of Asheville, North Carolina, she loves her time in the smoky blue mountains. One of her novellas, THAT GIRL’S THE ONE I LOVE, is set in the city of Asheville during the old Bele Chere festival. She lives with her daughter, who is the youngest of her seven children, two crotchety old cats, and five kittens of various ages.

You can stalk Alana Lorens here:

Website https://wordpress.com/page/alana-lorens.com/21

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AlanaLorens/

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4829967.Alana_Lorens

Book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a84IZoH-JKw

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMbyZT09_7V2rlESB5d9AGw?view_as=subscriber

See Alana’s author page for all her other books!

Be your own Valentine

Many of the years I was a young woman, I spent as a single mom, so I celebrated with my girls. We would go to the bakery and get special heart-shaped, decorated cookies and sit down to eat them together. Love is love is love, as Lin-Manuel Miranda says. This could be seen along the lines of the single people who celebrate themselves—they get the present they want most, because they choose their own. (not that the last minute plastic heart with red Skittles your lover picked from the CVS Valentine’s leftovers wasn’t great. No, wait. It wasn’t great.)