Guest Author: Heather Webber

Heather Webber, author of Truly, Madly, has been kind enough to stop by Reading with Tequila to talk about Valentine's Day.

A Little Goes A Long Way…

By Heather Webber

Valentine’s Day has all the earmarks of what society expects women to love. Usually a man doting on us, confessing his undying love, showering us with jewelry (“He went to Jared!”) and cards so oooey and gooey they should embarrass us but don’t (the gooier the better, am I right?). It is THE day for guys to go all out, over the top. The day to show us how much he loves us.

Personally, I think yes and no.

Yes, definitely, early in the relationship, when gifts and trinkets tend to represent how much someone cares. I remember my first Valentine’s Day with my husband, over twenty years ago. He gave me a beautiful gold necklace and gold and diamond heart pendant. The card was the perfect amount of ooo and goo, and well, sigh, it was perfect. And I fell that much harder for him.

But it seems that over the years I’ve (thankfully) become a little wiser and have come to realize that it’s not the glitz and glam, over-the-top gifts that now make me swoon. Don’t get me wrong—they’re still nice—but it’s the little every day things that really define romance in my eyes.

Sometimes it’s the kiss goodbye in the morning, while I’m still warm and snuggly in bed, and he’s up at an ungodly early hour to go to work so we can have things like electricity and food on the table. It’s the way he’ll set the table while I’m making dinner. It’s the way he listens when I launch into stories about the things I know he really doesn’t care about, but knows I care about so they become important to him too. It’s the fact that he’ll volunteer to pick up the kids from whatever practice they’re at so I can finish one more page of the book I’m working on. It’s the way he misses me when I’m away from home. It’s the way a full roll of paper towels will magically appear in the kitchen, the way my oil is changed every five thousand miles without fail, the way the trash finds its way to the curb every week.  It’s even the way our toothbrushes sit in the ceramic cup at the edge of the sink, nestled together.

Simply, it’s appreciating the little things just as much as the grand gestures. So, whether there’s a gift from Jared in your future, or simply a gooey card, or even just a shared smile or a paper towel roll, I hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day.

But now I’m curious. What defines romance in your eyes? And what’s the best Valentine’s gift you’ve ever gotten?

~Heather

About the Author

Heather Webber grew up in a suburb of Boston, where she learned early on how to ride the T, skip rocks in the ocean, and root for the Red Sox. As a young mother, she tried her hand at writing novels and hasn’t looked back. These days she lives in southwestern Ohio with her high school sweetheart and their three children. She is currently hard at work on her next novel.

About the Book

Lucy Valentine is as smart as can be, as single as you can get, and so not qualified to run a matchmaking service. But when her parents temporarily step down from the family business, Valentine, Inc., it’s Lucy’s turn to step up and help out—in the name of love.

Plus, her rent is due.

Here’s the problem: Lucy doesn’t have the knack for matchmaking. According to family legend, every Valentine has been blessed by Cupid with the ability to read “auras” and pair up perfect couples. But not Lucy. Her skills were zapped away years ago in an electrical surge, and now all she can do is find lost objects. What good is that in the matchmaking world? You’d be surprised. In a city like Boston, everyone’s looking for something. So when Lucy locates a missing engagement ring—on a dead body—she asks the sexy private eye who works upstairs to help her solve the perfect crime. And who knows? Maybe she’ll find the perfect love while she’s at it…

www.heatherwebber.com 

Everything you want to know about my books, including Truly, Madly –the first in the Lucy Valentine romantic mystery series.

www.heatherwebber.blogspot.com 

Bits and pieces of my everyday life.

www.lucyvalentine.blogspot.com 

This is the last month to enter for a chance to win a Tiffany necklace (talk about glitz and glam!).

Reading with Tequila's review of Truly, Madly

**Spoiler** I LOVED it!