Love Letters ♥️
Next week is Valentine’s Day, and while I understand that it’s an annoying holiday for some, I want to embrace any reason for expressing love, whether that’s to a romantic love or, yes, forgive the word but a GALENTINE.
Here is my Mad Libs cheat sheet, Valentine’s Day edition, in case it helps!
Dear [cute nickname here],
There are countless things I love about you—here are three that come directly to mind:
Your ____
Your ____
And the way you always ___
More than anything, I love how you make me feel, which is _____.
Love,
__________
Another way into a love letter (especially one to a spouse, especially if you have kids) is to frame it as a thank you letter. When you express gratitude for the things that have become routine or mundane, you are making your person feel seen and acknowledged and, therefore, truly loved.
That’s the lesson I learned when I thanked Jake, my husband, every day for a month. (I know! It was a whole thing! Learn allll about it in chapter 12 of my book.)
Speaking of love, I have been dosing myself with a steady stream of romance novels in the last nine months or so. Before that, I turned my nose up at them, thinking they were antithetical to capital-L Literature (I was an English major/book snob!). But in the throes of pandemic-meets-book launch stress, romance novels have been my favorite and best escape—rom coms in particular, the ones with those illustrated covers. As a Valentine’s Day gift to you, here are some of my favorites. (Note that this list represents a mere fraction of the… oh gosh… 75 or so I’ve read in less than a year YES I HAVE A PROBLEM.)
Party of Two (also see, every one of Jasmine Guillory’s novels)
The Hating Game (classic enemies to lovers)
Meet You in the Middle (enemies to lovers, DC-style)
The Royal We (royal fantasy done right)
The Layover (flight attendant author, so fun)
Other People We Meet on Vacation (popular for good reason! In the words of Emma Straub, I will follow Emily Henry anywhere)
The Idea of You (fictionalized take on Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles, ooooh)
This Time Next Year (adore this British author)
Very Sincerely Yours (funny, charming, warm bath)
It Happened One Summer (Schitt’s Creek inspired)
The Love Hypothesis (smart, fun, funny)
Love and Other Words (still thinking about this one, never wanted it to end. Christina Lauren are two friends, and you can’t go wrong with any of their books)
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight (YA generally not steamy enough for me HA but this was too charming to leave off the list)
Love Lettering (handwriting/calligraphy and set in Brooklyn!)
The Twelve Dates of Christmas (my fave Xmas one and I’ve ready too many; save for holidays?)
The Ex Hex (OK–witches and spells and romance, yes, pls. Maybe save for Halloween)
PS I always appreciate ANY book recommendations, charming rom coms in particular!
MY INSTAGRAM AUTHOR SERIES
A few weeks back I launched my new IGTV series “Acknowledgments,” about the stories behind authors’ Acknowledgments pages, and it was so fun talking to Susan McPherson and Meaghan B Murphy about their terrific, helpful and uplifting books, both of which I highly recommend! I host these about every other Thursday on my page, if you want to join. And if you happen upon any interesting Acknowledgements pages, let me know!
UPGRADE ME!
FYI this month, paid subscribers got my guide to thanking your neighbors, including fun printables and discount codes and stories.