I started reading romance novels when I was in my early teens. I started with some written in the mid-60s my mom had handed down to me and by the time I was 14 or 15 had graduated to the early Harelquin novels that were very clean and almost always about some secretary in a […]
For the Love of a Good Man
As many of you stated in the comments last month, most of us read books to escape from our normal lives for a little while. I assume you love to read romance, or you wouldn’t be here. (I’m so glad you are.) We like our heroes strong, handsome, and sometimes just a little bit bad, […]
It’s All About Love
Traditionally February isn’t my favorite month because of Valentine’s Day, but thanks to many of you here, my opinion of the month and the holiday has changed. Over the past couple of years I’ve expressed my dismay with Valentine’s Day, but no longer. Now I am embracing the month of February. What changed? My […]
What is love?
There’s this word in Hebrew that transliterates into English as ruah with a guttural “ch” sound at the end. Ruah can be translated into many English words, but it’s most commonly translated as wind, breathe, and spirit. It’s used throughout the Old Testament, and it conveys this amazing imagery. Ruah is the breath of God, […]
Love at First Sight?
Readers often criticize romance stories and romance books for the concept of “love at first sight.” The consensus most often expressed is that “love at first sight” isn’t “love”, as in the true love of your soul, but rather just a physical phenomenon, a pheromone reaction to certain identifiers that your psyche recognizes on a […]
Submerged
Yesterday heralded the start of the winter school holidays in South Africa, and along with that, Holiday Club or Vacation Bible School or VBS—dependent on what your preference is—at churches across our nation. This past Sunday, we walked into our church…a church that had cellophane jelly fish and octopuses hanging from the roof. The windows […]
Life in the Great Outdoors (or Thereabout)
We have plans to visit some friends in sunny Florida later this summer, and I asked our friends for suggestions about the things we could do while we’re there. One idea they came up with was a safari ride. Outdoors. In an open-sided bus. In the summer in Florida. Oh, and the biggest selling point […]
Love, Strawberry Jam, and Oreos
I have a friend who makes jam. Strawberry jam, to be exact. It’s amazing, too — definitely the best jam I’ve ever had in my life. I asked her one time why she goes through all the effort of making her own jam, and her answer was pretty simple. People like it, and her husband […]
The Ties That Bind + A #Giveaway
I hope this post finds everyone alive, well, and enjoying life. ( If this post finds you, then the odds are at least 30% in my favor. You’re *probably* alive.) I’ve been a busy couple of months in my life. My part-time teaching job has morphed into about twenty other things. Which, I’m beginning to […]
Summer Nights By the Water
Hola, Jolene here checking in from the Texas Hill Country. I’m writing on the porch of a cabin that sits on the Fro River. The birds are chatter and the water is rushing over the rocks. The shade of old giant pecan trees just invites me to stay and hide from the world a little […]