💕For the Love of...

Hey, y’all! 💕 I’m so glad you’re here.

If you’re new, welcome to my front porch. 🏡✨

I write stories that are easy to share—with grandmothers, daughters, and the women friends in between. Sweet, swoony, closed-door romances with heartfelt emotion, small-town roots, and happy endings you can count on.

Stories meant to be passed down. ☕💛

🤗 You’re in the right place.

💛 LOVE 💌

If you’ve been around here a while, you know that my mom recently passed away. She was a child of the Great Depression, and she saved everything. Every closet—packed. Every counter and surface—covered. Every wall—dotted with pictures and paintings.

But there was one thing she collected that made me smile...

Books. Lots and lots of books. 📚

I don’t have to look far to know where my love of books—and my overflowing bookshelves—comes from.

And now... I’ve inherited quite a few of them.

🌱 LIFE

My mother used to tell me that when I was little and still underfoot, she would sit me down with a book while she sewed—making clothes for my older brother and sister or darning socks (yes, she actually darned socks! 🧦).

While I turned the pages, she would recite poetry by Robert Louis Stevenson and Christina Rossetti from memory.

Maybe that’s where my love of words began.

I never inherited her gift for poetry—and trust me, you’re probably grateful for that. 😂 But I did inherit a love of stories.

Of course, not every treasure was one I expected...

Doctors came? To your house?

Then there’s my mother’s 1947 Driver’s Handbook.

Apparently, she believed no book should ever be thrown away—even one teaching you how to drive in 1947. 🚗😂

Her Girl Scout handbook.

And then...

😂 LAUGHTER

I found this tucked away among the books.

(Can you even read that? Look close!)

What a Young Wife Ought to Know

Copyright 1901.

Maybe I'd better read up on that. 😂

Now, I honestly don’t know if it belonged to my mother, my grandmother, great grandmother. Or maybe one of my great-aunts... or someone else entirely.

But I have to admit...

I’m awfully curious who decided this was required reading. 😂

Anna Quindlen once wrote: “Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.”

That feels especially true this week.

Books entertain us, yes. But they also teach us about other places, different people, and lives unlike our own... while somehow reminding us of home.

Maybe that’s why books ended up at the heart of my Love Note series. From a struggling bookshop to a blind date with a book that gets a town talking... to a mystery surrounding a famous author who once lived in Storybrook.

And yes... a whole lot of folks falling in love along the way. 💕

Books are worth passing down.

Stories matter. 💛

📚 Tell me... what’s one book on your shelf you’ll never part with? I’d love to hear.

Leave a comment

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to keep pondering why my momma had How to Deal with Difficult People tucked away in her closet.

Who exactly was she dealing with?

...Maybe I don’t want to know. 😂

With Love, Life, and Laughter (not always in that order),

Leanna 💛

☕ From the Front Porch

Books aren’t the only things we inherit. Our mothers pass down stories, traditions, resilience... and sometimes grit we don’t even realize we possess until we need it. This older post felt especially fitting this week.

👉 What Moms Teach Us About Love and Grit 💛📚

💬 What Our Friends Are Saying...

There’s nothing sweeter than hearing from readers who’ve found a home in Storybrook. This one made me smile.

🪑 Come Sit a Spell...

There's always room for one more good book on the nightstand… bookshelf… or on your Kindle. 💛 Before this collection ends, browse these FREE sweet romances and find a story that just might leave you smiling.

Until next time, y’all... 💛

Some stories take us to faraway, exotic places... and others bring us home. 🏡📚✨

Come on over!

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