Hello Lovely Readers!
It’s March, the month of longer days, Shamrock Shakes, and hopefully no more snow. The first day of spring is around the corner, and my poor struggling snow drops have finally made their appearance, so hooray!
So in the spirit of the season, I've been stretching myself in my own small ways, including stepping up to teach something I've been quietly building for a while now. Teaching is completely out of my comfort zone, but I did it anyway. My class, Romance In A Flash, is where I use flash cards as a visual aid to teach the fundamentals of writing a romance novel.
And because I’m a crafter, too, I decided that making thirteen sets of thirty-seven laminated, hole-punched, ring-bound flashcards was a perfectly reasonable thing to do.
It took roughly twenty hours, and I regret nothing. Do I care that my wrists are rather floppy now and my fingers look permanently like they are settled over piano keys? I do not.
Just like plotting a novel, I went about the project methodically. First, I made the cards on Canva. Then I printed everything. (Two ink cartridges gave their lives for this project and my exhausted HP printer and I are barely on speaking terms). When everything was finally assembled, I tucked each set into the most adorable butterfly organza drawstring bags, because if you are going to spend many hours crafting writing tools, they should at least look enchanting.
My hope is that maybe, just maybe, one of those little laminated stacks will help someone untangle a plot, deepen a wound, or finally write the love story they’ve been carrying around for years.💙
With Season 4 of Bridgerton freshly on Netflix, this month’s swoony book boyfriend is Benedict Bridgerton, the dreamy second son who proves that the most romantic thing a hero can do is simply see you — fully, stubbornly, and without apology.
What I loved:
He’s an Artist, Not a Soldier Benedict doesn’t protect Sophie with power or status. He protects her with attention. He’s emotionally open in a way that feels surprisingly modern for a Regency hero.
He Sees Her When No One Else Does Sophie has been invisible her whole life. Benedict looks at her and simply refuses to accept the world’s verdict. His quiet refusal is the whole romance.
He Doesn’t Care About the Rules (Until He Has To) Benedict is breezy about scandal, until the class divide between them becomes real. Watching him wrestle with what he’s willing to sacrifice is where the book really earns its ending.
The Masquerade Ball Haunts Him He meets Sophie once, masked, at a ball — and he never gets over it. Swoon! He spends the whole book looking for a woman he can’t forget, not realizing she’s been right in front of him.
He Has to Grow to Deserve Her He starts the story charming and adrift. A man coasting on privilege and good looks. And yes, if you watched the show and wondered — he does ask Sophie to be his mistress in the book, too. Sophie refuses, as she should. That moment is his rock bottom, the point where we see exactly how far he still has to go before he deserves her. Sophie doesn't just win his heart. She wakes him up, and then she makes him earn it.
☘️In The Wild
I’ll be signing books at Barnes & Noble in Glastonbury, CT on March 28 from 12-2. If you’re nearby, stop by and say hi!
Thanks for reading! Here’s to longer days, blooming flowers, and swoon-worthy stories that refuse to stay unwritten.🪻
Until next time,
All my books and their playlists are just a click away - check out the QR code below!
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