The Lovely Affair

Hey friend,

You’re reading this newsletter because you can’t get enough Love Notes and you want more passion, more story, more romance!

This week we’re diving into The Affair released on April 9, 2024.

The Affair is about a young woman who hides a romantic relationship from her overzealous mother.

I wrote this story when I was upset with my mother.

My mother and I are two very different people with different lives. She had her first child at 22 years old. I’m almost 30 with no husband and no kids in sight. She wants me to settle down and become a housewife. I want to be free to do what I please.

My mother wants me to have what she has—a house, a husband, and 3 children. To her, that means safety, security, and happiness. I know it comes from a place of love but I resent the weight of her expectations. It’s creating a strange tension in our relationship.

I can’t always be who she wants me to be but I always want to be someone she wants.

I love that this story is a little vague. The lover could be anyone: an old friend, a coworker, a married man, or a woman. Someone you’re afraid to introduce to your mother.

Love it!

Special thanks to my sensitivity readers, Stephanie and Janette, for helping me make this story LGBT-friendly. Could not have shared this story without your help.

We’re about to discuss this story and the characters in more detail.

If you haven’t, you can read the story here or listen here.

Ready or not…

Here’s what you need to know.

Our protagonist is going out for the night.

She tells her mother she’s going out for sushi with her friends. Her mother is disappointed because she’s been going out a lot. Her mother wanted her to stay in and hang out with her.

She tells her mother she’s a grown woman and she can hang out with her friends as much as she wants. Then she gets in her car and drives to a hotel downtown. When she knocks on room #38, she’s pulled inside by a mysterious individual and things get steamy.

She’s assaulted with kisses. Clothes land on the floor. They’re halfway on the bed when her phone rings.

It’s her mother. It’s going to rain tonight. Her mother is worried because she forgot her umbrella. She assures her mother that she’ll be fine but she’s gotta go because the food is here.

When she hangs up the phone, her lover asks her when she’s going to tell her mother about them. She promises to do it soon.

She has the opportunity to tell her mother the truth when she gets home but chickens out. Instead, she blows up when her mother tells her she should get married and have kids soon. Her mother tells her she loves her. She tells her mother she loves her and then goes to bed.

I don’t know. This is a choose-your-own-adventure. You tell me how it ends.

Does she tell her mother about her lover? How does her mother react?

Is she happy her daughter is happy? Or will she judge her daughter’s choice?

Or maybe the daughter never tells her mother.

Maybe she moves out to her own apartment where her lover can visit her freely?

Maybe her lover gets sick of being a secret and breaks up with her?

Or maybe her lover understands the struggle and stays with her forever?

The end?

I tell myself you don't mean a thing
And what we got, got no hold on me
But when you're not there, I just crumble
I tell myself I don't care that much
But I feel like I die 'til I feel your touch

Only love, only love can hurt like this
Only love can hurt like this
Must've been a deadly kiss
Only love can hurt like this

-Only Love Can Hurt Like This by Paloma Faith (ft. Teddy Swims)

Listen to the Love Notes Soundtrack for more end-credits songs.

If you stuck around this long, you’re in for a treat!

Each week I recommend one of my favorite romance novels to binge.

These are top-tier, 5-star, thoroughly vetted recommendations. I have read—and most likely reread—all of these books, and I would reread them.

This week’s recommendation is Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez.

Alexis Montgomery—ER doctor, ultra-wealthy heiress to a medical empire—hooks up with Daniel Grant—a hot, young, small-town carpenter. Letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people. But giving him up is impossible.

See you next time with a story about a special town.

XO,

Rachel