Oooh. I love romance and Valentine’s Day. I’ve only ever had one true Valentine. Our time together totals over 25 years if you add the years of dating to the wedding anniversaries. (Don’t ask, that subject could be a blog post all its own.)

The simple, totally mushy answer to the question above is “Whatever I’m doing with him.”

But, the more in-depth answer is, a home cooked Italian themed dinner, candlelight and something decadent for dessert. Decadence isn’t limited to chocolate, but warm chocolate lava cake is divine. Sighs. 

I hate crowds and he loves my cooking. So, we usually do our “on the town” Valentine’s dinner the week before or the week after. But on the special day itself, we’re home with the lights down low, our phones and the television turned off, soft music in the background, and dinner by candlelight served on our fancy dishes.

We treat it as a true date with me with my hair done and full make up in a pretty outfit and him in a nice polo and Dockers. No shoes, unless we opt for dancing–then I want heels since I’m 5’2″.

I’ve prepared stuffed shells in meat sauce or lasagna. This year we’re going more simplistic with spaghetti with meat sauce accompanied by salad, garlic bread, and maybe some other veggie. Then, dessert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A truly rich and sexy dessert I’ve used in place of chocolate is super simple.

Pineapple and warm caramel sauce. The flavors are a smooth mix of sharp and sweet.

hint:  if you feed them to each other by hand, the warmed caramel doesn’t always stay on the fruit and a napkin may not be the way you want to capture the excess yumminess.   

But really, Valentine’s Day is romantic because you’re with the one you love. So, however you celebrate, do it with a heart full of love for your date and it will be the best time ever. Guaranteed.

Enjoy your evening of romance. Happy Valentine’s Day.

And, who better to help you set the mood if you haven’t finalized your plans for the big hearted day than some awesome romance authors. Here are a few who write in an array of genres that are sure to help you find inspiration. Click on their names to visit their sites.

Contemporary Romance Tamra Baumann* Priscilla Oliveras * Shelly Alexander

Paranormal Romance Kay Hudson

Romantic Suspense  Sharon Wray

Novels with Romantic Elements  Jean Willett

Historical Romance Wendy LaCapra

Diana Belchase (What I Really Want for Valentine’s Day)

Feel free to share some of your ideas or memories of your most romantic Valentine’s Day in the comments.