Weekend Reads: Valentines From Bath - A Bluestocking Belles Collection

Valentines from Bath

Featuring Caroline Warfield & The Bluestocking Belles

 Amazon Buy Link

About the Book ~
The Master of Ceremonies announces a great ball to be held on Valentine’s Day in the Upper Assembly Rooms of Bath. Ladies of the highest rank—and some who wish they were—scheme, prepare, and compete to make best use of the opportunity. Dukes, earls, tradesmen, and the occasional charlatan are alert to the possibilities as the event draws nigh. But anything can happen in the magic of music and candlelight as couples dance, flirt, and open themselves to romantic possibilities. Problems and conflict may just fade away at a Valentine’s Day Ball. In five original stories, Jessica Cale, Sherry Ewing, Jude Knight, Amy Quinton, and Caroline Warfield bring you Valentines From Bath.

About Bluestocking Belles~
The Bluestocking Belles (the “BellesInBlue”) are ten very different writers united by a love of history and a history of writing about love. From sweet to steamy, from light-hearted fun to dark tortured tales full of angst, from London ballrooms to country cottages to the sultan’s seraglio, one or more of us will have a tale to suit your tastes and mood.

About Caroline Warfield ~ 
Caroline Warfield has been many things. Now retired to the urban wilds of Eastern Pennsylvania, she divides her time between writing and seeking adventures with her grandbuddy and the prince among men she married. Her new series sends the children of the heroes of her earlier books to seek their own happiness in the far-flung corners of the British Empire.

 

Connect with Bluestocking Belles ~
Website https://bluestockingbelles.net/
Blog (the Teatime Tattler) https://bluestockingbelles.net/category/teatime-tattler/
Street Team https://www.facebook.com/groups/BellesBrigade/
Twitter https://twitter.com/BellesInBlue
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/bellesinblue/

Happy Valentine's Day

Love is in the air! What better way to spend Valentine's Day (or week, since it falls on a Wednesday) than reading a historical romance!

Have you started my Wild Thistle Trilogy? Highland Hope and Highland Faith are out and Highland Honor will be out in May. What is more enjoyable than Men In Kilts???

Valentine's Day is about love, romance, conversation hearts, and cards. But it is also about how a man stood up for couples and ensured they could proclaim their love. St. Valentine's Day risked of his life. St. Valentine when defied Claudius the Cruel who didn't want men to marry so they would join the military.

Speaking of Conversation Hearts - do you like or loathe the iconic Valentine's Day candy? For the record, I love them. Here is an article on how Conversation Hearts can to be!

 

Reading Addiction's Valentine's Day Blog Blast!

WELCOME TO THE VALENTINE'S DAY BLAST Give-A-Way! 

We joined together with many Authors to bring you a list of Romance Books available for you to read this Valentine's Day! 

Click on any of the below book covers to be taken to the page that has more information on the novel as well as the Buy Links!

Before you leave, don't forget to enter the Giveaway!!! 

 

 

Want to learn more about RABT Book Tours? 

www.readingaddictionvbt.com

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The History of Valentine's Day

L'amore! Love is on the menu this week and I thought I'd share a bit about Valentine's Day! 

Once upon a time there was a man named St. Valentine . . .  actually, there are as many as 3 men who were named St. Valentinus.  A popular account of Saint Valentine of Rome states he was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians, who were persecuted under the Roman Empire. According to legend, he healed the daughter of his jailer. The story states before his execution he wrote her a letter signed "Your Valentine" as a farewell.



Another take on Valentine's Day:
The celebration of Saint Valentine did not have any romantic connotations until Chaucer's poetry about "Valentines" in the 14th century. In 18th-century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love by presenting flowers, sweets, and sending greeting cards. In Europe, Saint Valentine's Keys are given to lovers as a romantic symbol and an invitation to unlock the giver’s heart. Valentine's Day symbols used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, mass-produced greeting cards have replaced handwritten valentines.


Yet another take on Valentine's Day:
In Ancient Rome Lupercalia was observed February 13–15. Lupercalia is an archaic rite connected to fertility. Lupercalia was a festival local to the city of Rome. There is no evidence of any link between St. Valentine's Day and the rites of the ancient Roman festival, despite what many believe. Sources claim links to Greco-Roman February holidays were devoted to fertility. Earlier links were focused on sacrifice rather than romantic love. In the ancient Athenian calendar the period between mid-January and mid-February was the month of Gamelion, dedicated to the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera.


Valentine's Day Facts:

• Approximately 150 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine's Day the second most popular card-sending holiday after Christmas.
• In Victorian times it was considered bad luck to sign a Valentine's Day card
• Americans began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. 
• In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America.  
• Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.
• 3% of pet owners will give Valentine's Day gifts to their dogs.
• Many believe the X symbol became synonymous with the kiss in medieval times. People who couldn't write their names signed in front of a witness with an X. The X was then kissed to show their sincerity. 
• In the Middle Ages, men and women drew names from a bowl to see who would be their Valentine. They would pin the name on their sleeves for a week for everyone to see. This was the origin of the expression "to wear your heart on your sleeve."