Before I met my husband, PJ, I was a romance writer quickly becoming disillusioned with Valentine’s Day. Chalk it up to the many horrible first dates I’d soldiered through (including one where a man told me he was married in the first five minutes of getting coffee, and then when I tried to leave, he gave me a bag of homemade trail mix in a Ziploc bag he’d made just for me that I was 100% sure was drugged).
I’ve had my SHARE of whacked out dates. There was the man who wanted to try to tell me about my spirit animal – in the back of his windowless van. There was the other date who gave me a fake name, because he had a pregnant wife at home, with pictures of them together all over his socials.
And it wasn’t just first dates that were bad. I’d also had my share of terrible relationships: the toxic bachelor who declared all he wanted to do was get married and find his one, except that he made a habit of promising to be exclusive and then dating other people on the side. There was the man who asked me to marry him so he could move in and quickly not contribute to rent or utilities.
The list of disappointment and heartache, my friends, is LONG. And I can’t even count the number of Valentine’s Days I found myself bitterly disappointed – by the guy who didn’t call, or the one who forgot to get even a card, or made themselves unavailable to celebrate because that might give me the wrong idea of just how committed they really were.
But then I met my husband, PJ. For those you who come to see me at the cons (Steamy Lit, Romance Con, RARE – PJ is the gregarious teddy bear who lives to hand out our free highlighters. He’s a rock star in his own right). He out romances this romance author every single day of the week, and most especially on Valentine’s Day.
When we began dating, I told him I hated Valentine’s Day. Just like Sora (the main character in THE SECOND YOU’RE SINGLE – which just named a 2024 DWRI – Diverse Writers and Readers International – Winner), I’d been disappointed too many times to get my hopes up that I’d ever, really, genuinely celebrate Valentine’s Day with another person. Sora even vows to go single for February, and tries to start Solo February. I’d done plenty of going solo in February, so Sora and I are kindred spirits.
Valentine’s Day, to me, was simply an excuse to by myself gourmet chocolates 50% off on February 16. Or it was a time to go all Galentine’s Day and make it a rant on our exes fest. But PJ told me (like Jack – the Cinnamon Roll baker in THE SECOND YOU’RE SINGLE) to give Valentine’s Day another chance. That I simply hadn’t met the right person yet to properly celebrate Valentine’s Day.
And PJ was right. He pulled out all the stops – from that first Valentine’s Day until now. He smothered me with chocolate, with champagne, with cards inscribed with the sweetest notes, with bright blue boxes from Tiffany, and we even flew me to Hawaii on Valentine’s Day seven years ago to get married on the beach.
When I wrote Sora and Jack’s story, I drew on my own experience – me with heartbreak, and PJ with his undying optimism and determination to prove real love is worth waiting for. The Second You’re Single is for both true believers and cynical critics alike. But ultimately it tells the story that Valentine’s Day IS worth celebrating – with the right person by your side.
Purchase Links:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-second-youre-single-cara-tanamachi/1141344013
https://www.amazon.com/Audible-The-Second-Youre-Single/dp/B0BJX7KDZG
https://read.macmillan.com/lp/second-youre-single/
Where You Can Find Cara:
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