Focus for 2021 and Bye for Now by Dora Bramden

 

Whenever I turn my mind to planning the year ahead, I usually come up with a word that lets me focus on what I feel needs my attention most. What will my priority be for the coming year? I have had words like travel, family, marriage, study, and health. The word enables me to not get lost in the many pressing responsibilities of raising a family, working a job and running a home.

While all of those things still have to happen, the focus word of that year has to be included in my decision-making process. You’ll notice that I haven’t mentioned my career. As yet it hasn’t ever been a priority but this year as a milestone birthday approaches I believe it’s time.  I really need to put my career in front of my mind if I want to achieve long held goals.

As a writer, I have been in a treading water mode for various good reasons, but now I need to make time and reserve energy for turning my many ideas for projects into reality. There is so much I wish to get written so that it can be shared and I feel it in my soul that that time has arrived.

In terms of new beginnings, it will be a new work schedule for me. I still need to provide administration support to my teacher husband and run our home but there will be time carved out for working on projects that are close to my heart. As a part of my restructuring, this month will be my last regular blog contribution. I hope to be a guest blogger later in the year with news of my progress.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be part of this wonderful team of authors and for the support of the readership. In writing my monthly blogs I’ve always tried to share my truth and inspire or uplift. I wish to continue this through my novels and so have come to this decision.

Thanks so much to Sarah and  Judith  for having me on Romancing the Genres and for running a blog that showcases romance authors and their work.

Finally, I wish everyone the best of health, happiness and prosperity in the coming year.

Dora Bramden writes heart-melting, passionate, romance.

http://www.dorabramden.com

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The Children's' Book That Brought me Comfort by Dora Bramden

Since developing as a writer I’ve done a lot of reflective thinking about stories. I’ve discovered that my personal story, that is my life journey has a lot to do with the books I connected strongly with and resonated with me. More than that, it began in childhood.

I also was born with a medical condition that surfaced around age ten. This meant I had, what seemed to me, very long stays in the hospital. I suffered acutely the separation from family life and started to wonder if I would ever get to go home again. My only link was my mother’s daily visits. During those, she read Johanna Spyri’s ‘Heidi’ out loud to me.

I quickly became enraptured in the story of the Heidi, Grandfather, Peter, and the little goats. Although I was stuck in a hospital bed, while Mum read I was running barefoot on the grassy slopes with my new little friend.

I was so sad for Heidi when she was taken away to live with poor Clara. She had to live in the city away from everything she’d grown to love so dearly. There was a happy ending of course and Mum must have chosen this book with care, because Heidi eventually went home, better equipped for life than she was before.

There were lots of story points that resonated strongly with me and still do. I’ve reread it many times over during the years of my life, always gaining something else or being reminded of something important. After I was divorced and enduring an extreme sense of loss of my home and family, I read it again, taking solace in the message that struggle is often a gift, something hard to be learned or endured so that life can change and evolve. And taking comfort from spending time with my childhood friend, Heidi.

I have a new home and am married again.  I have someone to love and I’m loved in return by a kind-hearted man. We’re friendly with my ex and are able to celebrate family occasions altogether. When I got divorced, this was the dream I hung on to and it has come true. During the struggle between happy times, I held it in my heart that difficult times pass. I’ll always be grateful for the story of ‘Heidi’, read to me when I was a little girl who wasn't allowed to go home, because the story showed me I had reason to hope.

I have since learned that this hope has lasted all my life. I think it's why I'm drawn to writing romance novels, they are about hope which is expressed through finding a person love and who loves in return. It's about the creation of a new family and home filled with love. 

Dora Bramden writes heart-melting, passionate, romance.

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My Inspiration for "A Wife for the Orange Farmer" Short Story by Dora Bramden

Mum and I had just entered the gates at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden show when the threatening sky started to rumble. A few fat drops of rain turned into a downpour. Booming thunder and flashes of lightning sent us scuttling for the nearest cover under one of the trees in the avenue on the grounds of the Royal Exhibition Building. Unnerved and scared It was too far to the nearest building so we ruled out making a run for it. 

We were still getting dripped on a lot and were wondering if we should leave and go home when a tall youngish man with a golf umbrella came to our aid. He stood close to us so we were under his umbrella with him, and so in these close quarters, Mum and I realized we had a rather handsome and impressive hero come to our aid. We were instantly impressed by his country chivalry and charming looks.

We forgot about the thunder and lightning as he explained he was part of an agricultural group that had come down for a conference. He was an orange farmer. Wow. A handsome farmer, who would have thought this was going to happen. He pointed to the group he came with who were huddled under a tree not far from us. A few of the women grouped under another golf umbrella were watching us intently. They looked as if they would rather be under our orange farmer’s umbrella than where they were. I couldn’t blame them. I was being swept off my feet and already thinking this guy deserves a short story with him as the inspiration at the very least.

 Mum grew up on a mixed farm in Tasmania and immediately told him that she only ever bought Australian grown oranges in support of our local farmers. He laughed and said, "Actually, America has a different season to Australia and so each country takes the others oranges". I was relieved because I 'd been feeling guilty about buying California navel oranges in the summer. But oranges aside, Mum and I were smitten. You know you can tell a lot about a man in a short time. His easy-going nature, his protectiveness of Mum and I. He was so friendly without wanting a single thing in return. Being of service was all he wanted.

The sky started to lighten and the rain reduced to a sprinkle and we had no excuse to hold him up any longer. After we’d thanked him enthusiastically, he rejoined his group and we went on to have a lovely day. I think we both walked on air for most of the time, and our conversation kept returning to what a lovely man he was.

Mum’s and my orange grower inspired the hero of my short story ”A Wife for the Orange Farmer” A gentleman with a big heart and sturdy family values, who lives with and takes care of his grandmother and her orange grove. The dear lady is old and tired and needs to go into care for a respite while he’s doing the harvest. It’s in the nursing home that she meets a young woman carer who would be a perfect match for her grandson, so she hatches a plan to bring them together.

Dora Bramden writes heart-melting, passionate contemporary romance. 

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Living to the Beat of a Different Drum by Dora Bramden

When you don’t fit in you have no choice but to live a different kind of life, one that is a path forged out of necessity. It can be difficult as you face an unknown road but also freeing because you aren’t bound by the restrictions of a normal life.

My parents were raised on farms in Tasmania, but I was born in working-class suburb north of Melbourne Victoria. In some ways, I was socially more alone than the migrants from Southern  Italy who had each other, The Aussies in our street were all “City Folk” as my mother called them. The Italian families were from the rural south before migrating and I felt I had more in common with them but culturally, I didn’t belong there either.

Add to that how tall I grew. By age 12 I stood  5’11” and I towered above all the kids at my high school. I got teased about it relentlessly but it meant that I wasn’t to live life in the shadows but I didn’t like standing out. Back then it drew negative comments because I didn’t embrace the gift and walk with head held high. I hunched my back trying to be small.

I was born with a kidney condition that required stays in hospital and scarring from operations on my stomach, so no midriff tops when they came into fashion, no bikini for me even though all my friends wore them. But I needed to fit in somehow, and I kept trying hard to do all the normal things.

After school, I longed for a career doing something creative but I was funneled into office work, which I was never very good at. Later, I got married and had children but my health issue handicap eventually undermined my best efforts to live a regular life. I started to embrace my uniqueness and gave up office work and searched for a creative career. I needed to survive and that was going to have to be living to the beat of my own drum. Out of necessity, I started to make decisions based on what I really needed to do,  and not what was expected of me.

I started writing full time. Being an author was not one of the jobs I was ever given as an option. So making the choice to skill up for this was surprising to many but it opened a whole new world for me. Dora is short for Dorothy, and like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, it was like I walked out of my black and white life and into a Technicolor one.

My first RWAustralia conference experience was at the fancy dress cocktail party. Everyone was dressed up for the theme ‘Spellbound’. I walked into a room that was alive with color, cheerfulness, and camaraderie. It drew me in like a warm hug and I made new friends that welcomed me into this special world of romance writing, and I have to say I’ll never leave.

When writing my contemporary romance novels, a recurring theme is the main characters stepping out of the life they thought was expected of them and into a life that they are truly equipped for. It is here that they find the love we all want to have in our lives. Once they are being authentic and living large, they are then seen in all their true beauty, shining like stars, they are attractive to the one that is the perfect-for-them-match.

Katrina from The Italian Billionaire’s Secret Baby needed to see that she was capable of breaking free of what was expected to become a mother and keep her Ballet Career. When she became pregnant she was forced to step out of the life she’d settled for and create the one she could really thrive in, Alessandro had to do the same if he wanted her to be a part of his life.

It happened to me after I wrote the stories. I had the knowledge of what needed to happen in my life but applying it was super scary. After I had been set free in the world, I felt abandoned at first, but I had my romance author friends who supported me, and I bravely stepped into my new creative and wonderful life. That’s when I met Sam. 

An Aussie with Italian heritage, he’s a real-life hero because he loves me as I am. On my dating profile under the category ‘The first thing people notice about you” I wrote, “I’m tall.” He thought that was very funny and it was what drew him to me. He’s fine with me being a tall woman. As far as my choice of career, he proudly tells people I’m a romance writer and that I won an award. (I came first in the short romance category of the Australian RWA’s Emerald Award.)

 As far as my health issues go, I was upfront about them at our first meeting. He empathized with me and after only one month of dating, he started driving me to my doctor’s appointments and stayed right by my side through scary tests. The things that had felt so wrong about me as a child feel exactly right now.

It can seem overwhelmingly wrong to be authentic and embrace our uniqueness, but nothing fulfilling comes from living a half-life. We all need to beat on our own unique drum.

FYI. Our wedding story is on my blog https://www.dorabramden.com/doras-blog/my-wedding-day

I have two heart-melting, passionate, romance’s and a short story currently published on Kindle. Click the links below to find me on Amazon, Instagram, Facebook, and my website.

Dora’s Amazon Author Page

Instagram @dorabramden

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Dora Bramden Website

What We Found On Lipari Island, Italy.

I met Sam's mum not long after I started dating him. He's the kind of guy that takes you into his warm heart and so is his mum. I hadn't known her long before she started sharing her memories of growing up on Lipari before she emigrated to Australia. She loved the outdoor life on Lipari, playing sport and swimming were her loves. Family was very important to her and she would embark on a long walk from where she lived on the coast up into the hills to visit her grandmother.

Sadly we lost her three years ago and it hit Sam very hard. He had always wanted to see the place that held such a special place in his mother's heart but it wasn't until we married that he decided the right time was right.

The hydrofoil took us from Sicily to Lipari and we were met by our hotel pickup. We'd opted to stay in Cannetto the town Sam's mum is from. We drove along the coast from the port of Lipari passing the beach where Sam's mum would have swum as a girl. Past houses and shops buildings that look as if they've been there for decades.

 Our B&B was a short walk from the street up this pretty laneway.

Having just finished a 13day Trafalgar tour of Italy we were pretty tired so opted for a rest but the next day we had a tour of the Island booked. We woke to a beautiful sunrise. This is the view from our balcony. 

The views of the neighboring islands were breathtaking. Sam and I had no idea how very beautiful Lipari would be. Our tour guide introduced us to some locals who said they would be related in someway having the same last name as Sam.

 We decided to see if the local council would be able to help us find where Sam's mum's house would have been.  

Our taxi dropped us in front of the council building which is attached to a church. With hope but no expectations we went inside.

In Italian, Sam told the clerk what he hoped to discover. He asked Sam for his mother's birthdate and her parent's names. Sam provided the necessary details and the clerk asked us to wait. He went into another room and quickly returned holding a very old, large book. He opened it and began to read the handwritten record of Sam's mum's birth. It was a very emotional moment that took us both back. 

We had expected to be told to fill out a form or that it would take a week to find. But here was this man reading out the time Sam's mum was born and where her parents lived. There was no street number in the record but we were staying just off the street where Sam's mum grew up. We'd been walking up and down that street for a couple of days.

We were so happy, Sam was beaming, and I had to wipe my eyes. We couldn't believe it had been so easy. The clerk created an official council excerpt for Sam and wouldn't take any money. We left with the precious document and kept looking at it over and over again.

We did lots of sightseeing on Lipari, visiting the Fort and Museum and took a hydrofoil to nearby Salina Island but nothing can beat the moment we stood in the council building listening to Sam's mum's birth record. The connection between the place we visited and the dear lady we loved became concrete. This was the land that shaped who she grew up to be. Sam had discovered something new about his mum and brought her close to him again.

It was a joy to share this special event with him.

My Hero is Batman by Dora Bramden

Dora         ‘If you could be any superhero who would it be?’

Sam          ‘I’m Batman Baby.’ Said without a moment's hesitation.

Dora         Laughs. ‘Why Batman?’

Sam          ‘Because I always wanted to be Batman.’

He didn’t explain further but It made perfect sense to me. Heroes, Super or everyday ones, often hide their strengths behind a normal façade. Unassuming Sam quietly takes on the role of superhero wherever there’s a need.

Batman swoops in to save the day with amazing physical and mental strength. In a similar way Sam, my everyday superhero, is brave, selfless and considerate of the people around him. He says I can do that when I don’t have the strength to do things for myself. He always asks questions about what is wrong and tries to find a way to fix the problem.

When I met Sam, I’d recently come home from an extended stay in hospital. I had a long road to recovery and he was there every step of the way. Many men wouldn't have given me a chance, given my poor health, but not Sam. He said we are all broken in some way and have to be understanding.

In those early days, I struggled with indecision because my brain wasn’t working very well, so when he’d ask what would I like to do on our date, I couldn’t answer him. He wasn’t fazed, ‘That’s okay, I can make that decision for us.’ Then he’d take me somewhere lovely. When I was overwhelmed by the menu he'd say, ‘I think you might like the chicken’ or ‘I think you’d like the pasta,’ and it would be what I wanted. A true superpower if you ask me.

When I was diagnosed with Coeliac disease he was by my side. I put my head in my hands, devastated that I would never be able to enjoy the food I love. He said, ‘No it’s okay, we can do this’. He took me straight to the supermarket where we found the GF section and he purchased chocolate biscuits for me to enjoy. It was consoling to know there were foods I could still enjoy eating.

As I gradually got better, and was able to make my own choices again, Sam valued my opinion. He never stopped asking what I’d want to do when we go out and is still happy to oblige me. We recently had breakfast at a place, called Two Beans and a Farm,  that is able to do a delicious GF meal.

Now married, we are firm supporters of each other. I help him a lot with his work, as a kind of secretary. Sam, supports my writing career, proofreading from time to time and the sweet man always tells me how talented I am. He’s blatantly biased, another superpower that I love about him.

I can’t fault Sam for wishing he had Bruce Wayne’s resources, a mansion with a resident butler, bat-cave and that fabulous car. All that makes it easier for Batman to devote his time to performing superhero activities because he doesn’t have to work at making a living. Sam, is better than Batman. He works hard while still stepping up and a superhero for me.

Dora Bramden writes heart-melting, passionate romance.

The Scottish Billionaire’s Secret Lover

The Italian Billionaire’s Secret Baby

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How I Make A Castle Setting Be Like A Character. by Dora Bramden

When creating a mood for a scene in my story, I like a setting with energy that the characters can connect to. It affects their choices and happiness making them want to stay or go. Where a character lives is of particular use too, in revealing who they are. Like a family member, the setting of their home will impact on the main characters in the story.

When thinking about this month’s topic, it occurred to me that so far all my books contain scenes in a palace of some kind. A Palazzo is the family home of Alessandro in ‘The Italian Billionaire’s Secret Baby’ and  a castle-like family estate is the setting for Angus McLaren’s home in ‘The Scottish Billionaire’s Secret Lover’.  What all castles have in common are their history and weightiness. For good or bad they are symbolic of great responsibility.  The palace character is dominating and demanding, like the Netflix series ‘The Crown.’ Buckingham Palace is a looming presence that the royals must live in, against their inclination as captives of the system.

The settings in my books are inspired by actual places.  I visited Sir Walter Scotts home, Abbotsford during a bus tour around England, Wales and Scotland. At the time, it impressed me as having a distinct character. It was traditional, very old with a rich history, luxurious and charming. There I found, Sir Walter Scott had a two-story library with first editions of Jane Austen’s books. The grand house and estate influence Angus in ‘The Scottish Billionaire’s Secret Lover’ as a character might because it’s history and solidness are a weight on his shoulders. The house is a constant reminder of what his aristocratic responsibilities are.

 It also has a significant impact on Natalie, who is staying there to create a successful charity ball. The setting puts her in a fish out of water predicament. Wanting to be a part of Angus’s life but believing she can’t win in a competition with his responsibilities to the estate.

View of the shoreline, Lake Como.

Summer Palazzo in Ferrara. The ornate ceiling in the palace coffee shop.

In ‘The Italian Billionaire’s Secret Baby,’ Alessandro’s estranged wife and son arrive at his ancestral palazzo on Lake Como. (I was inspired to create this palazzo when on a cruise on Lake Como). Katrina is impacted from the moment she drives through the grand gates. The formality of the garden and the view of the palazzo are impressive and beautiful but they represent a significant a part of Alessandro’s like that she’s been excluded from.

While their son bonds with his grandmother Katrina attempts to feel at home, baking on the cooks day off and practicing for her next ballet in the unused ballroom. The ornate the palazzo suits her, a prima ballerina she’s at home in lavish settings and we can see that she would fit into this life so well. But the power of the palace is subliminally threatening to a woman who values her independence above everything. shores.

Even in my next to be published novel there is a maharaja’s palace that is an exclusive hotel in Jaipur, India. The grand energy of this place emboldens the hero and heroine to make a last stand in their fight to be together. 

And in the book I’m currently editing, there is a massive night club that has a façade like a castle, which used to be a ballroom. For the heroine who was a child when she lived there, it was her fairytale castle. She's grown up but has never stopped longing to return to the place where all her happiest memories reside. The heiress to a music empire returns home to claim her castle but finds it already has an occupant who wants to call it home as badly as she does. Each has a love of this place and that gives it life, like  a character in the story

Dora Bramden writes heart-melting, passionate romance.

The Scottish Billionaire’s Secret Lover

The Italian Billionaire’s Secret Baby

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Looking Forward to Our July Wedding by Dora Bramden

As our RTG topic is AWedding Story, how could I resist talking about my own wedding that happening exactly one month and one day from now? It’s been a very busy time, organizing our special day but as a mature age couple, we are able to plan it together and have it exactly as we want. Our day will reflect who Sam and I are now in our choice of the celebrant, songs that will be played and the words we will say.  Also, Sam’s daughter and my son and daughter are going to be sharing a reading during the service. I’m so happy they are going to do this. It feels so right to have a celebration of the family we are uniting.

Visits to our marriage celebrant, Rev. Ric Holland involves an hour-long drive to the very beautiful town of Emerald. We meet at about 11 am so that afterward we can go and have lunch somewhere nice. Our second meeting was two weeks ago, we went over the order of service and chose our readings and enjoyed getting to know Rev Ric a little better.  He also recommended a restaurant in Emerald for lunch called Elevation. It was gorgeous with views of hills and we were seated next to a wood fire. There were many Gluten free options on the menu so I got to order what I liked. We had a beautiful lunch together and enjoyed a glass of wine followed by driving home through the Yarra Valley. Delightful.

Before we met Sam and I have been through a lot of struggle in our lives but feel we have found a safe haven in love and caring we have for each other. In the first two years of being together, we had a ball, going out and enjoying life, then tragedy stuck when Sam’s mum died. It brought us closer together as I stayed at his side through this. Then less than a year later, my mum passed away also. Sam was by my side for all of it. Each of us agrees that our Mum’s were able to go, knowing we had found the person who would love and take care of us.

Last October Sam proposed. I love he did it then because both our Mum’s birthdays are in October. We began to make plans for our ceremony and reception knowing that our wedding day should be a celebration of how grateful we are to have found a deep, abiding love and our joy in the prospect of spending the rest of our lives together.

At our first meeting with Rev. Ric, he suggested we might like a singer at our ceremony. Sam loved this idea so I went online and found a beautiful singer, Sharon Crossman. From her song list, we were able to find songs that represented how we feel about each other. As I’m walking down the aisle in the little the chapel we have hired, Sharon will be singing ‘There You Are’ It sums up how Sam and I are there for each other. Later when we’re signing the register she’ll be singing ‘Bless the Broken Road’ which acknowledges that all our struggles in the past are part of the road that led us to each other. and ‘I believe in you and Me’ a sweet song from Whitney Huston.

As we and the guests are leaving the chapel Sharon will sing ‘From this Moment’ by Shania Twain and ‘Feels Like Home to Me’ by Chantal Kreviazuk. It took a long time to choose these songs but we did it together and they are perfect for the mood we wish to create.

So you can picture how it will be I’ll share what we are wearing. The color scheme for the wedding is navy and blush pink. Sam and his groomsmen will be wearing navy suits, white shirts, and blush pink ties. My two bridesmaids will be in navy lace and chiffon cocktail length dresses and they’ll be holding pink floral bouquets. I’m going full-on bride with a long almond ivory gown. The bodice is lace with little bits tailing down onto a full tulle skirt. In my hair, I’ll be wearing a gold wired hair band that is studded with crystals and tiny pearls.

Today I have the hair and makeup artist coming to my house for a trial run and I’m very excited to see what we will come up with. At first, I was very nervous about getting married and all the attention it will bring, but now I’m really looking forward to a very special day and just enjoying all the lovely things that will be happening, and having a very romantic ceremony as Sam and I pledge our love, together with our family and friends.

Dora Bramden writes heart-melting, passionate romance.

www.dorabramden.com

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A funny thing happened on the way to Jane Austen’s House. by Dora Bramden

In November  2006 I was on a solo holiday in England. Half a world away from where I live in Australia, I was realizing my long-held dream of visiting the magical world of Jane Austen.

In heavy rain, I left London and drove along the M3 in my little black Fiat that I’d only just hired that morning. Cars whooshed past as I huddled inside my buzz box. The windscreen wipers worked furiously but failed to keep up with the deluge.  I thought I saw a signpost saying Slough, a village I thought I needed to pass through on the way to Jane Austen’s house. 

I made the decision to get off and assumed if I was wrong I would simply get back on the freeway and keep going. So I took the next exit ramp but it seemed rather narrow once I was on it. However, I was committed and had to keep going. Unfortunately for me, the off-ramp turned into a laneway which wasn’t the main road I was expecting. It was a one-way exit from the freeway. So I had no option but to keep driving while worriedly looking for more signs.

‘Oh boy. Where the heck was I?’ Except I don’t think I used the word ‘heck’

I drove for a few miles through green pastures when I started to have a meltdown. Where was I and how was I ever going to get back to the freeway? What if I didn't find my hotel that was already booked.  I pulled over and let the panic take me. I balled for a while and when I stopped I realized that crying wasn’t going to solve the problem of being in the middle of nowhere.

I wasn’t going to get rescued because it was a very quiet lane. I started to drive again and hoped that eventually, I’d find a village or even a house where I could ask directions.

I drove on for what seemed like a long time, but I think I’m an unreliable witness in my panicked state. A T intersection brought me to a halt and a small cluster of houses and a Pub relieved a little of the panic. But there was absolutely no signage to enlighten me where I was.

I parked in the pub car park and now noticed that at least the rain had eased to something between light rain and drizzle.

My hired Fiat

I ran around to the front door and went in. It was a busy Saturday lunch crowd but I was the only woman in the room and everyone stopped to look at me. So with the single intent of finding out where I was, I marched to the bar and said, ‘I'm a lost Australian. Am I near slough?’

‘No. I don’t even know where that is,’ he says. Then without warning, he yells, ‘DOES ANYONE KNOW THE WAY TO SLOUGH.’

I shrank inside. I'd created a spectacle of myself which I'd been brought up to avoid at all costs. I also didn't feel very safe. Instead of feeling more in charge of my situation I felt things were spinning way out of control.

‘I DO,’ said a well dressed middle aged man, sitting at the table with three other men dressed in laborer work clothes. I took in the beers they were drinking, it looked like the boss was buying a round after a mornings work. I decided to take the chance that they would help. So I paid for my coke and scurried over to them as the buzz of conversation started up again.

The well-dressed man asked where I needed to go and I told him, Jane Austen's House but I wanted to check in for the night at Fleet. He said I didn't need to go through Slough but to get off at the Fleet turnoff.  He explained that I’d got off the M3 too soon, it was easiest if I just waited until they finished their drinks and I could follow him back to the freeway. He was having lunch at his daughter's house and didn’t need to go on the freeway but he could go that way to show me.

I sipped my coke as he chatted to me kindly asking where I was from, and when he found out I was an Aussie he told me about every friend and relative of his that lived in Australia too. 

He led me back to the freeway in his silver Mercedes Benz. When the Fleet exit came up he put his left indicator on. I went off and he stayed on the motorway. I found my hotel, checked in and stayed put. I went to see Jane Austen's house the next day when I was calmer and could enjoy it properly.

Does this story familiar, like something you’ve read before? It’s the real-life event that created the inspiration for 'The Scottish Billionaires Secret Lover'. I've included the first chapter excerpt containing a scene very similar to this in past posts. Of course, Natalie has a much bigger adventure than I did but mine was plenty big enough for real life.

To this day I still have no idea where that pub was. I'm kicking myself for being so panicked I didn't ask, but I’ll always remember how, despite all the anxiety, I had been able to carry on. It was such a profound moment in my life that it inspired a book about a woman who’d lost everything and had to start again, relying on her inner strength.

2006 in England

Dora Bramden

Heart-Melting, Passionate Romance.

Dora posts weekly on her romantic lifestyle blog on her website: www.dorabramden.com/blog

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Why celebrate Valentines day? by Dora Bramden

Last year's Valentine's Day heart decoration.

In a week from today, it will be Valentine's day. It's a celebration that people seem to either look forward to or hope to avoid. I'm one who looks forward to it. I always have, even when I was single. I don't subscribe to the belief that Valentine's day is only for couples. Yes, as you can see by the heart above, I'm in a relationship ,however it wasn't always like that.

When I was single, and looking for a relationship, I worked at injecting romance into my life in order to welcome it in.

I believed that sitting at home and wishing wasn't going to get me anywhere. So I joined the dating scene. I went out with nice men that I met online. Although they weren't a good match for me, I enjoyed and appreciated their company. I didn't give up but it took five long years before Sam came into my life.

Sometimes when I wondered if it would ever happen I remembered that song, 'You can't hurry Love'.

While I waited, I worked on self-love. Looking after myself the best I could, creating a lovely home for myself and enjoying the love of my dear family and friends. I also celebrated Valentines Day.

In the romance author world, Valentine's day is a thing. So single me celebrated. I bought myself flowers, lit a candle and watched romantic movies. One year I went to a fabulous dinner with romance author friends.

Now that I am in a relationship I make sure we celebrate Valentine's day with a lunch or dinner together. Each year, we swap cards and buy little presents for each other. One year he bought a bear for me holding a heart that said, I love you more than coffee. That was saying a lot because he really loves his morning espresso.

I know that Valentine's day can be very commercial but if, like me, you think of it as a day to celebrate love, then enjoy all the things that bring romance into your life.

I've been sharing what I'm doing to celebrate and decorate this year, on my author site blog. Check out my blog on creating a Valentine's Day tablescape and cheats dinner.

Or the entryway decorations including a romantic wreath tutorial.

It's also a great time to choose a romance novel for your next read. The authors on this blog have lots of genres so there's a book for everybody's taste.

Dora writes, heart-melting, passionate romance
http://www.dorabramden.com/books

My Favorite Novel Read Last Year Isn't In My Genre

I write and read contemporary romance but the one  I look forward to most each year is the latest Regency from Anne Gracie.

I met Anne Gracie when she gave an author talk during a writing course I was doing. After listening to her speak I wanted to read her writing. I read her Regency novel 'The Perfect Rake' and loved every minute. A feisty heroine escapes her abusive, mad, grandfather with younger sisters in tow and enlists the aid of a dashingly funny and loveable rake.

Anne Gracie's writing voice is enchanting. Her characters jump off the page. I went on to enjoy some other historical novels by other authors but they're not my thing really. I only love Anne Gracie's Regency novels.

After reading 'The Perfect Rake', I was hooked. I read her backlist and now, each year, I await the arrival of the next Anne Gracie with all the pleasure anticipation can give. When, at last, I get my hands on it, I retreat from the world and enter Anne's Regency England's social world. I meet new friends and am reacquainted with old ones. It's like seeing friends that you've missed after a year's absence.

'Marry in Scandal' released in 2018 was a delightful book. It has all the feels. The heroine, Lily, is resourceful, sweet but tough. Even so, she needs a bit of help because she's been put in an impossible situation. The hero, Edward, respects and admires Lily's gumption and ingenuity to attempt to save herself, making his assistance possible.

I think another reason this book appeals to the contemporary romance reader in me is that while the novel is set in the Regency period, the heroine is very much a woman we can admire today. One who stands up for her self and doesn't take being treated like a commodity lying down.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/319106/marry-in-scandal-by-anne-gracie/9780425283820/

Last years novel was everything I hoped for. I wait impatiently for her next novel 'Marry in Secret' to be released 02 July 2019. I know it will deliver and I can't wait.

If you haven't yet read anything by Anne Gracie, you have six months to read her backlist before the next installment. I'll probably reread 'Marry in Scandal' while I wait.

Dora Bramden writes heart melting, passionate romance.

Romantic Christmas Potpourri by Dora Bramden

Christmas, with all that decorating and cooking, is a time of year that sharpens my focus on the kind of person really I am. I can clutter the house with a hundred trinkets and make it as cozy as a cabin in the snowy mountains even though it’s summer in Australia. I love to have lots of things around me. More is more. But like a potpourri, I like it to have a cohesive thread. So when everything is Christmas themed, there’s the thread and once a year I decorate with every bit of Christmas potpourri that I can find.

My personality is typically Piscean. I thrive with variety and an outlet for creativity. Not content to have one craft of the moment, I have many projects of the go at once and enjoy them all.  I need the stimulation of making things with my hands. I feel it provides creative energy which I can use when writing.

I like to garden and cook and sew and paint and hot glue things. I want to make and make and never stop. But there’s a limit to how much stuff I can put in my house so Christmas is a time I let my head go wild. There’s never too many decorations or ornaments. I’m only limited by how much storage space I can allot to it. But I’m already looking at second-hand garden sheds for sale.

I have a blog on my website about this year’s romantic Christmas theme that I’ve decorated the family room and kitchen areas in. Some of the things I’ve been doing this year to add to my collection include making lacy rosettes and painting baubles and décor in the pink shades I need for this theme.

A wreath decorated with lace strips cut from an old curtain and baubles, from years past, hand painted shades of pink.

Being a craft hoarder I have paints on hand that I can use. The pearl white mixed with burgundy makes a very pretty mauve/pink. I painted my deep red Santa’s pink but if I want to use them in a traditional theme next year, the paints and brushes will come out again.

A potpurri of ornaments freshly painted.

If you’d like to see what I’ve been doing to decorate my Romantic home this year check out my blog at www.dorabramden.com  Last week is the kitchen and family rooms, next weekend will be the bedroom, ensuite and the guest bedroom/study, where I write.

Have you ever decorated in the romantic style for Christmas? I've interpreted it as a cross between shabby chic and Victorian but I think it's got to be whatever inspires romance for you.

Heroines Don't Have To Be Beautiful by Dora Bramden

I recently became engaged. Ahhh! When Sam asked me it was a huge thrill. I posted Our Romantic Proposal Story on my website blog last Sunday. The fact that I'm in my mid 50's and weigh more than I ever have, when the man I love proposed, reminded me of a post I put up in 2016 about heroines not needing to be perfect in the way they look. 

You see I'm the heroine of my own life, ( That's a line from the movie 'The Holiday' that resonated with me ).  I now wear a lovely diamond ring and am looking forward to our wedding in late 2019. When I met Sam, I suspected he would be my happily ever after, and I was right. I found a keeper, a man worthy of a kind hearted loving woman who doesn't need to be thin or young and beautiful to have love and romance in her life. 

Heroines Don't Have To Be Beautiful

Heroines in romance novels seem to be always beautiful and slim, right?  Bertrice Small’s Sky O’Malley, had perfect skin unmarked by a single blemish. I loved that book but I also love it when an author goes against the trend and creates a less than perfect body type in a heroine who’s perhaps past her prime or has a plump figure.

In the book ‘Where The Heart Is’ by Billie Letts, the heroine, Novalee Nation, is overweight. I know, the movie version cast a tiny actress for the role but its heart and soul was born from the book that had had a less than perfect body heroine. Hero, Forney Hull, sees her inner beauty. He’s fascinated by Novalee when she visits the library to find out how to save her sick tree.

There is no perfect body, of course, and beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. As in Anne Gracie’s ‘The Perfect Rake’, hero, Gideon shows us. He falls in love with plump (by Georgian standards) Prudence; he admires her figure a number of times. She’s his kind of beautiful. She has a “mother hen” nature in taking care of her sisters that he loves too. He’d sworn off marriage but in Prudence, he finds the kind of woman he could spend a lifetime with and it’s his brand of attractive.

My favorite reunion-story, ‘Persuasion’, by (I don’t need to tell you but I simply must give her credit) Jane Austen, has the heroine, Anne Elliot, a faded version of her younger self. Poor heroic, heartbroken Captain Wentworth claims to barely recognize her she’s so changed. If this isn’t proof that she’s not the prettiest girl in the room, he drives it home by giving all his attention to the pleasing Miss Musgroves.  So much attention that by the time he realizes Anne is the only one he could ever love, her status as more attractive than any other has returned, but he’s created expectations in one Miss Musgrove that may divide him from Anne forever.  That his foolishness costs him a few sleepless nights is his just deserts.

All heroines have an inner beauty. They’re understanding and compassionate but flaws are fine, even physical ones. I’ve read lots of Mills and Boon Sexy and Desires with heroines who’ve been scarred or suffered burns, but their hero isn’t put off by them. For me, it makes the HEA all the sweeter because I want life to compensate her for her pain and I’ve become so invested in her worthiness of being loved by a good man.

Let’s acknowledge that most of us have something we feel a bit insecure about even though we know we shouldn’t. Fiona Lowe’s Ruby and Rita winning ‘Boomerang Bride’ has a secondary character who is dealing with physical disfigurement. I became so deeply invested in her journey and felt sad for her, but it was a joy to watch her find the courage to deal with real life issues and be valued and loved.

I guess we all want acceptance, so seeing a heroine who’s not beautiful in the traditional sense find love, reassures us that everyone is worthy of happiness as these heroines are. Christina Aguilera summed it up. “You are beautiful, no matter what they say.”

Dora Bramden writes contemporary romance. Find out about her books on her Amazon author page.
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