Happy Valentines Day - complete with goodies

by Tawny

Ahhh, Valentine's Day! The day of Romance with a capital R. As opposed to valentines with a lower case v which makes me think of conversation hearts, paper valentines from classmates and stuffed teddy bears.

Today, I want to dish on the big kids Valentines. When I think of Valentine’s Day, I think of traditional trappings. Candlelight dinner for two. Champagne and silk sheets. Roses, chocolates and better yet, diamonds.

Hand holding, slow dancing, sweet nothings whispered over bare skin.

Poetry.

"Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt I love. "
William Shakespeare

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. “
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

“She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.”
Lord Byron

*deep sigh* Doesn’t it just make you melt?

And then there’s real life. Those wonderfully thoughtful-yet-clueless gifts of cooking utensils, coupons for car washes and the ubiquitous tacky lingerie. You know, because women love that kind of thing (picture me rolling my eyes here). This is what I call Valentine’s Day with a cheesy sigh.

And as lovely as Valentine’s Day Romance with a capital R is, most of us live in the land of the cheesy sighs (hopefully with the occasional capital R thrown in).

So with that in mind... We Bandita’s with our love of all things romantic are hosting a special Valentines contest for our fabulous readers. We have a whole slew of prizes to offer, which will either go in full to the best of show, or be parsed out if it’s too hard to choose (hey, can’t say I didn’t learn something from the fabulously fun RNTV invasion).

The prizes:
Signed copy of Risqué Business, Sees Chocolates - Tawny

Signed copy of The Wild Sight - Auntie Cindy

Signed copy of Tempt the Devil - Foanna

Signed copy of Dark & Dangerous, Cover flat of Dark & Deadly - Jeanne

Signed copy of Firefighter in the Family - Trish

Signed copy of The Trouble with Moonlight - Donna

Signed copy of Homicide in Hardcover, See's suckers
Bookmark - Kate

$10 Borders gift card - Joan

thap gump Fridge magnet and post-its - Jo

Signed copy of The Dangerous Duke - Christine

Godiva Chocolates - Suz

Signed copy of Not Without Her Family - Beth

Signed copy of her most recent book - Christie

Cool Bandits Goodies - Anna S.

$5 Barnes & Noble gift card - Cassandra

To win? Write your own Valentines Poem. The only requirement? It has to be totally cheesy. The cheesier, the better.

To start you off...

Roses are red
Violets are blue
The Bandits love romance
I’ll bet you do, too

(was that a chorus of groans I heard?)

Have at it...