Three Ways to Keep Romance Alive in Your Marriage and Romance Novel Giveaway

Good morning everyone, and thanks for stopping by. I'm super excited today, partly because we're joining author Noelle Marchand for her Fourteen Days of Love Contest, and partly because I'll be doing my first ever giveaway of my book, Sanctuary for a Lady. The book doesn't release until April, yet I'm anxious to get an early copy into the hands of one lucky winner. Before the giveaway, however, we're going to look at some real-life romance. Noelle has done a terrific post for single women facing Valentine's Day, while I've done a post for married women. So be sure to check out Noelle's corresponding advice here.

I love writing romance, and I don't think I could ever write a book that didn't have a love story in it. But in a book, I get to play around with the characters, write and rewrite scenes, and keep revising until the romance in the story is perfect. Real life isn't so easy. You can't use the delete button to erase the words you speak to your spouse, or rewrite your most recent argument until it ends in understanding and a kiss rather than tears and damaged feelings. So today I want to look at three ways to keep romance alive with your real-life prince charming.

1. Spend time together. You might think this one rather obvious. After all, at one point, you and your hubby spent a whole lot of time together . . . back when he was your future hubby or first dating you. But somehow, as the years pass, you each become busy with different things. Working, raising kids, buying a house, making improvements to the house, carting your kids to soccer and ballet, and the list goes on. Yet it's still important that you spend time together. Hire a babysitter for one night a month. Or feed your kids hotdogs and put them to bed early once every couple weeks. Then make (or buy, if you're me) a nice dinner for your husband.

2. Pay attention. Every woman wants to feel that her husband loves her. But on the flip side, women also need to ask themselves whether they make their husbands feel loved. Do you know when he has a bad day at work or a mountain of chores to do at home? Or do you let him live his own life until you needs something from him? One of the easiest ways to pay attention is to greet him when he gets home. Whether he's been at work or running errands, put down the phone, spatula or laundry basket, and call your kids away from their toys or the TV to greet their dad. If you make your man feel like he's important to you, I'm betting he'll reciprocate and show his wonderful wife how important she is to him.

3. Say thank you. Having a general attitude of gratefulness toward the man you married can do miracles for your relationship. Of course you're grateful that he pays some (or all) of the bills and takes the trash out on trash night. But do you tell him "thank you" or simply take for granted that he'll work endless hours? Now let's take the situation a step farther. Regardless of how wonderful a wife you are, there will always be those busy times when you ask for help with sweeping or putting the kids to bed or doing the dishes or any other number of household tasks. When your husband takes time out of his busy schedule to help you, do you thank him? Or do you look at the kitchen floor, see a dog hair in the corner, and tell him he didn't do a good enough job sweeping? Try to be grateful for the effort your husband puts into helping rather than pick out his imperfections.

Well, there you have it. Three ways to keep romance alive in your marriage, and they aren't even expensive or time consuming. Again, feel free to read the advice romance author Noelle Marchand has for single women on her blog.

Now for the giveaway. Married women, leave a comment below sharing one thing you're grateful for about your husband to be entered. If you're not married, leave a comment sharing one thing you're grateful for about your father or some other man that has impacted your life in a positive way. Be sure to leave your email address, so I have a way to reach the winner.

If you want your name to be added in the drawing a second time, go visit my brand new (as of yesterday) facebook author page and click like. (I have a whopping 11 fans as of this moment, and while I admit that the stress of being so popular is rather burdensome, I think I can handle a few more fans before I suffer a breakdown.) If you "like" my fan page, be sure to come back here and post another comment saying that you did so in order to be entered a second time. The contest will run until next Wednesday, February 15, at midnight.