Valentine Fantasies

It’s Valentine’s Day! Hearts, flowers, and all things red, shiny and Hallmarked.

Alas, the history of Valentine’s Day is rather gruesome. It’s celebrated on February 14^th as that is the day when Saint Valentine himself was buried, after being martyred in 269. He was a Roman bishop who was reportedly persecuted as a Christian. Legends suggest that amongst his many doings, he performed wedding ceremonies for Roman soldiers who wished to marry under the Christian faith, and cut out hearts from parchment to remind the men of their vows. Valentine’s Day itself didn’t become an expression of love until the fourteenth century and of course now includes symbols such as hearts and gorgeously chubby baby Cupids firing arrows of love.

When I was a kid, my favourite Greek myth was actually Cupid and Psyche. What could be more romantic than falling for the God of Love himself – and being adored by him in return? Poor old Psyche was, like many Greek heroines, too beautiful for her own good. How very dare she… Her mere existence annoyed Venus so much that she sent her son, Cupid, to take revenge on Psyche for daring to be pretty. Cupid fell for Psyche but knew he had to hide his true identity from her. He extracted a promise from Psyche that she wouldn’t attempt to look at him. Unfortunately, as is the way of these things, Psyche’s jealous sisters goaded her into breaking that promise, suggesting that her new lover was a monster. Psyche visited Cupid in the dead of night, sneaking up on his sleeping body to catch a glimpse of him. When she leaned over him with her lamp, however, she dripped hot oil onto his skin. He woke up and fled, leaving Psyche alone and desperate. Unlike other heroines, however, she wasn’t about to just tear out her hair and shred her clothes. She set about winning Cupid back, performing a series of supposedly impossible tasks to prove her love for him. In the end, she prevailed and, of course, they lived happily ever after. Who could resist such a tale?

 My wonderful Scottish grandmother, who was the best Granny in the whole wide world and who beats all other Grannies hands down, sadly passed away a couple of years ago. She used to insist on reading all of my books, even though she’d never have been tempted towards urban fantasy otherwise. The only one I think she truly ever enjoyed was Eros, my own re-telling of Cupid and Psyche but set in modern times. I'm okay with admitting that it’s very far from my most popular book but, because my gran loved it, I love it all the more myself too – which I suppose goes to show how deeply complex and deeply wonderful love is, no matter who it’s for or what form it takes.

So whether you’re currently in an intimate relationship or not, in love, or out of love, I truly hope you’re blessed with love and that you have a fabulous Valentine’s Day of your own.

As probably the last person in the world who’d appreciate hearts, flowers and romance, Coop is convinced that true love doesn’t exist – which is rather unfortunate considering he’s also known as Cupid, the God of Love. He’d rather spend his days drinking, womanising and generally having as much fun as he possible can. As far as he’s concerned, shooting people with bolts of pure love is a waste of his time…but then his path crosses with that of shy and retiring Skye Sawyer and nothing will ever be quite the same again.

 Eros is available on Amazon here.