Guest Post: Top Ten Valentine's Gifts Your Partner Will Love by @jamiemayres

I love Valentine’s Day . . . I don’t care if some people think it’s just a cash cow created by retailers. Needless to say, I'll be celebrating! I'm so thankful to have a Valentine that’s been married to me for 15 ½ years!

I’m not sure what I’m getting for hubs yet, but I’ve been brainstorming, and I think I’ve created the perfect Top 10 List of Valentine’s Gifts Your Partner Will Love:

10) If you’re into geek love like me, then you might enjoy ordering a pair of matching T-shirts (not the exact same shirt, but the same theme—I’m that dorky but hubs would never go for it, lol). Some of our favorite sites are: teefury, 6 dollar shirts, shirt punch, and five finger tees.

9) What says love on Valentine’s Day better than personalized candy hearts? It is a bit spendy, but still a cute idea if you can afford it!

8) Flowers always work. Look at the ones I got this week!

7) Of course, jewelry always works, too! I love Origami Owl for personalized creations, and who doesn’t love Pandora charms for their bracelet? Hubs isn’t big on jewelry, so I’m sort of at a loss in suggesting jewelry for men, but I did find this cool Thor themed money clip!

6) How can you go wrong with chocolate? I mean, who are we kidding? All of us have already blown our New Year’s Resolution diets anyway. Maybe you can get your sweetie to upgrade to a box of world-renowned Norman Love Confections! I’m lucky enough to live near their headquarters, but they ship all over the world! 

5) Who doesn't love to get a poem or homemade card with heartfelt words of love? The good news is, even if you’re not crafty, there are plenty of easy ideas on Pinterest!

4) How about heating up the kitchen by making your Valentine a five-course dinner? Beverages—preferably something red, like a Strawberry Daiquiri. The second course is appetizers—cocktail shrimp and stuffed portabella mushrooms are my favorite picks. The third course is salad—I love this recipe for Greek Salad. The fourth course is the main dinner—I love steak with cast-iron herbed potatoes anna; pork chops with shallot-cranberry sauce; coffee-crusted beef wellingtons with carrots (sprinkled with thyme, brown sugar, and bacon); or baked chicken breasts covered with mushrooms, onion, and bacon. Feel free to email me on my website for any of the recipes! Finally, the fifth course is dessert  . . . hmm, I think you can figure out something ;-)

3) Pop some extra buttery popcorn and enjoy a romantic movie night at home! If I was only speaking to the guys in this post, I’d suggest The Notebook, Titanic, A Walk To Remember, or Pride and Prejudice. But if you want to pick something you’d both enjoy, then you probably want to do a romantic comedy instead. Here are some of mine and hubs favorite picks: When Harry Met Sally, While You Were Sleeping, Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, The Princess Bride, Benny & Joon, Ever After, 17 Again, Fever Pitch, and Hitch. There are always some great new releases coming out in the theatres as well if you want a night out on the town!

2) Instead of a five-course meal, how about a five-step sensual massage? Step one: touching above the neck only is allowed—try a temple massage. Step two: touching below the knees only is allowed—try a calf and foot massage. Step three: caressing allowed only above the waist—nice time for a back massage. Step four—anything but intercourse goes. Step five—I’m sure you don’t need the details on this! Don’t forget to light some candles and put on some romantic music for this fun surprise!

1)Top of the list? A romance novel, of course! What better way to get you in the mood for romance than reading about love? And yes, my new book, 18 Truths, is a coming of age inspirational love story! Here are the dets:

Lying is unbearable, betrayal is inevitable, and choosing which path to take is impossible.

Olga Gay Worontzoff ended her senior year as an eighteen-year-old girl totally in love with Nate, enjoying their new romance and about to attend the university of her dreams. Now she’s spending her summer in the weird subculture of the Underworld, with charmingly witty and powerful angels, and problematic demons, trying to rescue Connor, the best friend and secret crush she was unable to save during a freak accident.

But Nate has other things on his mind, mainly Grace. She’s their first assignment as joint spirit guides, and Olga’s feeling hurt and jealous. His mysterious behavior has Olga questioning everything she believed about him and now she must decide whether to stick to their plan, or follow her heart.

Unfortunately, a series of mistakes threatens everyone around her and plants Olga in the center of cosmic events much larger than she ever imagined.

Only one thing is certain: the chilling truths uncovered during her journey will leave no one untouched.


18 Truths is now available at Barnes and Noble and Amazon. And don't forget to add it on Goodreads!

*Do you like how I tied that in? Hahaha . . . What are you doing to celebrate Valentine’s Day (even if it’s just with your family and friends)? I hope you have a good one!

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 Jamie Ayres writes young adult paranormal love stories by night and teaches young adults as a Language Arts middle school teacher by day. When not at home on her laptop or at school, she can often be found at a local book store grabbing random children and reading to them. So far, she has not been arrested for this. Although she spent her youthful summers around Lake Michigan, she now lives in Florida with her prince charming, two children (sometimes three based on how Mr. Ayres is acting), and a basset hound. She really does have grandmothers named Olga and Gay but unlike her heroine, she's thankfully not named after either one of them. She loves lazy pajama days, the first page of a good book, stupid funny movies, and sharing stories with fantastic people like you. Her books include the first two installments of her trilogy, 18 Things and 18 Truths. Visit her online via Twitter, Facebook, or at www.jamieayres.com.