Happy Valentine’s Day!

Welcome back to the With Love Valentine’s Day Blog Hop. Today is the last day of this fantastic event with over 260 participating authors, all giving away prizes. How can you get a chance to win something? Well, just read the blogs and leave a comment. That’s it! Each author will pick a winner and announce it tomorrow.

For those of you who are visiting this blog for the first time, I’ve put up a different submission for each day. The first two have excerpts from one of my works in progress for The Kayne Series. That one will be a new subgenre for me as I am diving into the paranormal/fantasy stuff full force. There will be vampire, damphyr, fairies, witches, warlocks and some other Heavenly beings. Of course there will be some hot sex throughout all of the books in the series, so stay tuned!

Yesterdays submission was an excerpt from my nearly finished WIP The Island (Now and Forever 2). It’s basically a prequel to For the Love of Quinn and introduces a few new characters that will play rolls in the other books in this series. Ever wondered if you had a Guardian Angel? Well, Jake and Quinn get to meet theirs in the flesh so to speak. I hope to get this book submitted to my publisher with in the next month or so…keep you fingers crossed!

For my contest, you can leave a comment on each day’s submission for separate entries. What’s up for grabs in a signed print copy of my book of poetry Follow Me: Poetry from the Heart and Soul and a hand crafted cherub heart pendant made by my bestie Deadra Wagner. (her picture is on the lower portion of this blog on the right side!)  You can go back to the previous posts if you missed them and leave your comment. I will be announcing the winner tomorrow morning. Please leave your contact email information so I can let you know if you win.

So now for today’s topic: Does true love exist? Is your soul mate out there?

People always ask me if I believe in the idea of soul mates and I always tell them I do, for other people.  I think that is why I started writing romance and erotic romances in particular.  I wanted to experience that kind of love connection even if it was just in my fantasy world.  I still had a hope that one day I would find my mo anam cara, my soul friend or soul mate.  My Mom found hers with her second marriage, why couldn’t I find mine someday?

I thought I had found him when I reconnected with a man I had been in love with for over 27 years. Even though so much time had passed, we just fell into our old friendship as if we never stopped being around each other.  I waited so many years to see him again.  He joined the Marine Corps right out of high school and we lost track of each other.  I never forgot him or stopped loving him as only a teenaged heart could do.  I was soon to find out that the boy I had loved all of these years was no longer there.  Both of us tried to hold onto that fantasy, but it wasn’t meant to be.  My heart was so broken, but still longed for the one that could make it all right.

After one too many failed relationships I thought I was just destined to go through life alone.  I finally realized that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.  I didn’t have to be in a relationship or married in order to be happy.  The moment I accepted that, was the moment I found my always and forever.

I agreed to go on a date with a local man.  Both of us weren’t looking for a long term romance, but dating other people, basically keeping our options open.  Both of us had been burned before and we guarding our hearts, but something just clicked on that very first date.  It felt like we had known each other for years and as the conversation went on, it felt like we had known each other in previous lifetimes.

I know, for many of you that sounds strange, but the sense of déjà vu was so strong between us, I couldn’t explain it any other way.  He couldn’t either.  It was so refreshing to actually find someone with similar beliefs.  We shared a lot of our hopes and dreams with each other on that date and others.  It felt so right, so why did I want to run?

That’s right.  I said I wanted to run away from him as fast as I could.  I felt such love and affection for him right off that it scared me.  Never before had I felt as supported and loved as I did when I was with him.  I knew I was falling head over heels for this man and I also knew he was not in the same place.  I couldn’t put myself through that heartache one more time so I tried to break it off several times.  We always found our way back to each other and slowly but surely those other people we were dating dropped out of our lives.  It was just the two of us and it hit us hard.  As soon as we admitted to ourselves that the love we have for each other was there to stay and in fact growing with each and every moment, our journey to find our happily ever after was just beginning.  This time it was different.  This time we were in it together, all the way. 

Just like my characters in my Now and Forever series, I have been through hell and back and found my soul mate.  In For the Love of Quinn, Quinn is blessed with the love of two men.  Both of them hold claims on her heart, but only one of them completes her heart and soul.  It’s her family and friends who help her find out which one, and more importantly help her find herself through it all.

I am blessed to have such friends who I call my Heart and Soul Sisters.  The Celtic phrase “mo anam cara” can also be applied to them.  They are truly friends of my heart and soul.  Without them, I would never have made it through my separation and now divorce.  I would have never made it through the loss of my heart to the love from so long ago, if these five other women were not there for me.  They encouraged me to keep moving forward and never stop living and loving with all of my heart.  Because of them I was able to be open enough to find my soul mate and happily ever after.

For me, every day is Valentine’s Day because of my Soul Sisters and my Muse Liam.  I hope every one of you have people in your lives that lift you up and make you feel loved every single moment of every single day. I wrote a poem for Liam that sums up my feelings for him.  Today I dedicate it to everyone out there who has found their soul mate or is still looking.  Enjoy!

Safe Harbor

You are the song my heart beats to,

A rhythm wild and free.

You give me purpose again,

Opened my eyes

 To see the Goddess in me.

You lift me up higher

Than I could have ever dreamed

Of reaching alone.

With you by my side,

I can do anything,

Get through any adversity,

Celebrate every joy.

You are the Safe Harbor

And the Light that guides me Home.

Your love anchors me enough

So I can soar wild and free,

And yet still be safe

In your arms at night.

Your strength and courage

Are beacons bright and true,

Encouraging me to do what’s right.

There was a time not so long ago

When I thought all hope was lost,

And I could go on no longer.

Your heart kept calling out to me.

Your love lighting the way

Back to you,

My heart, my soul,

My Safe Harbor.

©Tammy Dennings Maggy

11/1/2011