Valentine’s Day 2025

 

“For where all love is, the speaking is unnecessary. It is all. It is undying. And it is enough.”

© Diana Gabaldon, Outlander, 1991

❤ Valentines Day ~ Fourteen Poems to Say I Love You from Candlestick Press

Candlestick Press
2023

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this poetry pamphlet

How many ways are there to say “I love you”? According to poetry there are many – with room for humour, longing, lust, tenderness and a healthy dose of self-mockery.

These fourteen poems are not about love but declare it with an immediacy that’s captivating and irresistible. Longing may be expressed using all sorts of images – there’s even a riff on a famous Shakespeare sonnet where we find ourselves in outer space – but at the heart of all the poems is love and the urgent need to proclaim it:

“I love your eyes when the lovelight lies

Lit with a passionate fire.”

from ‘I Love You’ by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

This is an anthology that says “I love you” with a freshness and directness that’s guaranteed to stir even the stoniest of hearts.

Poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Katharine Goda, Nathalie Handal, Christopher Marlowe, Mary Mulholland, James Nash, Ogden Nash, Abigail Parry, Rachel Plummer, William Shakespeare, Penny Sharman, Dominic Weston and Ella Wheeler Wilcox.

Cover illustration by Clare Curtis.

❤My Review..

Beautifully expressive each of the fourteen poems which make up this latest poetry pamphlet demonstrate the power of love in all its many forms. Whether it be remembering a lost love or celebrating someone new, each of the verses have something special to share and awake the senses and help to evoke the charm and poignancy of love.

The fourteen poem feature a selection of work from poets who are very familiar and I enjoyed being reintroduced to Christopher Marlowe's The Passionate Shepherd to his Love :

" Come live with me, and be my love

and we will all the pleasure prove..."

Alongside less well know poets whose work is no less powerful and amongst my favourite is the very beautiful Love Letters by Nathalie Handal

"I'd like to be a shrine, so I can learn from peoples' prayers the story of hearts..."

No selection of love poems would ever be complete without Robbie Burns' delightful A Red Red rose which has been written in so many Valentines or shared between lovers.

"O my Luve's like a red rose,

That's newly sprung in June

O my Luve's like the melodie

That's sweeetly played in tune..."

Instead of a card and not just for Valentine's Day, Fourteen Poems to say I Love You is the perfect expression of love for any occasion, be it a special anniversary, or just to say I love You to that special person in your life ❤

 About the Publisher

Candlestick Press is an independent publisher based in Nottingham, UK. We’ve been publishing poetry pamphlets since 2008 not only for people who already love poetry, but also for those who will love it but perhaps don’t know that yet. Our ‘instead of a card’ pamphlets make an ideal alternative to a mainstream greetings card and are a small gift in their own right. They have matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message, and are excellent companions on journeys or for a bedtime read. By supporting us, you help an independent press and our supported charities at the same time as treating yourselves, your friends and family to some wonderful poems.

Twitter @poetrycandle

💘Valentine's Day Sunday Brunch with Jaffareadstoo - Kate Ryder

💘On this special Valentine's Day Sunday Brunch 💘

Light the candles, play soft music and and pour yourself a glass of something sparkly

Come and join us

💘

I'm delighted to welcome author, Kate Ryder to share her 

Valentine's Day Sunday Brunch

💘

Thank you for inviting me to your Valentine’s Day Sunday Brunch. What a lovely idea!

♡ Good morning, Kate. What Valentine’s Day themed food are you bringing to our Sunday brunch?

I’m bringing dessert. It has a bit of a wow factor but isn’t too heavy or sweet – chocolate-dipped strawberries drizzled with milk and white chocolate.

♡Would you like a glass of champagne, a love potion cocktail, or a boozy strawberry smoothie?

I’d normally say champagne, but how can I resist a boozy strawberry smoothie? 

♡Where shall we eat our Valentine’s Day Brunch – in pyjamas at the kitchen table, seated in the formal dining room or in a cosy alcove with candles?

Having survived the past 12 crazy months, let’s pull out all the stops and go the whole hog. A cosy alcove with candles – how atmospheric!

♡Shall we have soft music playing in the background and if so will you share with us a favourite love song or romantic piece of music.

Fellow author and friend, Rosemary Smith, recently introduced me to the sublime singing voice of the talented and versatile actor, Luke Evans. At the moment I can’t get enough, so it would be a soundtrack of his wonderful songs. Each time I hear his rendition of ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ it sends a shiver down my spine and brings a tear to my eye!

♡Which of your romantic literary heroes, or heroines (dead or alive) are joining us for our romance themed Sunday Brunch today? 

I’ve invited my own latest hero, the award-winning nature writer, Hunter Harcourt (real name Luke Metcalfe). I know you’ll like Hunter/Luke because he’s an interesting, well-educated man without an ounce of ego to get in the way of an entertaining couple of hours. And, as it happens, Luke Evans would portray him superbly if the book was ever turned into a film.

♡Would you share with us your first ever romantic read?

Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier. I was in my early teens when I first discovered her writing, and I devoured any of her novels I could get my hands on. However, I was totally captivated by the story she set in the quiet, secluded creek on the Helford River and I lived each and every emotional moment. But I couldn’t accept the ending and had to rewrite it – LOL! In my version, the smart and feisty Lady Dona St Columb abandoned her pompous, stuffy husband and sailed off into the sunset with her soulmate; the swashbuckling pirate, Jean Benout Aubery. So, maybe, I should thank Daphne du Maurier for inspiring me to become a writer!

♡What’s the most special love story on your book shelf?

The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller. It’s such an emotional read and even though it doesn’t have a HEA, it is both beautiful and heart-breaking in equal measure. It also transferred superbly to film, with the main characters of Francesca Johnson and Robert Kincaid brilliantly portrayed by Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood.

♡Where do you find the inspiration for your romantic novels?

Everywhere! From an overheard snatch of conversation; a poignant photograph or painting; a beautiful panoramic vista that speaks to the senses; a piece of music; a feeling; a dream… the possibilities are endless. To date, I’ve set my books in real places and I always visit the location to get a feel for the area. It’s impossible to achieve this by simply researching through books or the internet. 

Also, for several years I worked in the property industry, selling large country piles. Many of the houses were steeped in history and possessed a special atmosphere. A few were even reputedly haunted, and often, when I researched the property’s history, it became apparent why it was labelled as such. I admit that some of the thoughts and feelings those properties stirred have made their way into my books.

♡Have you a favourite place to settle down to write?

I live in a three-storey 200 year old cottage and my office is on the top floor, in the eaves. Being tucked away from the rest of the household, the room has a cosy air and I’m able to concentrate fully on my writing without interference.

♡Give us four essentials that a romance writer needs?

Imagination, heart, empathy and resilience… the latter because true love never runs smooth!

♡What can you tell us about your latest novel or your current work in progress?

The second lockdown postponed the originally scheduled publication date for Beneath Cornish Skies. How ironic, then, that it was finally published on 7th January during the third lockdown! However, the timing was probably better as the book is all about new beginnings, which we could all do with after the year we’ve just lived through.

In Beneath Cornish Skies, Cassandra Shaw unknowingly lives life in first gear… and with the brake on! However, this all changes when she discovers her long-term boyfriend is being unfaithful and he doesn’t share her vision of their future. Gathering up her shattered dreams and diminished self-esteem, she answers an advert for a live-in help/nanny to a young family living in a rambling Cornish manor house on the wild and rugged north Cornish coast. Despite being riddled with insecurities and self-doubt, Cassie throws herself into her new life, and with the help of blossoming friendships, ancient magic and spirits in the landscape she undertakes a life-changing journey towards her authentic self.

♡Kate, where can we follow you on social media?♡

Twitter @KateRyder_Books

Facebook 

Instagram: @kateryder_author

Website

♡More About Kate♡

Kate Ryder is an Amazon Kindle international best seller who writes timeslip and romantic suspense in a 'true to life' narrative. She has worked in the publishing, tour operating and property industries, and has travelled widely.

A member of the Romantic Novelists' Association and The Society of Authors, in 2017 Kate signed a 4-book contract with Aria (digital imprint of award-winning independent publisher, Head of Zeus).

SUMMER IN A CORNISH COVE, a contemporary romantic suspense set on the Lizard Peninsula, saw her nominated for the RNA's 2018 Joan Hessayon award, while its standalone sequel, COTTAGE ON A CORNISH CLIFF, reached the heady heights of #2 in Kindle Literary Sagas.

SECRETS OF THE MIST, a mysterious timeslip romance, was not only rated in the #top 50 on Amazon UK Paid Kindle but also achieved #1 Kindle best-selling status in the UK, Canada and Australia. In its original, self-published version as 'The Forgotten Promise' it was awarded the first Chill with a Book "Book of the Month".

Her latest book, BENEATH CORNISH SKIES, is a beautiful romance with a hint of ghostliness set on the north Cornish coast.

Originally from the South East of England, today Kate lives on the Cornish side of the beautiful Tamar Valley with her husband and a collection of animals.

💘

Thank you for taking part in Valentine’s Day Sunday Brunch with Jaffareadstoo.

Follow us on Twitter @jaffareadstoo #SundayBrunchwithJaffareadstoo

💘

Valentine's day ~ Ten Sexy Poems from Candlestick Press

Candlestick press
February 2018

This intoxicating selection of poems – a mini-anthology to complement our ever-popular Ten Poems about Love – is published especially for Valentine’s Day.  The poems capture the extraordinary power of desire, from Neil Rollinson’s tenement building stirred by the passion of loving couples on St Valentine’s night, to DH Lawrence’s painterly celebration of a beautiful woman as she washes in early morning sunshine.

Elsewhere, beds become roiling vessels for lovers with “persistent hands”:

“We are bare. We are stripped to the bone

and we swim in tandem and go up and up

the river…”

from ‘December 11th’ by Anne Sexton

There are poems that evoke passion’s intensity, alongside others in which the sensuality is more obliquely expressed – an apple bitten to expose surprising pink flesh or a shipwright rhapsodising over the alluring curves of his ship.

 Roses, oysters, chocolate – even a pungent cheese – stir the senses and capture the heady urgency of erotic love. These poems are seductive, and irresistible.

Poems by Kim Addonizio, Jo Bell, Wayne Burrows, Hilary Davies, DH Lawrence, MR Peacocke, Shazea Quraishi, Neil Rollinson, Anne Sexton and James Sheard.

My thoughts about the poems...

I've really enjoyed reading through this diverse collection of love poetry and was pleased to discover some excellent new poems alongside one of my favourite authors. 

D H Lawrence's poem, Gloire de Dijon is every bit as good as I remember it..

"In the window full of sunlight

Concentrates her golden shadow

Fold on fold, until it glows as

Mellow as the glory roses"

and the poem A Kiss Remembered by MR Peacock is really rather beautiful.

"a kiss searching for itself, neither looked for

nor expected, but like the rapt coupling of dragonflies..."

From the erotic to the sentimental, there is something for everyone in this beautifully presented pamphlet of ten sexy poems. A perfect gift for Valentine's Day.

About the Publishers

Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing sumptuously produced poetry pamphlets that serve as a wonderful alternative to a greetings card, with matching envelopes and bookmarks left blank for your message. Their subjects include Cricket, London, Lesbian and Gay, Birds, Clouds, Puddings and Fathers. Candlestick Press pamphlets are stocked by chain and independent bookshops, galleries and garden centres nationwide and available to order online.

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