V.D. — That Stands for Valentine's Day

So on this, the most hackneyed of holidays, I set out (and by "set out" I mean Googled) to find the history behind Valentine's Day. To my surprise all that history.com could offer up was a big shrug.  Seriously, the first line of the article is, "The history of Valentine's Day–and the story of its patron saint–is shrouded in mystery." They go on to speculate that the origin could have been anything from a priest marrying couples in secret when it was against the law to an imprisoned man who fell in love with his jailor's daughter and wrote her a letter before he was killed. All super romantic stuff, but I think my favorite is the legend that Valentine's Day was created by the Christian church to God-up the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. During this celebration, believers would sacrifice animals and then walk around slapping women and fields with the blood-soaked pelt of a goat. Later in the day, all of the single women would put their name in a jar and be randomly paired with the city's bachelors for a year. Apparently, this custom frequently ended in marriage for the pair. So I imagine the practice to have about the same success rate and scientific viability of eHarmony.

Even though I don't have a lover-like person to celebrate the holiday with, it still remains one of my favorites. First of all, my mother bought me some bitchin' fuzzy heart covered pajama pants and that's just a good time no matter what day it is. Secondly, I love a good holiday themed romance. My favorites lean more towards Christmas time, but that may have more to do with my love of the holiday than actual good plotting. But I had to pull out a Valentine's themed book for kicks today.

I chose The Trouble with Valentine's Day by Rachel Gibson. This was part of a series she did with heroes that were hockey players. I'll be honest. I don't cotton much to them winter sports but other than being a little rough and tumble around the edges (as, let's face it, most professional athletes probably are), I really enjoyed the heroes.  Plus this book has a fantastic sex scene that takes place in a…wait for it…grocery store.

I've been quite happy with my solitary Valentine's evening with a good book and a glass of wine. And if you're looking for a great holiday read, I whole-heartedly recommend this one. Whether you're cool enough to pull off a pair of fuzzy heart pajama pants or not.