A Family of Friends by Milou Koenings

You choose your friends.  Choose wisely, keep them around long enough, and they become your family.  

This is especially so for those of us whose extended biological families are scattered throughout the globe.   

To give you an idea, my father lives in New Mexico, my sister is in Massachusetts, my aunt has a farm in Belgium, while my favorite cousin is a doctor in Australia.  

And us, well... nowhere close to any of them.

Thanks to Skype and email, we can all keep up with each other.  It's wonderful.   

But when it's time to roll up your sleeves and pitch in with life, best intentions and Skype just don't cut it.

Who was there when I needed someone to hold my hand through a miscarriage in the middle of the night? My BFF.  She's my soul sister, so when she was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery, there was no question about who would sleep on the floor next to her hospital bed for three nights.   

When another dear friend's daughter needed to be rescued from an abusive relationship, who rushed over to toss the daughter and all her belongings in a rented van in the half-hour the abuser left her alone at home?  Our whole A-Team of friends.  Who painted said young woman's house after she successfully turned her life around, got a great job and bought her first home? You got it - the A-Team again.

We may not be related by blood, but we are a family.

They came through for me once more this week. My oldest daughter has decided to marry a wonderful young man. Yesterday, we threw an engagement party.  The party was at eight. 

Yesterday, an emergency at my day job kept me away from home the entire day, until six-thirty. Take a guess at my adrenaline levels.

Need I have worried?  Of course not. The A-Team took over.  They set up tables and chairs, blew up over 100 balloons, decorated the hall of our small community center so that it looked like something out of a fairytale.   

And my daughter, I was so happy to discover, has her own A-Team as well.  A crew of young women - girls I've known since they were six or seven years old! - baked and cooked and delivered and set up trays upon trays of exquisite pastries and cookies and brownies and quiches and salads, each one worthy of Martha Stewart. 

Unlike my relatives around the world - whom I do love dearly - my friends and my daughter's friends are the ones who actually know her, who saw her grow up and mature into the woman she is today.  They are the ones we call in emergencies, the ones who pull through in a pinch and, yes, the ones who truly rejoice with us.  

When the party got going and the dancing started, it was like an explosion of joy and light.  Yes, I wish my father, my sister, my cousins had been there, but as I watched my daughter and her fiancé surrounded by all the love and support of so many, I could only be overwhelmed with gratitude for the blessing of this family of friends.

To all the friends who are our family in every sense of the world: 

Thank you.

Milou Koenings writes romance because, like chocolate, stories with a happy ending bring more joy into the world and so make it a better place.  

Her new release, Reclaiming Home, A Green Pines Romance, is available at Amazon. 

You can find her on her website, www.miloukoenings.com, on Facebook, or Twitter.

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What if Mr. Wonderful gets it all wrong? by Beate Boeker

Well, our Valentine party is over (sniff), but it was short and intense, and it rained free e-books and prizes and gifts - I'm sure I'm not the only one who felt like I was twirling in an e-book shower!

We had so much fun with all of the games, but one post was even better than all the others, and when I couldn't help chuckling, I decided to repeat it here. This is it:

"We all dream of romantic marriage proposals, flowers, dinner, your own hero going down on one knee and offering a huge diamond. But what if Mr. Wonderful gets it all wrong? What is the worst marriage proposal you can imagine? A $5 Amazon Gift Card for the most imaginative answer."

And boy, did we get answers! I hope that a few men find their way to this blog, just to learn what NOT to do when proposing. Here we go, a free lesson for guys who don't want to get it wrong:

First, don't mention any monetary background. It absolutely kills the romance. Would be even better if you didn't think about it.

Second, avoid new media. Texting, messaging, via Facebook - whatever. Yes, you may be the latest technology wizard and you may have really funky gadgets, but forget about that when proposing. You're dead if you propose in any other way but personally.

Then, make sure you don't address her with a wrong name (no, really!) and make sure you ASK and don't just assume that she'll prepare the wedding without being asked first!

Next, make sure you create a full sentence. "You wanna?" is kind of off-putting, to put it bluntly. Would be nice if you added some background here.

Also, proposing in public - and while singing - may make some ladies swoon, but as far as I know, the majority of girls prefer a secluded, romantic spot with just the two of you. Because remember - she may not want to say yes, but she's a kind girl who may not want to embarrass you in public - and you don't want a fiancée who said "yes" out of compassion.

And finally, here's my personal favorite, an absolute no-go: Don't ask your mother to propose for you. It kind of sends the wrong message, you know?

However, in another post, we discussed the perfect setting for a proposal, and many of us girls liked the sea - preferably at sunset (hint, hint). So, good luck with that proposal and if you want to read more, check out our Facebook page and read up on all the free information on convincing the lady of your heart that you're the right guy! https://www.facebook.com/SweetRomanceReads

Have you read any proposals in books that went wrong, or saw something on the news that made you shudder for the poor girl? Or, heaven forbid, have you been proposed to in a less-than-memorable way?