March 20: Why I Believe In Love by Ally Blake

I believe in love because I know love. And the love I’m going to talk about today is the love of my new baby daughter, Bridget. I’d love to share with you some moments with her that assure me love is truly alive and well in the world.

My favourite photograph of us together is in the hospital, waking up as the sun rose on her third day. Still in my PJs, with bed hair and no make-up, I am holding her close, her head tucked beneath my chin. I look at this photo even now and it brings tears to my eyes because I can still remember the swell of unconditional love that surged through me as that trusting little critter lay against me, believing I could do no wrong by her.

In the early days I was getting up to feed her three times a night. Doesn’t sound like something you’d inflict upon someone you love right? Well the one thing that amazed me was that even though every time I awoke to that new baby cry, knowing I would be parted from my beloved bed, my beloved pillow and my beloved sleep for the next hour, the second I looked down into that sweet little face in the cradle I just fell in love all over again.

I feel most loved when my daughter smiles at me in the mirror, hiding her face against my chest as though she’s overcome with happiness. When she’s in anyone else’s arms she watches me as I walk around a room. And when she stares unblinking into my eyes when I sing The Rainbow Connection.

She’s now a little over four months old and quite truly the love of my life.

The books I have received most reader mail about - A FATHER IN THE MAKING and MILLIONAIRE TO THE RESCUE - are those in which my heroines have had young children. This bond between mother and child has obviously touched more readers to write and tell me than any other, and I wonder if that’s because the bar on what kind of man a woman will allow into her life is raised when the happiness of her children is at stake.

Now that I’m a new mum, I can’t wait to see how it colours my writing. I wonder how writing about families will change now that I am in a position to really know how family dynamics work. What truly heavenly heroes await – for surely a young mum deserves one who cooks, cleans, changes nappies! Lucky for me I have one of those all for myself so I don’t have to look far for research purposes.

As to the romance of being permanently covered in baby spew, of walking around all the time with a cloth nappy over one’s shoulder without realising it, of having permanent bags under ones eyes and at best four hours of sleep in one block at night, and taking a half hour longer to get in and out of the car than a woman without kids, well we write romantic fantasy right ;)?

I’d love to know you favourite romance novel in which the hero or heroine had kids. What made the book so great for you?

About Ally Blake:

When a young chook, Ally's folks took her to an ear, nose and throat specialist, as they thought she was partially deaf. The doctor diagnosed her as having perfect hearing, whilst being simply "off with the fairies" a good portion of the time. Now as a grown up, she gets to sit at the laptop with a title, a couple of beautiful characters in mind and wait for the fairies to take flight. Constant coffee and bowls full of M&M's make her job that much more pleasurable!