Here’s Wishing You A Happy Palentine’s Day By Lorelei Mathias

I’m delighted to be on the book tour for Lorelei Mathias’s new book ‘Reader, I Dumped Him’, a story about love, friendship and heartbreak. Today on the tour, Lorelei talks about Valentine’ Day or should I say, Palentine’s Day.

First off, I owe copyright to that masterful bit of punnery to Helen Cox, another forth-coming Avon Books author, who tweeted it the other day and it made my heart swell with glee, as it sums up the BUC policy on V-Day.

Although – V-Day? Are we calling it that now? It also sounds like something a FemCare brand would come up with?!

Whatever we’re calling it, I’m not a tremendous fan. It’s not that I’m bitter (I’m fortunate enough to have a lovely man), but I just struggle to see the point of it? Surely you can be romantic any day of the year, and it means more when it’s not on 14th Feb?

To me, V-day’s pointlessness is three-pronged:

It’s redundant for those in happy relationships (see above).

It’s an awkward hurdle to those in unhappy relationships;
It’s a cruel, mocking depressant to anyone else!

Let’s be honest – it’s a war zone out there today if you’re single – you can’t walk anywhere for all the smugly-linked arms barricading your path. But if you’re single because you’ve just broken up with someone, then well, it’s the absolute last thing you need to rub salt in the wounds. It’s essentially Christmas for when you’ve just lost a close family member.

[amazon_link id=”B0191H2VGS” target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]But fear not – there is an alternative. Palentine’s Day!

Yep. And coincidentally, Palentine’s Day is also TODAY, the 14th February. What are the chances?

Seriously, the best V-Day I ever had was when ‘The Real BUC’ and friends had an ‘Eff-Off Valentines Party.’ We battened down the hatches and had a humongous love-in. I don’t mean an orgy – I mean we all consumed our combined body weight in cheese and wine, and gave each other ‘Secret Cupid’ cards. See my post on Sam’s Book Corner We composed anonymous poems to one another, then each had to guess who wrote them. Like Secret Santa, but sillier. I have a video of one of the exceptional poems being performed. It begins with the line:

‘Love is a funny thing…. it sometimes ends up in the… Bin. ‘

BUC: 1

V-Day: 0

Hurrah! And I’m not alone in my V-day boycott. Isy Suttie just wrote a fab piece about how her best V-Days have been when she’s single. And she’s off of Peep Show; she knows what she’s talking about.

So my advice is, swap the ‘V’ for a ‘P’. Shelter indoors with pals, away from the smug marrieds. Stock up on prosecco, empty Valentines cards, pens and cheese. For more tips on formulating an actual BUC, see my piece on Rachels Random Reads.

Unless of course all your friends are smug marrieds, in which case, maybe curl up with a nice book until they hopefully break-up?

For more information on Loreli, follow Lorelei Mathias on Twitter Lorelei Mathias for updates or check out her website at Lorelei Mathias or The Break Up Club