My first love...

Today is Valentine's Day. The day dreaded by single women everywhere and I would imagine most married men with the commercially-induced suggestion of romance weighing on our conscience.

I cursed the ridiculousness of my imagination this morning as I dared to consider for a millisecond that a secret admirer might arrive on horseback with two dozen red roses or an amorous action man might parachute onto my roof with a box of Milk Tray. In my half asleep state I dismissed such fruitless fantasies and woke up to the reality of a water bill on my doormat instead of a red envelope.

But then to my surprise I found a Royal Mail 'we missed you' slip sticking through the letterbox. As I wandered down to the Post Office I tried to guess who the parcel might be from and imagined flowers or chocolates with the simple message "Be Mine".

I'd like to blame retailers and the media for over-hyping the 'forced romance' of the occasion but actually Valentine's Day began as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus in the 3rd century.

Valentine's day was first associated with romantic love in medieval times, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. It wasn't until the 18th century in England that it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionary and sending cards.

As I handed over the parcel slip at the post office it was exchanged for a heavy cardboard box with the words 'Amazon' across it. I then remembered I'd ordered myself some new books and all expectation of being romanced faded away.

In fact, the two books I'd ordered were The Six Wives and Mistresses of Henry VIII by Amy Licence, a very appropriate book given the Tudor king was perhaps the most famous seducer of all time, and A hundred pieces of me by Lucy Dillon.

I first met the author Lucy around 10 years ago when she was writing a car column for Cosmopolitan magazine and I've always enjoyed her books especially as they remind me I'd always write my own novel one day and I remember Lucy encouraging me to do so. One day...

So today I'm not being romanced by the man of my dreams, or even the boy next door, but instead I've taken myself out on a date with my new book and a nice big cup of latte.

Books were my first love after all. Today I'm letting the words from the pages be my Valentine's as reading and escaping into the world of a novel truly makes my heart sing.

I hope you found time to enjoy something you love today.