Love is lovelier the second time around….

Or so the song goes. This concept is the driving theme behind my new, open ended series from Avon Books featuring a small, lakeside community in Texas.

Twilight, Texas (pop. 6,000) is a quaint tourist town on the banks of the Brazos River that feeds in Lake Twilight. With its stately courthouse, surrounded by lovingly refurbished buildings of old west style architecture, Texas Monthly voted Twilight the Prettiest Town Square in Texas. The combination of the pristine blue lake and the intriguing history—Jesse James reportedly used hidden river caves near Twilight as a hideout—lends a magical air to this quirky, but close-knit community filled with warmth and small town camaraderie. In the summer months, tourists flock to Twilight drawn by the water, the odd little curio shops, acclaimed community theatre and lively town events.

Twilight was founded in 1875. How the town got its name is a subject of heated debate, but the prevailing legend among romantics involves two teenage sweethearts separated during the War Between the States. Circumstances tore them asunder, but they never stopped loving each other. Fifteen years later, they met again at twilight on the banks of the river in the spot where the town now stands. A statue in their honor has been erected in the park next to the town square. There’s a rumor that if you throw pennies into the park’s fountain you will be reunited with your high school sweetheart.

This set-up has lead me to ponder the question, is love really lovelier the second time around? My contention is yes. Doesn’t everyone occasionally think about their high school sweetheart and wonder “what it”? (Unless of course you ended up with your high school sweetheart, but then that’s a whole other story.)

The trick to writing about reunited lovers is coming up with a convincing reason why they separated if their love was so strong. And if the conflict was big enough to tear them apart in the past, how can that Grand Canyon riff the mended?

While writing about reunited lovers is a challenge, it also has its rewards. The second time around is laden with a much richer emotional landscape than the intense, blinding passion of first love. The slower pace, the depth of understand that an older couple brings, can be even more provocative than the immature passion of teens. But the cool thing is, the reunited couple represents both ends of the love spectrum. The hormonal rush of those tender blooming first feelings and the oxytocin kick of true emotional pair bonding.

The reunited lovers appreciate what they now have precisely because they’ve lost it. They’ve suffered and lost, but to recover that magic…to get a second…well, it’s priceless and they know it.

There’s no more poignant love than that.

So, do you believe love is sweeter the second time around?  Leave your comments below and be entered to win an autographed book from Lori!

About the author

Lori Wilde has written forty-seven novels for four major New York Publishing houses. She holds a bachelors degree in nursing from Texas Christian University and a certificate in forensics. She volunteers as a sexual assault first responder for Freedom House, a shelter for battered women. She has also served as the RWA National conference workshop chair and PAN retreat chair.

She is an instructor for a company who provides online community education to over 1500 colleges and universities. Lori is a past RITA finalist and has four times been nominated for Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award. She’s won the Colorado Award of Excellence, the Wisconsin Write Touch Award, The Lories, The More Than Maggie, the Golden Quill and The BestBooks of 2006 Book Award.

Her books have been translated into 22 languages and excerpted in Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Complete Woman and Quick and Simple magazines. She’s appeared numerous times on the Waldenbook’s bestseller list and Ingram’s Top 50. She lives in Texas with her husband, Bill.

Visit Lori online

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About the book – click cover to purchase

“Throw a penny in the fountain of the Twilight town square

And you’ll be married to your first love…”

Pretty Flynn McGregor has been turning down the same solid, upright man’s marriage proposal for ten years, even as all of her friends at the Sweetheart’s Knitting Club thinks they are a match made in heaven. But when she’s honest with herself she knows there’s only dangerous reason why she keeps saying no: Jesse Calloway. She was just sixteen when he was forced out of town under a cloud of suspicion…but he’s never left her heart.

Now Jesse is back, and every time she turns the corner it seems he’s there—gazing at her with his smoldering eyes and tempting him with his kisses. Jesse has never played by the rules, and he’s made it clear that he’s not going to obey them now, not when it comes to getting Flynn back into his arms…forever.

“Throw a penny in the fountain of the Twilight town square, and you’ll be married to your first love . . . ”

For ten years, pretty Flynn MacGregor has been turning down the same solid, upright man’s marriage proposal. Her friends at the Sweethearts’ Knitting Club tell her they’re a match made in heaven, but Flynn knows there’s only one dangerous reason why she keeps saying no: high school sweetheart Jesse Calloway. She was just sixteen when Jesse was forced out of town under a cloud of suspicion . . . but he’s never left her heart.

Now Jesse is back, and every time she turns the corner he’s there—gazing at her with his smoldering eyes and tempting her with his kisses. Jesse has never played by the rules, and he’s made it clear that he’s not going to now. And Flynn, who’s always done just what her family, friends, and fellow knitters have told her to do, must finally break free and claim the love that binds Jesse to her heart.