Celebrate Romance Every Day: SOS Aloha's 6th Anniversary (part 1) - Romance blossoms in the Netherlands

Limbricht Castle (Kasteel Limbricht)

Public Domain (link)

Six years ago, I created SOS Aloha while living in Hawaii.  Yet it was an other overseas assignment which introduced me to romance.  In 2002, we moved to the Netherlands when my husband received an assignment to NATO's Joint Forces Command Brunssum (link).  I found myself in the perfect storm to spurn my interest in historcal romance novels:

- We lived across from the Limbricht Castle, a medieval home complete with a moat, tower, and modern duck pin bowling alley!

- I enjoyed afternoon tea with the British Delegation.

- Military families jumped aboard Ryanair to visit London, Dublin, and Edinburgh - home of castles, castles, and castles!

Shortly after our arrival, NATO troops deployed as peacekeepers to Kabul, Afghanistan.  The international staff adopted an orphanage in Kabul and asked the America Spouse's Club to collect donations. So we rolled up our sleeves, cleaned out the long neglected thrift shop (link), and sent boxes with clothes, blankets, and toys. We also received an anonymous donation of $1500 to purchase a generator for the orphanage.

Once the dust settled, I looked around the thrift shop to see what was left - books written in the English language. One paperback caught my eye with its blue cover and tartan sash:

Journey with Cathy Maxwell to nineteenth-century Scotland...a land of romance and dreams. There, away from the stifling ballrooms and idle gossip of London, a debutante hopes to find a life she could only have imagined...and a noble Highlander discovers that the truest love of all awaits him in the form of an unexpected bride-to-be.

After consuming every historical romance from the thrift shop shelves, I moved onto the Army's library where I discovered romantic suspense from my fellow Floridian, Heather Graham:

When private investigator Dane Whitelaw discovers he is being set up to take the fall for the murder of his former lover, Sheila, he teams up with Sheila's best friend, Kelsey Cunningham, to discover the truth.

I also cultivated a friendship with the manager of the Stars N Strips bookstore.  She raved about Bertrice Small:

There has never been a woman like luscious, raven-haired, hot-tempered Skye O'Malley. She is the courageous seafaring captain of her own mighty fleet, and intelligent enough to win a battle of wits with Queen Elizabeth herself. Follow along as Skye O'Malley is swept up in a journey filled with romance and passion that takes her from glittering Ireland, to lush Algeria, to the heart of London in pursuit of a unique and eternal love.

I would later meet Cathy, Heather, and Bertrice once we moved back to the US ... Cathy is a Navy veteran, Heather has participated in a USO tour, and Bertrice's beloved husband, George, was an Army veteran from the D-Day Landings in WWII.   

How did you discover romance?  One randomly selected commenter wins a book choice from my convention stash. Comments are open through Saturday, March 12, 10 pm in Baltimore.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, March 13.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Next week:  SOS Aloha's 6th Anniversary (part 2) - An Old Fashioned Tea Party with Military Spouses and Romance Authors.

The Tea Party by Frederic Soulacroix

Wednesday's Warrior - A Tribute to Bertice and George Small

Last night Kathryn Falk announced the passing of Bertrice Small on Facebook.  Above is a portrait of Bertrice and her beloved husband, George, first published in the RT Magazine. George passed several years ago and now they are together.

I have shared the story of how I discovered romance ... I was living in the Netherlands and cleaning out the American Spouses' thrift shop.   I was drawn to a historical romance cover ... and the rest is history.  After devouring the romances in the thrift shop and even at the library, I wondered into the Stars and Stripes Bookstore, asking the manager if she carried Romances.  She shared her own favorite author - Bertrice Small.

Three years later, in 2008, I met Bertrice and George Small at the RT Booklovers' Convention in Pittsburgh.  George came to the convention to attend the SOS America Military Tribute. He was so dashing in his original WWII uniform, below, to the left.

Actually, I used George's WWII picture, taken outside Reims, France, as a promotion for the tribute, "Come Meet Mr. Romance 1945".   To this day, I remember Bertrice sighing at this picture, claiming he was the inspiration of her books.

Last year, the Romance Writers of America (RWA) honored Bertrice with the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award. Although Bertrice could not be in San Antonio to accept the award, she spoke to the audience in a video.   She looked frail then ... but her poor health could not detract from all that she has accomplished in the romance industry.  From her bio (link),

She is the author of 54 novels, with one in production and another almost finished. They will be published in May and October of 2013. 42 of these novels are Historical Romance, 6 are Fantasy Romance, and 6 are Erotic Contemporary. She has also written 4 erotic novellas. Her novels include THE KADIN (pronounced Kah-deen), and the beloved series "The O'Malley Saga" and "Skye's Legacy". A New York Times bestselling author, she has also appeared on other best-seller lists includingPublishers Weekly, USA Today, and the L.A. Times. She is the recipient of numerous awards including Career Achievement for Historical Romance; Best Historical Romance; Outstanding Historical Romance Series; Career Achievement for Historical Fantasy from RT Book Reviews; a Golden Leaf from the New Jersey Romance Writers chapter of Romance Writers of America; an Author of the Year (2006) and Big Apple Award from the New York City Romance Writers chapter of RWA, and several Reviewers Choice awards from RT Book Reviews. She has a "Silver Pen" from Affair De Coeur, and an Honorable Mention from The West Coast Review of Books. In 2004 Bertrice Small was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by RT Book Reviews magazine for her contributions to the Historical Romance genre. And in 2008 she was named by RT Book Reviews along with her friends Jennifer Blake, Roberta Gellis and Janelle Taylor, a Pioneer of Romance.

No doubt that Romanceland will post tributes to Bertrice as a trailblazer in this genre.  But I will always remember her as the blushing bride of a proud veteran.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Bertrice and Fabio from her website