This Valentine's, Experience Paris In A 'Novel' Way

With Valentine's Day around the corner, how does a romantic trip to Paris with your lover sound? If the bank account isn't quite up to that dream getaway, YourNovel.com offers an armchair escape to the City of Love, where you and your sweetheart become the hero and heroine of your own personalized romance novel.

Lover's Paradise: Paris features three short stories, all set in the City of Lights, so any starring couple can enjoy three distinctly different Parisian experiences:

* New to YourNovel.com, author Spontak delivers a sizzling, surreal trip full of daring escapades throughout the city in "Paris Made Me Do It."

* "Destiny in Paris," by fiction writing veteran Marcy Thomas, centers on a plan of passion to ignite the starring couple's desires, letting them fall deeper in love with each other as well as with the city.

* Lori Pepio, grand prize winner in a previous romance-writing contest for YourNovel.com, penned "Beyond the City of Lights," which incorporates a masquerade ball and mysterious stranger to explore where love and fantasy meet.

YourNovel.com founders J.S. Fletcher and Kathy M. Newbern, who write as Fletcher Newbern, note that part of the fun of their nearly three decades in business has been helping aspiring writers achieve their goal of publication.

This is Spontak's first foray into the romance novel genre. "Working with her has been a dream," said Newbern. "Not only does she write fiction and screenplays, she has her own production company, Spontak Entertainment."

From Raleigh, N.C., originally, Spontak's impressive background includes visiting nearly 30 countries and living in 11 of them, including France. Upon graduating from the University of San Diego, she taught English for two years in South Korea. The opportunity for graduate school at the University of Kent in England lured Spontak away; there she earned an MFA in Creative Writing. She currently teaches English online for DaDaABC for all ages as she continues to travel. Her next adventure is in the Philippines - teaching screenwriting at both Siliman University and Foundation University. Her long-term goal is to become an iconic filmmaker and take a place in history next to Spielberg and Scorsese. And yes, she is a (hopeful) romantic.

The Paris book is one of more than 50 romantic adventure novels personalizable from YourNovel.com, in settings like in Rome, Tahiti, England, the Caribbean and even the Wild West. There are also tales that involve vampires, time travel, cruising and more. Ordering is a quick online process: pick a story, answer a questionnaire online, and receive a paperback, hardback or ebook starring any couple.

Among the couple's 26 details supplied in the questionnaire are not only their names, but:
* Hometown,
* Places of work,
* Eye and hair color,
* Best friends' names,
* Favorite perfume and after shave,
* Favorite music and color,
* Affectionate nicknames for one another,
* How long they've been a couple and much more.

These customized capers are offered in both huggy-kissy "mild" or steamy "wild" with the option to add a memorable photo of the couple on the book's cover or to make it the entire cover.

"Over the years," says Fletcher, "our books have been called the 'Ultimate Vanity Valentine,' and we've been called 'Computerized Cupids.' We love that job title."

In the U.S., printed hardback or paperback books usually arrive within a week; ebooks within 24 hours. Call (800) 444-3356 or visit www.YourNovel.com for more information. The company created the genre of personalized romance novels in 1992.

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