December is a BIG month for author Laurel McKee

Dear readers,

It's a momentous month in the life of historical romance author Laurel McKee. Her latest book, Two Sinful Secrets, was released, and even more romantic, she will be married on Saturday!

I'm so glad she's found her own Happy Ever After. As her editor, I have worked with her on five books — the Daughters of Erin trilogy (Countess of Scandal, Duchess of Sin and Lady of Seduction) and two Scandalous St. Claire's novels (One Naughty Night and Two Sinful Secrets) and what interests Laurel most is a strong heroine. So, like Eliza, Anna, Caroline, Lily and Sophia, Laurel had to search hard to find the right partner. Discouraged, she'd tried to give up on dating for a while — happy on her own — but thankfully, her girlfriends wouldn't let her. One particularly tenacious friend insisted that she go out to dinner with Andrew, one of her husband's nice co-workers.

I'll let Laurel tell you how it went from there: "He did turn out to be nice. Very, very nice. And fun, and thoughtful, and interested in my work. He called the very next day to ask me to the ballet, since my friend had told him I used to study ballet. He cooked me dinner, since I don't cook. He ate my dad's 'famous' hot wings, which are too hot for anyone else. He brought me flowers. He was nice to my friends. It felt … good, which seemed very strange after 15 years of dating not-so-good."

Fast-forward to the present, and I'm so excited to share a photo of Laurel trying on her wedding dress. It's a beautiful, fairy-tale dress that suits her well. And it's every bit as pretty as her heroine Sophia's on the cover of Two Sinful Secrets. So, for Laurel, December is a great month for romance — and fashion.

So many of the authors I meet have long, happy marriages. A much greater percentage than the overall population, I feel sure. Being romantic must be the key. : ) So, Laurel, I wish you the same long, happy, loving marriage that I see with your colleagues.

And I hear a trip to Disney World is in your future …

Please post a comment of congratulations for Laurel. Feel free to leave the best marriage tip you've received. Or let us know where you went on your fabulous honeymoon.

Best wishes,

Alex Logan, editor at Grand Central Publishing

(P.S. Laurel also writes as Amanda McCabe, so you may have enjoyed many more of her historical romances.)

To find out more about Laurel and her books, you can visit her website.