Christmas in July is July 25, and I refuse to be embarrassed about how much I love it. (My family knows that if they hear sleigh bells coming from my office in the middle of summer, it is just a Tuesday.)

Here is my confession. I write Christmas romance year-round. Right now, while you are sweating through July, I am very possibly typing the words 'first snow' and 'mistletoe' with the air conditioning cranked to arctic. It is a strange way to live and I would not change it.

There is a reason...

National Ice Cream Day is July 19, and I have been thinking about the deep, scientific connection between ice cream and reading. (My research method was eating ice cream while reading. Very rigorous.)

Hear me out. A really good summer read is basically a scoop of something cold on a hot afternoon. It does not need to be complicated. It needs to be sweet, it needs to hit fast, and it needs to leave you wanting one more. Nobody finishes a sundae and thinks, well, that was enough joy for one...

World Chocolate Day lands on July 7, which feels less like a holiday and more like a personal value system finally getting recognized by the calendar.

I am a firm believer that food belongs in romance. Not as a backdrop. As a love language. Some of the best flirting happens over a shared dessert, because nobody is brave enough to say what they mean, so they say it with a spoon instead. (If a man offers me the last bite of anything, I assume we are engaged.)

This is the whole reason my Recipes...