Healthy Lifestyle For All

Ways to Add Romance to Your Dating Relationship
By Bonny Albo, About.com
jwaller.ordermygift.com

Send a Handwritten Love Letter

It is rare to receive any sort of handwritten letter these days, and that's exactly why you should write and mail a love letter to your partner. A simple card with a thoughtful passage will suffice, although a one-page love letter detailing why you think your sweetie is special is a simple romantic idea that can do wonders for any relationship.
You can also leave love letters in specific places you know your date will find and appreciate - such as in their lunch bag, at the bottom of a pair of socks, or scrawled across a cookie with their favorite kind of icing.

Top 10 Love Letter Collections
By Esther Lombardi, About.com

1. 50 Greatest Love Letters of All Timeby David H. Lowenherz. Random House. For this collection, David Lowenherz draws from hundreds of historical sources to find witty, sexy, and touching epistles. What do these letters say about the writers? Read more about history's most famous lovers.

2. Love Lettersby Peter Washington, and Kevin Young (Editor). Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. This collection features 200 love letters from poets and by princes--both fictional and from "real" life. These letters delve into the realms of tragedy and comedy. This book is beautiful, perfect for anytime you're in the mood to read about love.

3. Love Letters: A Romantic Treasuryby Tara McFadden, and Rick Smith (Illustrator). Running Press Book Publishers. From the publisher: "From sweet nothings to the profound insights of a person's soul, love letters capture a rare glimpse of our innermost thoughts and desires. Here we see love as defined by literary greats of the last two centuries, including Franz Kafka, Anais Nin, Jack London, and Vita Sackville-West."

4. The Letters of Abelard and Heloiseby Betty Radice (Editor). Penguin. This collection features the work of Michael Clanchy, the biographer of Abelard. The Letters of Abelard and Heloise features advice from Abelard, as well as the "lost love letters." This book also features a chronology, notes, and maps. You'll get a good sense of the time, and the relationship of Abelard and Heloise--one of the most tragic love stories of all time.

5. Little Book of Love Lettersby Lil Copan, Elizabeth Cody Newenhuyse (Editor). Love letters can be funny, touching, or romantic. Drawing from classic sources, this small volume offers a collection of love letters with a variety of sentiments.

6. A Love No Lessby Pamela Newkirk. Doubleday & Company. This collection features letters of African American lovers. You'll read love letters between slaves, but you'll also discover love letters from Paul Laurence Dunbar, World War II soldiers, and other writers--through time.

7. Love Letters, Lostby Babbette Hines. Princeton. This collection was salvaged form a variety of sources. Babbette Hines also offers suggestions on how to write a love letter.

8. Selected Lettersby Robert Gittings. Oxford University Press. Selected Letters features 170 letters, written between 1816 and 1820. Jon Mee includes an introduction and notes.

9. Journey from withinby Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Mary A. Hill (Editor). Bucknell University Press. Charlotte Perkins Gilman is famous for "Yellow Wallpaper," and for her place in the feminist movement. With this collection, you'll see a whole new side of her life and works. Mary A. Hill includes an introduction and notes to put the letters into context.

10. The Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelardby C.J. Mews. Palgrave Macmillan. The relationship--through letters--between Abelard and Heloise have been a matter of some controversy and debate. Read more about the letters.