Happy New Year! (Sayonara 2016; Please Pass the Tylenol) #HangoverCures #NationalHangoverDay

Hello 2017, you gorgeous thang!
We were starting to worry you’d never arrive.

Welcome to a brand new year, everyone! I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday with lots of love, warmth and good things to eat.

I’m L.D. Blakeley, by the way. I write romance of the hot and steamy variety and reside in the Great White North (downtown Toronto, to be precise.) The lovely folks at Romance Eh? recently invited me to join their ranks, so here I am. I look forward to spending time with you!

Did you ring in the New Year in style? I actually stayed in for the first time in years. But I’m guessing some of you are you feeling a little worse for wear this morning, right? 

Good news. You’re not alone. Today is  National Hangover Day (no, I'm not making that up.)

Let’s be honest, 2016 wasn't the best year ever for most folks for a myriad of reasons. My guess is that even some hardcore teetotalers were keen to raise a glass last night to toast its departure.

2017 is going to be a brilliant year and I, for one, plan to start it off on the right foot. And since resolutions aren't really my thing, I thought I’d share with you some tried and true (okay, more like old wives’ tales, but hey—I’m old and I’m a wife) hangover remedies.

Unfortunately, we all know that the only sure way to cure a hangover is to avoid drinking alcohol in the first place. But, who’s kidding who, it’s New Year’s Day. I could go on about preventative measures but that ship has sailed.

There are quite a few colourful remedies out there I’m not sure I’d give much credence.

Daniel Craig recommends Pedialyte (yes, the stuff you give to babies.) He claims it works like a charm and says he got the idea from Mark Wahlberg. I mean, if it's good enough for James Bond and Marky Mark... ;-)

Anthony Burgess (A Clockwork Orange) drank something he called Hangman’s Blood that he swore got rid of his hangover. In his words: “Into a pint glass, doubles of the following are poured: gin, whisky, rum, port and brandy. A small bottle of stout is added and the whole topped up with Champagne… It tastes very smooth, induces a somewhat metaphysical elation, and rarely leaves a hangover,” I can’t imagine that at any time, never mind the morning after.

Hemingway also stuck to the idea that the hair of the dog was the best course of action. Tomato juice mixed with beer (good lord!) was the lesser of his two evils it seems. Death in the Afternoon is the name of his other so-called cure. “Pour 1 jigger of absinthe into a champagne glass. Add iced champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness. Drink three to five of these slowly.” Yeah, I've tried absinthe. NO, thank you. And three to five? That man was a pro.

If you're feeling a bit queasy after reading those last two paragraphs, you might want to try something a bit more innocuous. Sadly, nothing (other than time) can truly rid you of a hangover. But if you can't manage to sleep through the worst of it, there are a few things you can do that might help speed the process along.

Lots of water helps (alcohol dehydrates and chances are, you're more raisin than grape after a night of adult beverages.) If like me, you're a caffeine addict, a good strong cup of coffee will certainly help with your headache. Painkillers are your friend, too. Toast or crackers (really any carby food) will help with the queasiness. And exercise is often recommended. I've never actually tried that method and have no idea about its effectiveness, but the endorphin release might boost your mood (and elevate any guilt you might be suffering over all those liquid calories.)

For me personally, I’m a fan of greasy food and perfecting my couch dent. In fact, now that I’ve mentioned it, I think I’ll go see if my husband fancies ordering in. The treadmill will still be there tomorrow.

Incidentally, if you're planning to spend your day (or even the next few) doing a bit of lounging and you're looking for a hot holiday romance to ready, I invite you to check out my latest: 

The Power of Peppermint 

The most wonderful time of the year? 

When Jamison Pritchett is roped into replacing the mall photographer at Santa’s Village a week before Christmas, he’s certain he’ll be spending the holidays recovering from a nervous breakdown. A throng of sugar-frenzied kids might be enough to send this uptight photographer back into the darkroom permanently. Inappropriate thoughts about his far-too-attractive—and far-too-young—assistant aren’t helping fight that urge to hide, either.

For Noah Hawkins, adulting is a snap. Too bad relationships aren’t. With his business temporarily closed for repairs, he’s happy to help his sister out of a jam, even if the costume he’s given to wear borders on obscene. Constantly being mistaken for a teenager is no treat either, especially when he discovers his temporary new co-worker is sexy as hell and 15 years his senior.

Can Noah convince Jamison that age is just a number? Or will Jamison resist the gift Santa seems to be handing him on a platter?

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

www.ldblakeley.com