Hi, all:
Today, I bring you a short story by one of my favourite authors. I enjoy all she writes in different genres, and I am always surprised when I discover that I’ve missed one of the stories, but it is always a joyful surprise. This short story is a gem.

Fiona Finch and the Pink Valentine by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene
Put your feet up and enjoy a whimsical break with this quick, lighthearted story. There’s some romance, and a lot of silliness. It’s a steampunk/Victorian setting. You might call it a long-short story or a novelette.
This is a tale of an old lost valentine and the shenanigans that ensue when it turns up. Fiona Finch and her brother Steele – along with a helping “wing” from Quellie the duck, work to bring two long ago sweethearts back together. Even though it is a Valentine’s Day story, it does not include sex or passionate romance. It does, however, include a lot of imaginative fun.
About the author:
Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene is certain that the pen is in your hand. After a life shaped by the tragedy of losing a sibling to Mµnchaµsen §yndr◊me by Pr◊xy, along with the abµ§e she herself survived, Teagan took that metaphorical pen into her hand. She wrote her way to a new chapter of life with a successful career authoring and editing technical documentation. With another revision that pen took her to the next chapter, working alongside highly placed Federal executives to compose their communications. However, Teagan wasn’t finished. The pen was still in her hand. In her latest chapter she is an acclaimed multi-genre author, living in a high desert town in the Southwest of the USA. Rescue cats, the §coobies — Velma and Daphne, offer unsolicited advice on all stories, as well as the book covers Teagan designs.
This author’s stories range from paranormal to high fantasy and urban fantasy, to various steampunk (and other types of punk), to mysteries with historic settings. In addition to fiction, she has created the Author Tool Chest series of non-fiction works as resources for writers and anyone who loves language. In free time she enjoys conversations with friends, singing karaoke, and playing her piano.
See her book trailer videos at Youtube.
My review:
I was fortunate enough to discover Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene through her blog —where she creates wonderful serials inspired by the collaborations of her readers— many years back, and have read a lot of her serials, novels, and stories over the years. More recently, I have also enjoyed some of her non-fiction books, born from her deep interest and skill in researching inventions, costumes, habits, and expressions from past historical periods.
I am always eager to catch up on some of the stories I have somehow missed, and this short story is one of them. Like most of her stories, it combines fantasy and whimsy with reality, and the inventions and language of the Victorian era go hand in hand with wonderful characters: Fiona Finch, the heroine, a true romantic, lover of everything pink, who never misses a chance to help fate and cupid bring together two people made for each other; her ‘adopted’brother, Steele (you’ll have to read the story to learn more), a steampunk talent, whose inventions I’d love to try (especially his umbrella); Professor Quirinius Quelch and Dowager Countess Zinnia Wellingham, tow love-birds separated by society and circumstances. There are a few more characters who play minor but important parts in the story as well. And, my favourite, the duck, named Quellie because it was a present from the professor to Steele. She gets the last word of the story, as it should be, if you ask me.
This romantic story has all the elements to make it perfect for Valentine’s Day: a never-read Valentine, a box hiding secret compartments, a fancy-dress party, disguised identities, and… yes, a happy ending, of course.
The story, told in the first person by Fiona, is vivid, full of colour (a lot of it pink), and amusing expressions of the era, light and cheerful. It is the perfect antidote for a boring or hard day when we need something to change our mood and make us smile.
Highly recommended, especially for those who love Valentine’s Day, romantic and second-chance short stories, especially if they love pink and duck. I loved it, and I hope to read more of Fiona Finch and her friends’ adventures in the future.
Thanks to the author for her wonderful story (oh, and, by the way, she has just started another one of her serials, so be sure to visit her blog, here), thanks to all of you for visiting, reading, liking, sharing, commenting, and please, keep safe, and keep smiling, no matter how hard it gets.
I’ll also recommend one of the author’s non-fiction books, which I read and reviewed recently and is particularly relevant to the era and the genre of this story: Real Steampunkery Tech: True Contraptions of the Steam and Diesel Eras (Author Tool Chest). You can read my review here.




















