Character Monday: Meet Amelia!

Today Amelia, the heroine of “Matching Wits With Venus”, has agreed to speak with me at The Saddle Ranch, a western-themed restaurant on Sunset Boulevard. Amelia is already seated at a booth against the wall when I arrive. As she stands to greet me, I see she’s wearing a white lace sweater over a tight black dress.

I love your sweater!

(Amelia blushes slightly.) Thanks. I got it at the Rose Bowl flea market. It was part of the trousseau of an old Hollywood star. At least that’s what the woman selling it told me. The white lace reminds me of a wedding dress.

After Amelia shakes hands with the manager, who has come over to our table to greet her and insists on introducing him to me, we resume our conversation.

Amelia, where do you live?

Here in West Hollywood, with my dog Petal, who’s a Maltese-Shih-Tzu.

Are you a native of this area?
Yes. My father is Gerard Coillard, the research scientist. Maybe you’ve heard of my mother, Stella Sweetwater? She was in a lot of movies in the 80’s.

What do you do for a living?

(As Amelia smiles I see a slight dimple in her right cheek.) I’m a matchmaker.

So it’s true, you are the Amelia of “Happily Ever After by Amelia”?

(Amelia nods and offers me the fruit platter the manager has sent to our table.) People are always surprised that anyone would want to be a matchmaker, especially in Hollywood, where a lot of marriages have a shorter shelf life than a tub of cream cheese. But that’s the challenge.

Do people really want to find a soul mate?

Everyone is looking for love. I just show them how to find the perfect partner.

What’s the best part of your job?

The wedding invitations. Well, that and the baby announcements.

Learn more about Amelia in “Matching Wits With Venus”.

For centuries Cupid has longed to be more than Venus’s arrow boy.  When he’s sent to eliminate “Happily Ever After by Amelia”, the matchmaking business threatening Venus’s status as the goddess of love, Cupid decides to steal Amelia’s methods and make his own matches.  While spying on Amelia, Cupid accidentally shoots himself with his magical arrow and falls in love with her.  But bereaved Amelia doesn’t believe in the existence of Roman gods, and she’s certainly not looking for romance.  She’s too busy perfecting the patented personality profile that’s made her Hollywood’s favorite matchmaker.

Disguising himself as a mortal financial advisor, Cupid manages to break through Amelia’s guarded exterior.  As their passion deepens so does Cupid’s guilt about deceiving Amelia.  Cupid’s interference with Amelia’s life causes her business to falter, leads to a sterile spring that threatens the animal kingdom and shatters the longstanding peace between the Roman and Greek gods.  With the fate of the natural and under worlds at stake, Cupid must decide whether to reveal his true identity and risk losing the chance to live happily ever after with Amelia.