On the surface, it seemed entirely fitting to be interviewing Courtney Deane on Valentine’s Day. This fact wasn’t lost on the freelance writer and novelist.

“Yeah, it’s like the rom-com writer’s Super Bowl,” Deane said with a laugh, from her Oceanside home. “It does feel a little serendipitous, doesn’t it?”

That it does. Deane just celebrated her 42nd birthday and in a few weeks she’ll also celebrate the release of her first book, “When Happily Ever After Fails,” a charmingly astute romantic novel that has been, in keeping with the theme of the day, something of a passion project for the author.

The book, which will be released April 9, follows a rather agreeable, if not messy, protagonist named Abigail Gardner as she attempts to navigate life’s many pitfalls, be they professional, personal or romantic.

However, much like the legend of Saint Valentine himself, the story behind Deane’s story is just as interesting; one that is rooted in tragic circumstances.

“This process has definitely been a labor of love,” said Deane. “I started the book shortly after my mom died and it took me quite a while to finish it.”

To be exact, it took her more than 10 years to finish. Before Deane lost her mother in 2010, her father passed away from Lou Gehrig’s disease when she was 13 years old.

“I lost one parent to a very slow terminal illness that we knew about but took his body away, and then I had my mom, who did not do a great job at taking care of herself after he died,” Deane explains, adding that her mother developed what Deane describes as an “unhealthy relationship” with food. “She essentially gave herself the same sentence, but in a different way. She lost the ability to move around and it eventually killed her.”

Looking back on it, Deane said working on what would slowly become “When Happily Ever After Fails” was her form of therapy, helping her to process the deaths of her parents.

“Writing has always been my thing. So I thought I should use that skill to try to make something positive out of this,” said Deane, who began penning fan fiction about the television series, “E.R,” when she was growing up in the city of Ontario, east of Los Angeles.

The book cover for Courtney Deane’s debut novel “When Happily Ever After Fails.”

(Courtesy of Courtney Deane)

Like Deane, the character Abigail is also an adult orphan who struggles with the emotions that come with losing her parents young. On top of this, Abigail’s personal and professional life is in shambles after her best friend admits he loves her and she loses her job as an art teacher. Things start looking up when she lands a job at a distinguished academy, but ends up having to teach literature with an emphasis on tragedies. This results in her attempting to rewrite these tragic endings, both in the literature and in her own life.

“I did an interview where I realized that I kind of did what Abigail does in the book. I tried to take a tragedy and turn it into a happily ever after,” said Deane, who also works as a professional freelance writer and editor for a variety of publications. “That might sound like the most obvious thing, but I have to say that was never my intention. I really just wanted to work through those tough emotions and put something nice out into the world.”

“It wasn’t hard to remove myself from Abigail because I never was her,” Deane adds later. “I will admit to piling all my emotional baggage on top of her, though. The thoughts, feelings and sentiments that she expresses when it comes to the deaths in the book — those are mine.”

The book is much more than a formulaic, playful rom-com despite the marketing and the fairy tale font on the book cover.

It’s a story about self-love and finding a place where you’re comfortable in your own skin. It’s a book that could appeal to those who already love a rom-com novel, but could also appeal to those who often feel alone, alienated or possibly even jaded by the idea of love and romance. Even the title is a riff on a verse from “The End of the Innocence,” a rather forlorn, but nonetheless poppy, hit song from Don Henley.

“If you call it a rom-com, people have certain expectations based on formulas and tropes, and some of that is in there, but I think most people will find it to be a little more deep, a little more complicated,” said Deane. “I get that it doesn’t fit perfectly on any one shelf, but I didn’t want it to. I wanted it to be what it was: authentic.”

Deane said that when she began shopping the book around to publishers during the pandemic, she received one rejection from an agent who told her that they didn’t know how to market it.

“That was valuable feedback, but I wanted the book to be that way,” Deane said. “That’s life, right? It’s fun one minute and you’re on top of the world and the next, all these things you never thought would happen to you are now in your lap.”

When it comes to Deane’s journey, what started as seed planted in a time of trauma is finally ready to fully bloom.

Deane is excited about next month’s publication of “When Happily Ever After Fails.” She said she has learned, herself, the underlying themes of the novel: that our happily-ever-afters aren’t necessarily a matter of fate, but something we may have to work at by empowering ourselves.

“We all have things that happen to us that are horrible. Some more than others,” said Deane, who is already at work on a second novel set in the country music scene of Austin, Texas. “It can feel like whatever is out there — the universe, God, whatever — it can feel like it’s targeting you. It’s valid to feel that way, but it doesn’t give you an excuse to brood or sulk. You may never be the same, but we can’t let it stop us from doing what we want to do and live a good life.”

“When Happily Ever After Fails” by Courtney Deane (SparkPress, 2024; 304 pages)

Combs is a freelance writer.