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Four of the Greatest Lovers From History

June 9, 2023 By Melissa Rea Leave a Comment

Photo by Janko Ferlic

Melissa Rea’s Conjuring Casanova is a romantic novel mixing modern tastes with timeless mystique to showcase how the greatest lovers in history approached love. 

The name Casanova has become lodged in the global zeitgeist as the paragon of love, romance, and eroticism, such that people who are particularly amorous, passionate, and open with their emotions are called Casanovas.

What is a Casanova?

A Casanova is anyone, but especially a man, who is quite persistent and dauntless when it comes to matters of romance and sex. The stereotypical Casanova is a player, a lady-killer, someone who chases women and then abandons them after getting a taste—although this is not necessarily the case for every example of Casanova. 

What makes the Casanova a Casanova is the skill, whether innate or learned, of seduction and their mastery of manipulating the opposite sex. 

Who was THE Casanova?

Now, who was the true Casanova? 

An Italian adventurer, writer, and diplomat who was born in the 18th century, Giacomo Girolamo Casanova came into the zeitgeist through the writing of his vivid, salacious, and erotic autobiography, Histoire de ma vie (Story of My Life). While most scholars agree that the events pertaining to Casanova’s life are heavily embellished, it is commonly agreed that it’s one of the more genuine portrayals of 18th-century customs and norms of European social life among the higher class.

Giacomo Casanova is a complex and contradictory individual. Although he was a brilliant and charming man, one of history’s greatest lovers, he was also—like many men of his period—a prominent gambler, a chronic womanizer, and a compulsive liar. 

The Other Greatest Lovers in History

While not as known as Casanova for his womanizing ways, there are still a few prominent lovers in history that are worth knowing about—some might even be on the level of Casanova’s exploits or have exceeded it. Regardless, learning more about their lives is surely an eye-opener.

Pablo Picasso

A relatively recent figure in history, Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (yes, that is his full name) is quite famous for his artistic works. Aside from being a painter, he also worked with sculptures, prints, ceramics, and theatre design. Born in 1881, the name Picasso—like the name of Casanova—has become a household name, a moniker for people who are gifted and well-versed in the arts. His greatest contributions to art are the Cubist movement, the constructed sculpture, and the collage, as well as other styles of modernism. 

While more known for his works of art, Pablo Picasso is also famous for his many romantic and sexual exploits, spanning from brief dalliances to whirlwind romances lasting years. Several of the women whom he slept with are the subject of many of his paintings, and while it is not known how many lovers he had exactly—women were an influential aspect of his life, both publicly and privately.

Suleiman I

Also known as the Magnificent or the Lawgiver, Suleiman I was the longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Born in 1520, he grew to become one of the greatest monarchs in Europe, lording over the height of Ottoman economic, military, and political dominance. It was under his rule that the empire was at its most powerful, reaching as far as the city of Belgrade (capital of modern Serbia), and during his administration, he was above 25 million subjects. In terms of cultural development, his reign as sultan is also sometimes called a Golden age, overseeing many developments in the arts, literature, and architecture.

Like many Eastern rulers, Suleiman I had a massive harem of several hundreds of concubines, the most beautiful women living within his territory and as gifts from friendly nations, though he would only have two consorts. 

Marquis de Sade (real name: Donatien Alphonse François de Sade)

Perhaps the only individual that has a relatively same level of notoriety as women as the vaunted Casanova is the Marquis de Sade, whose real name is Donatien Alphonse François. 

The Marquis was a member of the French nobility while also being a revolutionary, a politician, and a philosopher. Like Casanova, he is most well-known because of his writing, specifically his works that focus a lot on sexual freedom and deviancy, such that the term sadism is termed after his more unusual preferences during the act. Probably because of his non-standard proclivities, many courtesans in Paris were frequent patrons of his. It is even said that by the age of 23, he had visited every brothel in Paris.

Melissa Rea’s Conjuring Casanova is a romantic novel that heavily features the character of Giacomo Casanova, who finds himself living in the modern world with no way of returning back to his time. 

A fun, enjoyable, and thrilling read. Read about one of the greatest lovers in history as you’ve never read him before.

Filed Under: Conjuring Casanova, Fantasy Novel Tagged With: Conjuring Casanova, Melissa Rea

HUGE Honor…Forward Reviews Book of the Year Finalist.

June 17, 2017 By Melissa Rea Leave a Comment

portraitAuthor Melissa ReaPeople often say when nominated for an award, “It’s an honor just to be nominated.” Sometimes it’s true. Forward Reviews is a such a well respected and long standing publication, I extremely honored to be a finalist . Conjuring Casanova is a finalist in the Romance genre in the Forward Reviews Book of the Year competition. The competition is extremely stiff so don’t expect an “I won” post, but I just needed to share this with you.

Here is the link to the finalist. Check it out and wish them all well as I do. If you would like to wish a little extra hard for me to win, I wouldn’t mind. Good Luck everyone and thank you Forward Reviews for this honor. https://awards.forewordreviews.com/finalists/2016/

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Conjuring Casanova, Forward Reviews Book of the Year finalist, historical fiction

All You Need Is Love

May 3, 2017 By Melissa Rea 7 Comments

I’m sorry to steal from oldies music but The Beatles were so right. There are few things more important to us as human beings that love. Our first emotion is most likely the love for the mother who nurtures us. We grow to love others and always seek to get others to love us. All of this other-centered love sadly misses the point. The most important love of all is to love ones self. Without self love, other loves are pointless.

Giacomo Casanova spent his adult life in search of love. Perhaps, because as a child he got very little. His mother was a beautiful actress that left him with his grandmother when he was just a baby. His grandmother sent him off to school at nine. Senore Casanova spent his life searching for the love he never received. To him love was very specifically the physical love he found in the arms of a woman. Never experiencing much love as a child, I think he was entitled to define love anyway he chose.  We modern lovers have many definitions of the word. There is the romantic love, platonic love of friendship, love of one’s family, and even love of ice cream. I propose that just maybe, we need to place more value on self love. How can we love another if we don’t love ourselves?

I have read Casanova’s memoir, Histoire de Ma Vie, many times and am always struck by the sadness of the man through his words. I think because his family thought so little of him, he never learned to love himself and so searched eternally. This search made him immortal. After all, when you call someone a Casanova, everyone know what you mean.

Let’s stop our searching in vain, look in the mirror and love ourselves just a little more. We are thin enough, rich enough, smart enough, pretty enough, successful enough to deserve our own love.  Let’s give it a try.

 

book jacket (2)portraitthe card game painting

Filed Under: Blog, Uncategorized Tagged With: art of love, Casanova, Conjuring Casanova

Happy Birthday Giacomo Casanova

April 2, 2017 By Melissa Rea 2 Comments

Today is my friend’s birthday. Though he has been dead for 290 years, Giacomo Casanova is one of my dearest friends. I didn’t meet him in one of the Venice Casino’s he loved so much. I didn’t have the pleasure of hearing him entertain all gathered at a Paris salon with his sharp wit and irresistible charm. I fell in love with history’s most famous libertine by reading his memoir, Histoire de Ma Vie.

portraitHe wrote about his singular life with such exuberance and honesty, I somehow felt he was speaking only to me across the years. Now that’s good writing.  This work, all thirty-seven hundred pages, inspired me to set the record straight about my friend. He is thought of today as a notorious womanizer, the ultimate love-them-and-leave- them sort of guy. He certainly was that. But for all his conquests, most of the time, he loved them with all his heart.

Casanova searched continually for the one woman who could make him constant. He found her when he was twenty-eight in the love he called Henriette in his writing. She was his perfect love. It ended after a few months and his heart was never quite the same. He did, however, live to love again well over one hundred times.

In my book Conjuring Casanova, I speculate what he would be like if he were here today. His imagined discovery of our technology is a guess based on his curious and brilliant mind. His love of the female characters I have created for him, well that’s just some fictional fun. I have a feeling he would approve.

So I wish my friend the happiest of birthday posthumously and will celebrate with a glass of prosecco and a few pages of his work and mine.

Good profile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Conjuring Casanova, Giacomo Casanova

The Age Of “Tell me what I want to hear”

September 3, 2016 By Melissa Rea 3 Comments

I have spent the week explaining to my patients why they still need to floss. The conclusion of a small study reported in Forbes magazine, was that there is no proof flossing helps reduce gum disease or decay. The point of the study if looked at from a scientific point of view, was that it was a small study and there are too many variables that cannot be controlled for to make it valid. The story was, however,picked up everywhere and could even be found on the news blurbs at the gas pump. Why? Because it is what people want to hear. Most people do not floss, and are only too happy to hear that they no longer have to.

This is indeed the information age. We are barraged with information from every direction. It is mostly free and available and we are often too busy to question. It is imperative that we do question the source of such information. What does the person giving you the information have to gain? More veiwers or your vote? Or is the provider trying to get you to buy something out of fear. Most of the distillations of the flossing study said mouthwash was just as effective as flossing which is patently false. Many mouthwashes have alcohol which is proven to cause oral cancer. Floss only causes good breath and increased oral health. Yes, mine are flossed regularly, can’t you tell?

Did you think I wasn’t going to tie it to my book? No such luck. Giacomo Casanova was the king of “tell them what they want to hear,” and it lifted skirts all over 18th-century Europe. In CONJURING CASANOVA, Casanova spends a good deal of time telling modern Lizzy, what she wants to hear. Guess what happens.

book jacket (2)

The perfect beach read...frothy yet satisfying like a good ice cream soda
The perfect beach read…frothy yet satisfying like a good ice cream soda

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Conjuring Casanova, no need to floss, romance

You Are Your Dreams

July 2, 2016 By Melissa Rea 2 Comments

10682785_10201607016495782_1659744090_o (2)It ain’t always fun and it ain’t always easy, but you can’t give up on your dreams. Wiser folks than me have said this in much better ways. I just want to take a little time, this holiday weekend to remind you of something you probably already know. Our dreams are the best of us after all. Sometimes, our dreams become impossible for many reasons. What to do? Reach right up and grab another one. Is there anything more exciting than a new dream? ER doc Elizabeth Hillman dreams of the perfect lover in Conjuring Casanova.  If you know me at all, you know I dream up stories and want to share them. I would love to hear about your dreams. Tell me what is the dream that feeds your soul?

 

The perfect beach read...frothy yet satisfying like a good ice cream soda
The perfect beach read…frothy yet satisfying like a good ice cream soda

Beach Read_edited-1 (2)

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: art of love, Casanova, Conjuring Casanova, historical fiction, romance

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About Melissa Rea

Melissa Rea - Rabbithole Nights of Alice Book | Author

As a little girl, Melissa Rea fell asleep whispering stories to herself in the dark.  In elementary school, she got in trouble for embellishing when the truth … Read More

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