I had brought a pile of books to read though I didn’t have to. There were so many already there when I arrived in this exquisite desert hideaway. It was fall at Joshua Tree Oasis and the weather didn’t seem to know what to do with itself. One moment it was dazzling sunny and soothing warm and the next was grab a sweater and feel the wind blowing up sandy swirls, a precursor to the soft rainfall to come. The desert was holding on to the last, waning breaths of summer, and the first inklings of autumn. And so I leaned back and watched and listened—and then my eyes rested on the small leather-bound guest book tantalizing me to peer inside. I soon discovered that this was the romance novel I was meant to read. Page-after-page was filled with accolades about this Lover’s Paradise. Joshua Tree Oasis was about love.

This was where lovers of all ages chose to celebrate their passion, their beginnings—or continuings—as a couple. They had picked this hidden desert retreat over cruises in the Caribbean, kayaking in Hawaii, snorkeling in Jamaica. They wanted something different. Something more. A vacation that was breathtaking, sensual and private—where all one’s senses were awakened by the intoxicating presence of life without interruption. Here was a cocoon of time and peace to savor what they vowed to have together forever—away from planes, trains and boats, traffic, crowds, tours, noise, Blackberries, IPods, texting, Internet—all of it.

Instead, they chose vibrant sunrises and sunsets and lightening shows and brilliant comets streaking across jet black nights filled with billions of sparkling stars and a moon that turned the dark into light. They chose bobcats smiling, and the silky feel of clean desert air, and a chorus of coyotes wailing across an endless landscape of boulders and cacti. They celebrated each other in a bubbling outdoor Jacuzzi, or lazing in sun-warmed waters in the cowboy spa. They chose a crackling fireside dinner-for-two, and dancing naked from room-to-room. They chose Joshua Tree Oasis—this honeymooners’ heaven-on-earth—where lovers from Sao Paolo to Missouri, Scotland to New York and more all found their way to this natural enchantment—and into each others’ arms.

I was surrounded by the echoes of love reverberating in my bones. Joshua Tree Oasis—a gift to give others. A gift to give oneself. A gift of love like no other vacation retreat on earth. This, indeed, was a living romance novel and I never wanted it to end.

~ Cara Wilson-Granat