Falling For You

by Guest Lindi Peterson

Hello Seekerville! It’s great to be back. Thank you for having me guest host today. It’s always a special time in Seekerville, for sure.

Today we are talking about love.

Yes, love.

It’s what romance writing is all about and it’s what makes the world go ‘round. Right?

Love is an action, not an emotion. I once heard in a church I was attending that people don’t “fall in love.” Drat! That shook my romance writer’s mind. But as I kept listening the pastor’s words made sense. Love is an action.

You do it. 

Which is why you can’t have a romance where the only goal is to fall in love and get married. 

So what is it that makes our characters fall? If they don’t fall in love what do they fall into?

Let’s explore some ways our characters fall for each other.

Excerpt from One Winter Kiss-Lindi Peterson

He kissed the top of her hand. “Thank you. Thank you for trusting me with who you are.”

She kissed the top of his hand. “Thank you for being someone I can trust. I’ve never met anyone like you.”

“We need each other, don’t we?”

“I think so,” Deena whispered.

He leaned over, his kiss gentle, caring.

Loving, kind.

Everything Andrew was touched her lips.

In looking for passages to use, I found this one. And wow, God directed me to the right passage. We have a plethora of reasons Deena “fell” for Andrew.

First he was TRUSTWORTHY. That is a quality to fall for. If you can’t trust someone, you certainly can’t give your love to them. Without trust there would be suspicion and doubt. There would be questions that might be unnecessary. 

2 Corinthians 3:4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. NKJV

We place our ultimate trust in Christ.

Deena also fell for his GENTLENESS. The passage starts out describing his kiss, but ends with all those adjectives describing Andrew himself. And Andrew is a gentleman. He proved that to her many ways, starting at the beginning of the book.

He held out a Devon Park Raiders hoodie. A lined, thick hoodie. Black and silver, The Devon Park High School colors.

“Thank you. I think I will. Especially since I don’t know how long Grandpa will be.” She took the hoodie from him and quickly put it on.

This excerpt is from Chapter One, right at the beginning when Deena was stranded outside her grandpa’s house. Right away Andrew displayed what a gentleman he was. And yes, I still like a man to open the door for me, to pull out a chair before I sit down. 

Psalm 18:35 You have also given me the shield of Your salvation: Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great.NKJV

CARING is another quality one can “fall” for.

“You’ll need these gloves. Evan doesn’t tire easily. And he’s ready for a fight.” Andrew handed Deena a pair of gloves perfect for snowball making. Well, that might be taking things a bit far, but they were designed to keep the wet out and the hands warm.

Here Andrew shows how caring he is offering Deena the proper gloves to wear in a snowball fight. If you are wondering why Deena is so ill-equipped for cold weather, she has just arrived in Ohio from Florida. She wasn’t prepared to be hanging out outside so much, as she was there to help her grandfather pack his house to move. Oh, and she was trying to stop the moving process as well. Andrew is his next door neighbor who has a son named Evan. Deena also saw throughout the story how Andrew cared for his son. That showed a huge part of who Andrew was and something Deena couldn’t help but be drawn to.

1 Peter 5:6-7 Thereforehumble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. NKJV

When we know God cares about us, we can see how caring for others is important.

And how about KINDNESS? Don’t we love meeting people who are kind? 

“I insist on taking you. Besides, I’ll help Harold get his truck out of the ditch.”

That sentence is kindness and helpfulness all in one. (Andrew is quite a guy, isn’t he?) But again, these are the types of things people do that attract other people to them. Harold is Deena’s grandpa, so Andrew, offering to help pull the truck out of a ditch after a snowstorm displays his kindness front and center.

Psalm 119:76 Let, I pray, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to Your word to Your servant.NKJV

Kindness is a great attribute. When someone is truly kind, you know their heart is in the right place. Someone’s day can be made just by having someone be kind to them. And kindness is an act we can show to those we don’t even know. We don’t have to be best friends to show someone kindness. 

We can see by the above excerpts that love comes from knowing who someone is. It’s the attributes they have that bind our soul to theirs. It’s how their heart works and how they show that heart to the world that attracts us to someone.

This is how we show growth in our romance novels. You can be attracted to someone for just the way they look, that is true. But that doesn’t carry a relationship. That person’s way of living, and treating others soon comes to light. I do believe that the books we like the best show this growth and growing attraction to our hero’s and heroine’s character.

I do love the saying “falling in love.” It sounds so much better than “falling in trust,” “falling in kindness.” There’s something universal about the word love. Whether it’s in a good or bad way, love is something everyone can relate to. It’s why we write about it, it’s why we read about it. It’s why God sent his son.

He loves us.

I’d love to talk about other attributes people “fall” for. I’ve only named a few, but I know you have some you’d like to mention. I’ve got 2 giveaways today to 2 separate commenters. First I’m giving away an e-copy of my novella, Sweet Love of Mine. It’s the story of Eden and Grant. I’m also giving away a copy of a brand new release, A Christmas to Remember.

This is a boxed set of 8 never before released Christmas novellas. I was thrilled to do this set with the ladies on the Inspy Romance Blog. This is the 2^ndnovella in my Sweetly Southern Series. Sweet Love of Mine is the 1^stnovella in that series.

Thank you for having me here in Seekerville. It’s always a pleasure and an honor to be a guest! Let’s talk “falling!”

Visit Lindi at www.lindipeterson.com

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram