They say opposites attract, and they’re often right!
I’ve been married to the same guy for almost thirty-four years. We have a lot in common—always necessary—but differ in many ways, too. Even though we dated for three years before the wedding, some of our similarities didn’t fully reveal until years later. And possibly we still have a few left to discover. ;)
We both love the outdoors: camping in the mountains, canoeing, snowshoeing, hiking. Both our moms gardened and cooked from scratch: baking bread, crafting soups and stews, preserving food for winter. In the parts of Canada where we grew up, winter is serious business! We’ve carried on those traditions of farming, gardening, and food preservation and passed them along to the next generation as well.
In the farm lit style romances I write, my characters have similar things in common. Wild Mint Tea, the second book in my Farm Fresh Romance series released a couple of days ago. The series follows the adventures, romantic and otherwise, of three college graduates who move onto a reclaimed farm where they plan to take the rural area by storm with their sustainable lifestyle and focus on local foods.
Wild Mint Tea is Claire and Noel’s story, and the tagline focuses on a major difference between them.
She’s rooted deep. He flies free.
She is firmly planted on Green Acres Farm in northern Idaho. He owns a reforestation company that takes him all over the Pacific Northwest every summer and gives him winters off to enjoy traveling.
She has a strong faith. He figures he’ll think about God later, when he’s old. Like maybe 40.
She’s private, not demonstrative. He likes to touch. To hug (and kiss…) (she doesn’t always mind…)
She doesn’t put herself forward. He’s a leader, confident around others.
Their differences are so much deeper than one being addicted to crunchy peanut butter and the other smooth!
What do they have in common?
Both love nature. They enjoy rain on their faces, sun-warmed forests, and discovering wild mint growing beside a creek.
Both love good food. Claire is a chef with a particular interest in local food. Noel’s crew has a chef, but he enjoys puttering in the kitchen and has perfected several innovative recipes.
Both come from fractured families, adding complexity to their relationship. Their negative relationships with deadbeat dads affect them daily, even though they’ve become responsible adults making solid business choices.
The story, of course, is all about how they are drawn to each other and how their differences push them apart. I’m certain you know how it ends, but the path through the middle leads to places you didn’t expect.
(If you’re reading this post via email, you should click through to view this book trailer—but only if you want to grin for 40 seconds straight…)
Want to win a copy of Wild Mint Tea? You have three chances!
One, you can write a comment and tell me about opposites in your favorite romance, personal or literary. I’ll give a digital copy (your choice of Kindle or ePub) to one winner, announced next Sunday.
Two, you can enter the Rafflecopter from yesterday’s post as many times as you qualify. You can earn points by signing up for my newsletter, by following me on Twitter, or any of the other options in the contest entry.
Three, you can click the link below and try your luck at winning one of three paperbacks through the Goodreads giveaway:
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Valerie Comer is a USA Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner who writes where food meets faith and fiction. She injects experience laced with humor into her green clean romances. Her life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local foods movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.
What a cute post, Val – and your novels sound like such fun! My hubs and I are very different. He’s the logical serious introvert, and I’m the energetic, disorgantized, emotive semi-extrovert. Our poor kids! ;-) If nothing else they’ll have a good idea of both sides of the coin :-)
My husband is an extreme introvert—the kind who walks around with a bubble that doesn’t like people getting too close. I’m definitely an introvert, but I can put on an extrovert persona and do the public “thing.” But boy, it’s exhausting!
Valerie, that video was so cute! Yes, I’m grinning right now. What a great way to start the day.
I love reading about literary opposites. A great example for me is Pride and Prejudice, although Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy have more in common than they think. Never can get enough of their story!
Blessings,
Andrea
Loved the video so cute. Book sounds wonderful. I would say main difference in me and my husband are he is City boy and I am Country girl. . Country won out where we live though.
Blessings
Diana
joeym11(at)frontier(dot)com
That’s part of the key, right? If the characters have NOTHING in common, they aren’t a good match. It’s a fine line. My sister says of her husband, “If we agreed on everything, one of us would be unnecessary!” So true. We bring balance to each other.
Hi Diana! I’m glad you love the video. I do too. As you may have gathered, both hubby and I are country folk. So glad we have that in common, as it’s core. I hope your hubby has learned to enjoy country life!
I was the city girl and my husband grew up on a farm. Through the years and different moves we tried to compromise. Sometimes we lived right in the city, but often in more rural settings. I always wanted to have neighbors nearby and not be isolated. One way we really were opposites, when we got married–I was an avid reader. He never read books, only magazines. Over the years that changed. He started reading books and really enjoyed it.
I know a lot of men who aren’t really into reading. Thankfully, my hubby loves to read as much as me. Maybe even more, lately, as some of what used to be reading time for me is now writing time!
I think opposites make great couples! When they’re not driving each other crazy:) Sounds like a great book! Definitely a cute post:)
Haha. Yep, definitely crazy, but what a way to go! :)
I loooove the book trailer! soooo cute! :D Yes, I agree that opposites attract…lol
Great post, Val! And I couldn’t agree more. My hubby is Mr. Social, never met a stranger. Like you, I can do the social thing, but it wears me out! What I love about our relationship is how we make up for each other. This is kind of a weird example, but not too many years into our marriage, I bought him a lawn mower for Christmas and he bought me a food processor (did I mention that we’re pragmatics?). Anyway, he uses the food processor and I use the lawn mower! Go figure… ;)
Isn’t it wonderful? I love it!
Cathy, and lots of people think all gifts should be romantic. Like you, I’m happy (most of the time!) with practical gifts. Our house is small and I’m not that fond of dusting trinkets…
Val, I’m really looking forward to reading Wild Mint Tea! I love the cute trailer :)
Thanks, Narelle! (I love it too…)
Love what your sister said! Made me laugh.