It’s wedding season! I love hearing all the stories of how couples got together. It inspires me to write better because, really, there are a lot of overused tropes out there. I’ve overused them myself.
Though I’m happily married, and I feel like my love story would make good fodder, do I really have what it takes to star in one of my own novels? Do you?
Authors Pepper Basham and Heather Woodhaven helped me come up with a quiz to find out if any of us have the makings of a heroine in a contemporary romance. Tally each time you answer yes to the following questions to discover what kind of leading lady you might make.
- Have you ever tripped and been caught by a charming stranger?
- Are you a runaway bride afraid to return to your hometown for fear of bumping into your former fiancé?
- Have you ever complained about a guy, not realizing you were complaining to the actual guy?
- Have you ever inherited a Victorian house from an aunt you’d never met?
- Have you ever had an argument in the rain that turned into a kiss?
- Have you ever become the joint legal guardian of a child along with a man whose presence used to annoy you, but now you’ve discovered he could actually make a really good dad?
- Have you ever asked a male friend to pretend to be your boyfriend at a cousin’s wedding?
- Have you ever had two men vying for your attention, and you can’t choose between them because you don’t realize one of them is secretly trying to take over your company?
- Are you Amish?
- Did you find the perfect man, but you have a secret that could destroy your whole relationship?
- Did you ever meet a prince on a Caribbean vacation?
- Do your exes reappear at the most awkward times?
- Did a billionaire hire you to be his nanny?
- Have you ever had to pretend to be someone else, not expecting to fall in love with a man who only knows you by your fake identity?
- Are you a master at arching an eyebrow?
- Have you ever had to dog sit for an elderly woman whose handsome nephew shows up unexpectedly during a blizzard?
- Are you a matchmaker who’s never found your own match?
- Are you a business woman whose career is in jeopardy and salvation lies in a small town that’s about to change your life?
- Is your neighbor a cute cop whose protective tendencies ensure many embarrassing moments?
- Do you eat ice cream after a bad breakup?
15-20 Points You’re a Vivian
Vivian is the new name of the award given out by Romance Writers of America where your life story could win the grand prize. It’s also pronounced like Vivien Leigh, who is best known for playing Scarlet O’Hara, one of the most dramatic characters ever written, but you could beat her in an eyebrow arching contest. Were your biography ever made into a movie, it would definitely last longer than the measly four hours it takes to watch Gone With the Wind.
10-14 Points You’re a Buttercup
Your life has included some heartache, and, with great angst, you’ve given up hope of ever being united to your one true love. But, as if you’re living in a fairytale, there’s magic, mayhem, and, of course, a dashing rogue to help you reach your happily ever after. Eventually you will feel like both a princess and a bride.
5-9 Points You’re an Elle
Whether you you looking for romance or not, it just seems to find you because love starts with Elle. You’re not a vixen like Vivian or a drama queen like Buttercup, but you don’t take steps to avoid spectacle either, and you watch your outlandish circumstances with wide-eyed enjoyment. Like Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, you sashay through life with the whimsy of a rom/com.
0-4 Points You’re an Iris
You don’t mind being a wallflower, and often play the part of the best friend in other people’s romances. Everyone loves you for it, and thus your life is filled with peace rather than melodrama. Romance blooms when you find the one man who respects your gumption, and you’ll live the rest of your life as his leading lady because simply being together makes you feel like you’re on holiday.
You may not relate to these tropes, but hopefully you relate to the characters in our stories who must endure them. No matter how you ranked in this silly quiz (Let me guess, Iris?), I’d love to have you share which heroine from a contemporary Christian romance novel you’ve been able to most identify. And why?
Angela Ruth Strong survived breast cancer, works as a flight attendant, and uses her own crazy life experiences as inspiration for the stories she writes. Her books have earned TOP PICK in Romantic Times, been nominated for a Christy, won the Cascade Award, and become Amazon bestsellers. She and her husband also got to play extras when her novel Finding Love in Big Sky was adapted for film. To help aspiring authors, Angela started IDAhope Writers where she lives in Idaho.
Yep an Iris. I was the one who goes to a Christian Singles Camp not looking for love but to be with like minded people who are single and find I am like the sister to the guys who talk about their problems or about the girl they like and think to myself what am I chop liver.
Or the second year after working out the one person I thought I like and I didn’t have a chance at the banquet he sits with me cos its comfortable for him.
I identified to a degree with a character in a Kaye Dacus book where the Heroine (Meredith I think) was over 30 and never really had a boyfriend and she finds love. (I am still waiting)
Hilarious quiz! I’m Iris, with a score of just one. I can arch one eyebrow. :-D
Bahaha! Love this quiz. I’m definitely an Iris with 2 pts. Eyebrow-raising queen (ask my kids!) and tripping over, not getting caught by a stranger, but reaching up my hands to him to get his help — and he did help me up! LOL. My reaction was more to save me from utter embarrassment! 🤣 I walked away, head held high, as though I was still as graceful as ever. (I cringe whenever I remember this! Then laughs at myself.)
Hi Angela! Delightful quiz. Living in the Midwest, I missed being rescued/ snowed in a blizzard which leads to romance on the list. I am an Iris with one point – the raising eyebrows. Chuckled over the last line: “Romance blooms when you find the one man who respects your gumption, and you’ll live the rest of your life as his leading lady because simply being together makes you feel like you’re on holiday.” In June I will be married to hubby for 48 years, but not sure that being his leading lady makes me feel like I’m on a holiday. Looking forward to the replies. Best wishes.
That was awesome! I got an Iris at 2 points. One of the characters I really identified with was Emory in Sarah Monzon’s Bookishly Ever After.
Totally an Iris here. This was so fun and hysterical. I’m giving myself points for tripping MANY times into the arms of my husband. The first time when we were on our first date. :)
I’m definitely an Iris. The only contemporary heroine I’ve kinda identified with was one of Autumn MacArthur’s.
HAHAHA!! What fun!!!!
Angela,
This was so fun to read. Of course, I’m an Iris, but I’ll take it!
As I read through the questions, I kept thinking of books that matched. I kept chuckling and thinking, “Yep, I know a book about that!”
This was cute! Thanks for brightening my day!
I’m an expert at raising an eyebrow!
I just get in as an Elle with 5 but I can’t say I sashay through life. I more or less trip into rooms as a rom com. :-)
LOL LOVE IT!!!!
I am an Iris <3
This was fun, and yes, I’m an Iris. I think the most recent character I’ve read and can identify with is Clara from Hope Between the Pages by Pepper Basham. She’s a bookworm who enjoys her comfortable life but wants to branch out a bit. I can see myself in her and would happily travel overseas if asked or forced :) .
Very clever quiz! Of course, I’m an Iris and happily married for 33 years with an arching eyebrow that drives hubby crazy. I can’t think of recent titles off the top of my head but one of my books involved a heroine who inherits a restaurant/hotel from an aunt she’s never met or even knew about…and so many of these reminded me of Hallmark movies! Thanks for the laugh this morning!
What a fun poll! I’m an Iris. I couldn’t answer yes to even one. The closest I came to saying yes was for number 8, two guys vying for my attention at the same time, but neither of them was trying to steal my company, since I was still in college. I married neither of them and found my forever love a good 5 years later. We’ve been married 45 years.
I indentfied a lot with the heroine in True to You by Becky Wade
Only 1 for me! I’m a master at the arching eyebrow! lol
It would have been 2, but I’m not much of an ice-cream person, so after a bad breakup (I only had 2), then I’d probably binge chocolate.
However, I did incorporate some of my other insecurities and dreams into my own book based loosely on my love life. ;)
I have that book. And you are loved. <3
Definitely heroine material! ;-)
As a heroine, you have to be able to laugh at your quirky self. Well-played. ;-)
Your story is epic. <3 I patterned each of the four types after heroines in movies. Iris is named for Kate Winslet in The Holiday.
Yes! Loved that book.
Sounds like you got yourself a hero. ;-)
Now I’m curious. Which book?
Thanks for helping me out! I actually clapped while writing this.
That’s awesome. You’ve vicariously lived each of these heroine’s lives.
That’s entertaining! And you might relate to the character in my next book, Husband Auditions.
It’s good to be an Iris. <3
I need to read that one. I can also see you relating with the characters in The Secret Life of Book Club by Heather Woodhaven who also helped me write this quiz. It’s one of my faves.
Right? And congrats on writing the book on romance. ;-)
This sounds like an even better premise for a love story. <3
Yes. She’s a great character. <3
Way to be an Iris! What is your book called?
I can’t remember! Lol! It was one I read last year. I can 100% identify with Heather Blanton’s first book in her Burning Dress Ranch series, A Distant Heart, though. It’s not contemporary, though.
Oh my goodness, who came up with these questions?!
Some of them were really funny!!
I am an Iris with a 0.
Lol.
Well, I’m sure there is an equally crazy quiz for us guys.
1. Eyes of piercing sapphire blue, vibrant emerald green or rich chocolate brown.
2. Broad shoulders and biceps which no knit shirt can adequately contain.
3. (M/B)illionaire or a work ethic that would put a successful CEO to shame.
4. A sense of self-sacrifice ranging from “what Mama taught me” to “a compulsion deeper than life itself.”
5. A love of children that bonds a family in ways that would probably solve all the problems in the middle east.
6. A wandering soul longing for the love a woman whose heart he can cherish and protect with every ounce of his being.
7. A cowboy possessing at least four of the previous six characteristics. No, make that five outta six. Shoot, all six, when you get right down to it.
Yep, it sure goes both ways. Pretty sure we fellas would all qualify as “Miles” (the counterpart to Kate Winslet’s “Iris” in The Holiday). :-)
I doubt I have identified with any book heroine. My life is so normal.
I am Iris. I lead a boring life. I graduated from a Southern Baptist strict Christian high school. I was not sure how to be out in the real world after I graduated. It was so much easier to be a wallflower.
Iris. I lead a boring life. I graduated from a Southern Baptist strict Christian high school. I was not sure how to be out in the real world after I graduated. It was so much easier to be a wallflower.
Hahaha! I love this! Thank you for the tears of laughter, Lincoln. I will keep my real husband in my arms, and keep the men on your above quiz list on my reading list – coz that’s the only place they’ll ever exist for me! LOL
My pleasure, Jaye, and your plan sounds very wise to me. :-)
Iris & only one real relationship who I’ve been married to for a long time & together since we were young. I like this one best!!
Iris–but I’ve been married for nearly 29 years.
And, I doubt anyone reading can say they’re Amish.
I’m left laughing and wondering where the ideas and quiz was developed. I scored 1 on number 20. Met my true love at Sunday School and was very happy with him until he passed away. I do prefer peace over drama in real life and am very happy to leave the dramatics to authors writing them in books. Thanks for a very fun and engaging post.
after seeing so many arch eyebrows I tried and gave myself a migraine. I tend to have one eye slightly closed so to arch the eyebrow doesn’t work for me.
Yes to the eyebrow arching. In my family, the females all master this by the tender age of 5….lol!! One can say a lot in just that one gesture alone ;-)
Right? It was the three of us romance writers who came up with the questions. Pepper, Heather, and I.
I’m sharing this in my Facebook group. This is awesome!
I’m sure this is true for most of us. I was surprised to hear that there was one Elle who took the test.
Your life sound stable. There are pros and cons to every life, so enjoy the pros of your Southern Baptist high school!
Sounds like a good one. That’s the stuff of love stories. <3
I was hoping an Amish reader would out themselves. LOL
Agreed! My writing friends and I just came up with the crazy heroine requirements based on past reading/writing. ;-)
Such a quirk could also get you in a novel. <3
What a skill. A family of romance heroines. ;-)
Most people with chronic headpain and migraine are the same when you suffer it you can tell when another person with migraine or head pain is suffering as even in photos you often see one eye slightly squinting.
But having a character with migraine in book would be good.
I can identify with this, Jen. I’m not as bad as many (I’ve read a few horrendous stories in a support group I’m in), but I know the awful pain and inconvenience of chronic migraine. As well as the guilt it brings when you feel useless. Perhaps, there’s a story in this after all! :-) My next MC’s weakness – migraine?