It’s the love month and my romance loving heart is full. I love seeing people talk about love, how couples met, and of course reading about love. Today I thought I’d merge the talk of real-life love with books I’ve written, but trope style. You see when the huge craze on Insta was going around with couples sharing their real life tropes, I was there for it. I ate it up. It’s so awesome to learn people’s stories and how they entered into a loving relationship. After all, it’s one of the reasons I’m such a fan of contemporary romance.
I quickly jumped onto the crazed and shared my own real life tropes that tell the story of how we met. To give you a bit of a long story (but shortened, I promise), I met my husband when I arrived at my first duty station. I was in a foreign country and the people I would be working with invited me out to dinner so I could meet the rest of the people in our shop. It was great but also a bit much for this introvert. My sponsor (the one who invited me to dinner, picked me up from dinner, and essentially made sure I was okay) gave me a ride as well as my husband. At this point in the evening, I’d already heard talk about him and wondered if there were any truth to the stories. He was definitely the life of the party and people gravitated toward him. I gravitated toward him.
It was a bit of insta love. Yes, I know people don’t believe it’s real but I’ve been with my husband for twenty years. It was also an office romance. He was supposed to be my supervisor but that changed when he went to work Monday (we met on a Friday). Can’t supervise a girlfriend. It was a dual military romance as we were both in the Air Force. It was definitely opposites attract but I find that sharpens us and makes us the best of ourselves. It was also a little epistolary as two weeks after we began dating, he deployed. We kept up communication through snail mail and email. I think he actually saved some of those letters exchanged. <3 And depending on how many years need to pass between two people to be considered age gap, we might fall into that category as well.
This is why some of my books are instalove (or attraction). You see it in To Win a Prince with how fast Iris falls for Ekon. There’s a bit in You Make It Feel Like Christmas along with same age gap I share with my spouse. Deck the Shelves and Finally Accepted also have a bit of instalove as well; although, they’re more slow burn because the characters are both introverted and shy. What about you? What are your real life tropes? What Christian contemporary romance do you think best fits you?
Toni Shiloh is a wife, mom, and Christian fiction writer. Once she understood the powerful saving grace thanks to the love of Christ, she was moved to honor her Savior. She writes to bring Him glory and to learn more about His goodness. She spends her days hanging out with her husband and their two boys. She is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). Find out more on her website at http://tonishiloh.com.
Single on the shelf! I don’t fit any yet.
But for mum and dad it was love at first sight but it was also a slow burn. Not sure what month they first met. Mum was leading a Christian Endevour meeting for the first time and this man walked in (dad). I think it was later part of the year. But it was New Years Eve. The church people would go to a lake about 6 – 8 miles out of town for the night. A friend of dads said to him who’s taking Mabel home and quick as a flash mum said Jack is and turned to him and said aren’t you. Turns out he wanted to ask mum out for awhile but thought she would say no. They also have the age difference. 9 and a half years difference. He was a farm hand and she always said she would never live on a farm. she was 27 dad 37.
I would say small town and second chance describe my life tropes.
Ohh that’s so cute! For me it’s soulmates, age gap, friends to lovers <3 also pen pals since we're in different countries :)
This is a fun question! I love hearing stories of how couples met, so thank you for sharing.
I don’t think I cover many tropes, but possibly insta love – when I was supposed to be meeting my now husband for our second date, my then housemate was annoyed as had wanted me to do something else. We ended up having a bit of an argument, with her shouting “and what’s so important about this guy anyway, you’ve only just met him” and me replying “he’s the man I’m going to marry!” – I didn’t mean to say it, it just came out, but the minute I heard the words I knew it was true, and we did indeed get married.
Still single waiting to see if God considers that I should be the heroine of my own romantic novel haha.
I’m not married or in a relationship, so I don’t have any tropes right now. :) But I do love the epistolary trope!
I love that! Thank you so much for sharing their story with me.
Oh good ones!
I love the pen pal element! Thanks for sharing!
I love this so much!! Thanks for sharing!
You’re a heroine now in women’s fiction :).
I’m still single, so no tropes for me! I like so many tropes, but I’m definitely an introvert (until I get to know someone) and then I’m a little extrovert. I definitely have a strong personality, so he’d best have one at least as strong! I don’t want to be a doormat, but I sure don’t want him to be, either!
Have you read Pepper Basham?
What fun to read your story, Toni! I’m not sure what trope it is, but when my husband and I met, my parents and sister already knew him (I’d been away at college). My sister (11 years younger than me) asked Jim how old he was. He said, “19”. She said, “Oh, you’re the same age as Margaret. You two should get married!” :-) He had another girl friend at the time! The Lord did bring us together – mostly through writing letters while he was in the Air Force and stationed overseas.
Yes! Love that. Iron sharpens iron.
Yay for the Air Force and writing letters!!
My husband was dating my freshman roommate/long time friend. We became beat friends and I KNEW he was my husband (wrote in my journal and everything). I just prayed and waited.
So we are best friends to LOVAS (which you totally see in my books too!) 😍😆
And… I guess the “fell in love best friend’s boyfriend” trope. 🤷🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️ (we are Really close to that friend. And even call her Aunt to our kids. So all is well. Haha)
I’m so glad all is well and love that story!
Hubby and I were slow burn. We both been burned in the past and were afraid to make a mistake so were both cautious. I prayed throughout our entire relationship because I was afraid of making a mistake like my mother did and choosing someone who was abusive.
I’m so glad you leaned on prayer during that time. Thank you for sharing.
Good morning and Wow, I love your love story! Mine would be Love at first sight, and also opposites attract. When I first saw my now husband he had gone to apply where I worked and I really liked him, we never exchanged words then, so about a week and a half passed and he started working there. Well, we got to talking and we went out on dates. About a year after we got married and we have been married for almost 47 years now. Have a Great weekend.
47 years?! That’s amazing. Thank you for sharing. Hope you have a great weekend as well.
Sadly I don’t have a love life and haven’t for quite a while now, so it’s single mom for me.
Hi Toni,
Fun post! I wouldn’t say ours was instant attraction, but it didn’t take long. If there is a trope, older woman, younger man, that’s us, although not a big age difference. We’re somewhat opposite. I’m pretty sure most of our friends thought we’d never last, but we just celebrated 48 years.
I’m single so real-life tropes here. I like reading friends to lovers and second chance.
Opposites attract I think :) I arrived in US on my husband’s birthday so Birthday Present Trope lol (I might’ve created a new one)
I have to be honest. I never really thought about it. I would say one would be opposites attract, friends to more. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.
Definitely opposites attract for 52 years. Loved your story.
It was so fun to read your story! It is definitely interesting to think about book tropes in real life.
like all kinds of tropes
We met at Sunday School as teenagers and he was as outgoing as I was shy.
We’re definitely opposites attract.
Like many trobes one of my favorite is friends to lovers
I’m single, but my grandparents certainly qualify. They both lived in the same small town (there’s the first trope), and attended the same high-school. I’m not sure if they started dating in high-school or if it was later when they were in college (not sure if that counts as a trope). They were dating seriously when grandpa enlist in the army, and they were married shortly after (military romance). Also, grandpa wasn’t a cowboy, but he did own a ranch (if rancher or farmer is a trope, he fit perfectly). Thanks for the post, this was fun!
TRUE! I hadn’t thought of it that way!
I married a true alpha male unlike anyone I’d ever dated before! I’d say our trope is Opposites Attract!
I am a friends to lovers and second chance person, I love reading these stories as they reflect my own life too.
I don’t have any tropes to speak of, lol, but I loved your story and learning that you both were Air Force! So cool! :)
Wish more tropes were real life.
It was instalove for us both (I actually told his friend that introduced us that I was going to marry him the night he introduced us!) & then friends to lovers as we got to know each other before we started dating. There was a bit of long distance when I went away to college, a 3rd act breakup, and now we’ve been married over 20 years & are in the middle of our HEA ❤️