On the Second Day of Christmas
TWO LOVERS MEETING
Sigh. You know what I’m talking about. Their eyes meet across a crowded ballroom. He’s tearing down the building she just happens to live in. She’s on her way to give that big presentation and trips and falls right into his arms…
It’s the meet-cute, that age old romance novel device that sets the tone for the entire story. Like snow-flakes, no two lovers meeting are exactly alike. It all depends on fate, chemistry, circumstance and just the right blend of that special something known as…zing. Even when the hero and heroine HATE each other when they first meet, you know by the end they’ll be singing a different tune. Preferably one about love.
The image above is from one of my favorite romantic movies the 30’s screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby. You see Cary Grant plays David Huxley, a paleontologist, but Katharine Hepburn’s character Susan Vance thinks he’s a zoologist. And she’s got this leopard that she needs help with…it’s a classic meet-cute. Trust me!
So, tell me, Vagabonds. What’s your favorite meet-cute? What opening gambit in a romance novel is your favorite of all time? Or better yet, name a few! We’ve got twelve days to go and there’s plenty of hot chocolate! One lucky commenter will win an ARC of Jacquelyn Frank’s ECSTASY, the first in her new Shadowdweller’s Series.
Oh, I do love a good meet-cute.
For some reason though, what’s popping to mind tonight isn’t from any romantic comedy – it’s the scene in Jane Eyre where Jane meets Rochester on the road. She startles him in the fog, and he falls off his horse, and she has to help him stand up… Ooh, I love that.
I love it when they first meet and immediately hate each other due to misunderstanding, mistaken identity or just plain dislike.
Manda,As you say, there are so many of these ‘meet cutes’. It almost makes one believe in fate!
I restricted myself to Wintry ones and chose Mary Ballogh’s ‘Snow Angels’
Rosamond is travelling with her brother Dennis to meet an eligible suitor when they have a tremendous row. She leaves the carriage in a huff and starts walking back up the track, expecting Dennis to cool off and come and fetch her. The wheel comes off the carriage and it starts to snow.
Justin, Earl of Weatherby happens along on his way to a nearby isolated manor. He is travelling alone as his mistress is ill…….get the picture!
I particularly liked this story as it shows Ballogh in a very playful mood…for example Justin and Rosamond have a snowball fight in the manor grounds and Justin gives Rosamond the bag of scandalous clothes that he brought for use by his mistress, claiming they belong to his sister who could not come!
There is also a serious side to the story which gives it some bite….A good Christmas read.
I too love a good meet-cute. I think one of my favorites is in Lisa Kleypas’ Dreaming of You, where Derek is being attacked in an alley that Sara happens to be in. The shy gentle writer saves the big alpha male from being killed. It’s a great opening scene and sets the tone for the whole book.
I must have SEP on the brain this week. The 2 funny (more than cute) meets I can think of are from her. In Match Me If You Can - where Annabelle shows up late for an interview with Heath and he puts her through the ringer. Then there is the meeting of Kenny and Emma at the airport in Lady Be Bad.
Another one that just popped into my mind is when Eloisa James’ Rafe and Mayne meet the Essex sisters for the first time expecting them to be little girls and finding out they are actually grown women. That was pretty funny.
Q, I love that Balogh book. I think it’s underrated.
As always, I have a hard time choosing one. Therefore, it should surprise no one that the romance I’m naming has two meet scenes. In Connie Brockway’s Bridal Favors, the first time Evelyn and Justin meet she sees him leaving the wrong bedroom and agrees to say nothing; years later, she breaks into his house to call in the favor. Both scenes are wonderful; the second one is one of my favorite LOL moments too.
Best. Movie. Ever. Truly. In fact, I’m SO renting that over the holidays.
“There is a leopard on your roof and it’s my leopard and I have to get it and to get it I have to sing.”
Oh movies, why don’t they make you like they used to?
Ooh, Tessa! I love the meeting between Jane and Rochester! I thought Elizabeth Hoyt did a great homage to it in The Raven Prince.
Ah, Jane, the “I can’t stand you” / “I love you!” meeting! Great one. And the mistaken identity is a good one too.
Q, now that you mention it, Balogh has quite a few of those carriage accident meetings. I wonder if that’s how she met her husband
Well, not in a carriage accident exactly, but you know what I mean.
Marisa, that meeting between Derek and Sara is one of my favorites too. Kleypas is so good at those initial meetings.
Wow, Irish, you’re right about SEP. She’s another one who does great meetings.
Janga, it’s been ages since I read Bridal Favors. I might need to seek that one out again.
Glad you like it too, Sarah
I like the phone conversation Cary Grant has when he calls to zoo.:
“Hello is that zoo?…Well, nobody’s talking baby talk!”
That really is such a funny classic movie, and the ending is just as good. He loves her despite her destruction of his hugely intricate dinosaur skeleton.
The first “meet-cute” that popped into my head was the entire first half of “Sleepless in Seattle.” Can’t think of a particular one in a book, though I probably will as soon as a press the “submit comment” button.
Sarah MacLean? Which movie is that line from?
Two come to mind immediately – Colin and Penelope in Romancing Mr. Bridgerton. It was so typical of how their entire relationship would play out until Colin finally figured it out. I also love reading and rereading Zachary and Holly’s first meeting on the darkened balcony in Kleypas’ Dreaming of You. Talk about a smoldering scene.
I’m with Jane, my favorite is the immediate hate. I like seeing them realize that they don’t really hate each other…
I’ve never seen Bringing Up Baby so I’ll need to add it to my TBW pile. I feel like I’m missing out!
SEP has some great meet-cutes! From the Wallflowers, who was it that met while playing the game in the field? I have a horrible memory for books once I finish with them but I really loved that scene.
I’m glad everyone likes the “I hate you immediately” meet since that’s how my WIP starts. *big sigh of relief*
Q – I haven’t read that Balogh book but she used a very similar set up in Simply Unforgettable. Even down to the snow ball fight.
The first meet-cute that comes to mind is the one by SEP where the heroine is in a Beaver costume. Which one is that? LOL! I know it’s on my legendary TBR shelves, but I can’t remember which one it is. The meet in “It Had To Be You”, also by SEP, is pretty good too. With that little dog tearing apart that funeral.
I have no idea if it’s Day Two or Day Three but I’d have to say the cute meet that comes to mind is from SEP’s Natural Born Charmer. Not many people meet the love of their live on a dusty Texas road in a beaver suit. I mean – what are chances and yet this one works beautifully with a HEA for the record books.
I know, Maya! Isn’t it the best? The only dinosaur bone I know is the intercostal clavicle–totally from that movie alone.
Sleepless in Seattle is great, MsValerie–and I like how the son brings them together. Too cute.
Avery, RMB is a good one. Julia Quinn is another one who does really good meeting scenes.
Stephanie, I think you’re talking about It Happened One Autumn…isn’t that the one with Lillian and Marcus? And they were playing baseball, maybe? Hmmm. And you have to check out Bringing Up Baby. It’s hysterical and has some of the best dialogue ever.
Heee, Terri
Of course we all love the “hatred into love” plot! It’s a classic! And you’re right about Balogh. I love her, but she recycles scenarios like mad.
San, you caught me. I totally forgot to put this up yesterday so Janga generously agreed to split today with me. So be sure to comment on her third day too. It’s a doozy!
I like how Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks characters meet in You’ve Got Mail.
The rounders or baseball game takes place in Secrets of a Summer Place. It stops both Simon and Marcus dead in their tracks. It beautifully places Lillian under Marcus’ skin in a most delicious way.
I love ‘You’ve Got Mail’! I also adore one of its original incarnations – The Good Old Summer Time with Van Johnson and Judy Garland. Believe it or not, there are a couple of hot scenes in that movie too. Sexual tension when you did not have the follow up on screen but I think this belongs in Day Three – so off I go.
Oh those meeting and the spark that happens so often, or what I call, the burning! I just remembered when I knew that my hubby was the one, when I met him and I always called it the burn that always simmering when we are away from each other, its when missing one another. I shall stop, LOL.
I’ve not seen much movies and didn’t see that one (I’m bad at remembering titles of movies and even books). I just love to read them! A meet thats coming to mind for me is with Maribella and Drake in Jillian Hunter’s THE WICKED GAMES OF A GENTLEMAN. (If you haven’t read this Bocastle series, I think its as great as the Bridgerton ones of Julia Quinn’s. I recall when she was swept up into a dance with him when he was attending a ball and assumed to dance with her as he had to dance with everyone, but he immediately feels something more with her and even his teasing at her stubbornness, made him lost even more into her… She was on the dance floor as a Governess, looking for the girl she was monitoring at the dance! So I remember how he so reacted to her when meeting her and how he tried to wave it off and his nervousness became teasing!
Then there is the meeting of Kenny and Emma at the airport in Lady Be Bad.
That should have been Lady Be Good. Got SEP mixed up with Candice Hern.