From The How I Know I’m In Love Series

The first and only time I ever fell in love was when I met Dennis, but the strange thing about it was that I didn’t meet him face to face. I fell in love with his voice as we talked on the phone one night.

It all started when he called a wrong number and asked for someone with the same name as mine. When I answered the phone, he asked for Diane, and since that’s who I am, I said, “Hi!” I thought he was a friend of mine. We started to talk — without even knowing who we were really talking to!

We’d been speaking for a few minutes when he said something that I didn’t understand, and when I asked him about it, he suddenly realized that I wasn’t the Diane he knew. When he realized what had happened, we both laughed and he told me he was glad it had happened because he thought I had a nice voice and liked me already. I told him that I felt the same way, and he began to call every day after that for almost a week.

We finally met, and when we did, I knew that I loved him even more than I loved his voice. I could tell that he felt the same way.

Dennis and I have been dating for three years now, and we plan to get married someday. I never thought that I’d fall in love by talking to a stranger on the phone, but now that it’s happened, I couldn’t be happier. That’s how I know I’m in love.

Submitted by Diane from Nashville, TN
Previous submissions can be found here on How I Know I’m In Love

How do you know that this crazy, wonderful feeling is the real thing? Share your experience with others. Tell us in 300 words or less. Send your submissions to trulovebooks@gmail.com and we’ll go over each submission. If we select yours, we’ll feature right here on our site and we’ll send you a free romance e-book!

“Attention, gentlemen!”

I heard Julie’s voice over the bar’s PA system and looked over to see her waving from the DJ booth. The DJ was wiping her trademark candy-apple red lipstick off the corner of his mouth. Oh Julie…she could charm anyone with a simple kiss.

Brandon and I were getting married in a week, after five years of dating, and Julie had insisted on taking me out for one last wild night on the town. She’s booked us a hotel in Brighton, where we’d first met. Julie and I started the day with pancakes at our old favorite diner. Then it was off to the spa for facials and matching mani-pedis. We hit a chick-flick matinee and had steaks for dinner. Now, we were at Moxie, our old college nightclub, dancing to Cyndi Lauper and Duran Duran. Julie struck a lot people as a shallow, good-time girl, but with the exception of Brandon, I couldn’t think of anyone I loved more.

But what was she doing in the DJ booth?

“All right, all you handsome boys out there, we’ve got a bit of a game for you. My best friend Libby is getting married tomorrow…” She paused for cheers and applause. A spotlight came up on me, and catcalls flooded my ears. “So here’s the deal. She’s got one kiss, one last bachelorette kiss, to give out to the highest bidder. Bids start at a buck, and all the money goes towards her honeymoon, so bid high! Head over to the bartender and he’ll take it all down, bidding stops when your money is spent! And…” She paused again. “The second highest bidder gets a kiss from the maid of honor!”

I wondered what my last kiss should be like. Closed-mouth? A little tongue? Full-on, backseat-of-dad’s-car-prom-night-frenching? I guess it depends on how much my lips went for…and how good-looking he was. For one second, the horror of having to kiss a sweaty slob in a grease-stained Metallica t-shirt for twenty bucks flashed through my brain. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. I didn’t want to be unfaithful to Brandon, after all, and if word got out that I kissed a guy on the eve of my nuptials, that might assure they never happen. I swallowed the rest of my champagne in a single gulp and looked around for the nearest exit.

“Julie,” I had to yell over the music even though she was only a few feet away. “I don’t think this is such a good idea…”

“We have a $1,000 bid on the bride-to-be!” the DJ announced.

Julie screamed and gripped my arm. My heart began to race. A thousand bucks for a kiss? Please let him be handsome, please let him be handsome, please let him be…

Brandon?

My fiance waved from the DJ booth, grinning. Tears welled up in my eyes; this was even more romantic than when he proposed to me , at sunset on my parent’s farm when we were home for my birthday. Never before had I loved him so much in a single rush of adoration.

I ran towards the DJ booth and Brandon met me halfway, sweeping me up in a passionate kiss. The spotlight came up on us and everyone cheered.

“How did you know we were here?” I asked.

“You didn’t really think Julie would let you kiss a frog, did you?” Brandon asked, holding me close.

“I would have kissed you for free,” I said, kissing him again.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to take you up on that offer,” he said. “I don’t have a thousand dollars.”

I felt my heart sink a little, but he knew just how to buoy me up. “I already spent it on our hotel upgrade.”

I knew my man would come through.

But the DJ wasn’t finished. “And our second highest bid, $200, Mr. Steven Chandler, let’s get you up here to kiss the maid of honor!”

Julie squealed when the lights came up on Steven Chandler. He was just her type; tall, with dark hair and sleek, muscled body, willing to spend money to impress her. Okay, so maybe Julie was a little bit shallow. But she’d arranged for me to have one of the greatest nights of my life and reaffirmed my love for my husband-to-be.

And Julie even brought Steven to the wedding.

–Libby Cudmore, New York

Previous submissions can be found here on How I Know I’m In Love

How do you know that this crazy, wonderful feeling is the real thing? Share your experience with others. Tell us in 300 words or less. Send your submissions to trulovebooks@gmail.com and we’ll go over each submission. If we select yours, we’ll feature right here on our site and we’ll send you a free romance e-book!

I had always been a shy, gawky adolescent, sure no boy could ever find me attractive. As I grew older, that insecurity with men remained and I had few dates.

Then one day I met Richard. He was sitting in his car at the gas station, waiting on the pump to fill his tank. I was having trouble getting the gas cap back on my car and he noticed. He hopped from his car and ran over to help me. He couldn’t fit the cap back on either, and we stood there laughing at our mutual incompetence, glancing at each other in surprise.

Waiting for the attendant to help us, I found out that Richard worked as a foreman at the tool and die factory where I myself worked as a bookkeeper. Both of us were tall, shy and skinny–too conscious of our own appearances to notice each other at work. Something sparked when we met at the gas station, thought, and our first dates were spent exhanging tales of the funny and embarrassing situations our shyness had gotten us into in the past. We recognized the great similarities in our life histories, and suddenly the world wasn’t such a lonely place.

Richard and I were married last year, and our first child is due soon. Though we are still timid when apart, together we are a dynamic duo, a team of kidders, able to bring a group of friends to tears and laughter with our “I was a teenage wallflower” stories.

What’s more, he thinks I’m the most beautiful woman on Earth, despite my skinny calves and knobby knees. I’m almost beginning to believe him, too! Suddenly, two social outcasts have become the life of the party. That’s how I know I’m in love!

Submitted by Adrienne P of Green Bay, WI

Previous submissions can be found here on, How I Know I’m In Love

I’m in love with a man named Randy. He is not physcially attractive, but he has shown me that it is what’s inside a person that is so important. I always thought that looks were the most important thing–until I met Randy! He has taught me to accept the things I can’t change, and to make the best of them.

I have also always been the type who worries about what everyone else thinks. But Randy isn’t. He loves me for myself, not only for what I try to be; and he makes me feel like a queen inside. It’s all right for me to make mistakes, and Randy helps me learn from them.

When I’m feeling down and depressed, he makes me see the good things in myself, not just the bad; and when I am hurting, he hurts, too. He makes it so easy for me to share my thoughts that, even if they are bad, I can face them with his help.

But one of the most important parts of our relationship is a true friendship tha tmakes our love grow. He is a friend when I am in need, and I feel he is the only person I could live with forever. I trust him with my life, my love, and my heart–and believe me, that’s a secure, loving feeling I’ve never had before. This is how I know I’m in love.

Submitted by Rebecca C. from Claremont, CA

Previous submissions can be found here on How I Know I’m In Love