Hi! The barefoot goddess here! What’s better than a second chance at happily ever after with your one true love? I love romances that have a hero and heroine reconnecting years after they first met. Whether it’s a divorce, or an engagement that goes awry, or family pressure that separates them, I get sucked into those stories every time.
I think there is something about a love that endures, even through misunderstanding and heartache that warms my insides and makes me all mushy. The idea of a man loving so deeply that he can never forget that one woman no matter what else life brings his way. OOOH—I like that kind of hero.
And there is an established intimacy when they meet again that I find intriguing. A familiarity that provides a shorthand to the way they communicate and interact with one another that I find compelling.
The book I’m working on now has a couple that married at a young age and separated after a short time. Now years later they are thrown together again, and it’s fun to see old sparks fly and new flames ignite. Is it lust or love or the human instinct to correct old mistakes that draws them together?
One of my favorite romantic movies is an older movie Mr. Wonderful starring Matt Dillon and Annabella Sciorra. Gus wants to invest with his buddies in renovating an old bowling alley, but his alimony payments to his ex-wife make it impossible so he decides he should find her a new husband. Of course, predictably and deliciously he decides he’d rather win her back instead. I love this movie. Other movies that play with this theme: The Notebook is about an interrupted relationship that survives the odds. The heroine’s family doesn’t approve of her romance with a poor boy from the wrong side of the tracks. In The Philadelphia Story or the musical remake High Society a man shows up in time to interrupt the upcoming wedding of his ex-wife. And just to throw a book into the mix, My One and Only by Kristan Higgins is the story of a woman forced to make a cross country trip with her ex.
What movies or books do you like where the hero and heroine get a second chance at love?
About Molly Cannon
I’ve never seen Mr. Wonderful but now I want to
I glom on to second chance at love stories – they’re my favorite. One of the very first romance novels I ever read was Judith McNaught’s ‘Paradise. It remains one of my favorite reunited romance stories.
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Molly Cannon Reply:
September 20th, 2012 at 2:41 pm
Hi Rita,
I need to reread Paradise! It’s been years since I’ve read Judith Mcnaught. She used to come to NT meetings occasionally in my early days of trying to write. What a thrill that was! Thanks for the reminder.
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Hi Molly! I think we all love to read or see a story about lost love. It’s relatable and it’s that happily ever that escaped the characters once before. Can’t wait to read your book! Any hint on the title?
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Molly Cannon Reply:
September 20th, 2012 at 6:11 pm
Kym- yes, I think it’s the lost love element. It’s so sad and we root for renewal and hope. I don’t have a title yet! I’ll share as soon as I do.
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