Star Dater: Shirley Jump!

I’m delighted to welcome romantic comedy author and New York Times bestseller Shirley Jump. Sit back and enjoy her tale of true love . . .

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I write love stories about Mr. Right showing up at exactly the wrong time. It’s part and parcel of the romance novel premise--the last thing the heroine wants is to fall in love, because she’s got plans, she’s got things to do. And those plans don’t include a man.

When I met my husband, I had no intentions of dating him. Much less falling in love with him or marrying him. In fact, I resisted every effort, until it became clear that I was either going to have to marry him or enter the Witness Protection Program (just kidding, honey). Truly, he was one determined man, who fell in love nearly from the first day.

Ironically, neither of us was looking for love. We met at Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston, on a hot end of summer night. I had just stopped dating someone, a Marine; while he had just broken off a relationship. A Navy man, he was stationed in Boston while his ship underwent some much needed repairs. Just before he went out that night, he’d told his friend that he was swearing off women. No more dating for him. I was out with my best friend and told her the same thing, no more dating for me. The Marine had turned out to be a jerk, and I was done with finding jerks.

Then I saw the man I’d eventually marry. He looked a lot like the Marine I had just broken up with. Same military haircut, same build. And a tattoo on his arm, but this one was of a ship (for the Navy, of course). That tattoo was what drew me over, after we passed him and his friend several times. We got to talking, and he told me he was leaving for a two-week military school the next day. I gave him my address so he could write to me, thinking nothing would ever come of it.

But he did write. In fact, he wrote me the longest and corniest letter I ever got. It was so sweet, and so...honest, I couldn’t resist. When he came back to Boston and called me up for a date, I said yes.

He was late, though. Not a little late. VERY late. Two hours, to be exact. I was about to leave, but my mother took pity on him and told me to wait. He had gotten lost in my small town and asked someone for directions--of all people, my mother’s godson. Eventually, he showed up, and we went out.

That first night, I remember walking through the mall with him. He took my hand and I swear, it was just like in a novel. I felt a zing of electricity so strong, it could have knocked me to the ground if he hadn’t been holding me. I was a hard sell on the falling in love part, though, because I’d ended an engagement just a few months before, but once he had my heart, he had it forever. We got married a year and a half later, and are still married, seventeen years and two kids down the road.

And you know what? When he takes my hand, I still feel a zing of electricity. And every time he pulls in the driveway, I smile. There’s a reason why all the heroes in my books have blue eyes--because those are the eyes I look into every night of my life.

The very eyes I fell in love with, when I was least expecting it.

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Shirley Jump didn't have the willpower to diet nor the talent to master under-eye concealer, so she bowed out of a career in television and opted instead for a career where she could be paid to eat at her desk—writing. Shirley has sold twenty-five novels and now writes stories for Harlequin/Silhouette and Kensington Books about love, family and food—the three most important things in her life (though, there are many days when the order is reversed), using that English degree everyone said would be so useless.

Shirley’s December release is Really Something, “a tale of dream retribution coming true for every chubby girl, nerd, and unpopular kid in high school . . . Likable intense characters, a quirky small town setting and a developing romance make REALLY SOMETHING a book you do not want to miss.” (SingleTitles.com).

Comments

[Tina]

Awe, that was so sweet. BTW I just picked up Miracle on Christmas Eve to read when I get kicked out of my office with holiday guests arriving. Cannot wait to read it.

[Tina]

Awe, that was so sweet. BTW I just picked up Miracle on Christmas Eve to read when I get kicked out of my office with holiday guests arriving. Cannot wait to read it.

[Shirley Jump]

Thanks so much, Tina! I had a great time writing MIRACLE ON CHRISTMAS EVE. Right now, I'm working on next year's Christmas book (tentatively called KISS ME, JOY). It's such a blast to write it during the holidays, if not a bit hectic :-)

Shirley

[Julie Lessman]

Wow, Shirley, just reading your story about you and your hubby makes me KNOW I want to read your novels!! Talk about romance ... you got it, kid!

Hugs,
Julie

[Janet Dean]

I'm with you, Shirley. I love my guy's baby blues. I'd never thought about it before reading your post, but most of my heroes have dark eyes. Hmm. I'll fix that in the next book. :-)

[Myra]

That is one hot book cover, Shirley! Your sweetie sounds like he is "really something," too! Thanks for sharing this touching story with my readers.

[Carla]

Shirley, what a wonderful "romantic" story! I'd have to say the chocolate brown eyes of my hubby just might compete with your baby blues! Ahh, the warmth, the "pick me!" sentiment that still gets me after knowing my husband for more years than I want to count right now. I agree with Myra--that is one HOT cover of your new book. I enjoyed your story.

[Shirley Jump]

Thanks, Julie! And it's a good thing he provided some great fodder for the books over the years :-)

Shirley

[Shirley Jump]

Thanks, Janet. Good thing there are plenty of gorgeous baby blues to go around!

Shirley

[Shirley Jump]

Thanks, Myra! I think remembering those days every once in a while is so important. It helps get past all those days of frustrations with the kids and burned dinners and paying bills...the days when you're not exactly feeling romantic :-)

Shirley

[Shirley Jump]

Thanks, Carla! There's always something in those guy's eyes, isn't there? I think that's why I focus so much on hero's eyes. I think you can read so much in them. Hopefully always something sweet, too, LOL. Never annoyance with us, of course! :-)

Shirley

[Lauri]

What a great story! And coming from Shirley, I'm not at all surprised that it is great!

[Shirley Jump]

Aw, thanks Lauri :-)

Shirley

[PatriciaW]

That is a sweet story, and boy, does it sound like it could be one of your romance plots!