Joel / Gary 1988 
Rebekah / Melinda and Sherry / Lorie 1989
My Christian contemporary romance novel, Love, Texas – Population 2, is inspired by a true story, but it’s definitely not all true. I always joke with my family and friends that I have changed the names in my book to protect the guilty. Ha! (But, THAT’S true!)
Today I’m going to let you blog readers know about one part of my novel that is true – the story behind the story about love at first sight. My newsletter subscribers are privy to the truths or tales about my novel looooonnng before everyone else, so if you’d like to be one of the first to know, subscribe to my newsletter. You’ll also receive a free gift of Chapters 1-3 of this novel when you subscribe. http://bit.ly/NewsletterSignUpMelindaFreeland
The scene excerpt in today’s blog post comes from Chapter 4: Love at First Sight (January 1987).
THE SET UP: This chapter is set in the past, when heroine Rebekah is in high school. In this scene, Rebekah and her BFF, Sherry, are on a double-date at their coworker, Darren’s, house. Rebekah and Darren are paired up, and Darren’s stepbrother, Joel, is hanging out with Sherry. This is the first time either girls have met hero Joel. The scene (highlighted in the below pictures) is at the end of the date, when Rebekah and Darren walk in on Sherry and Joel in the living room, right before the girls need to leave to get to work.
This scene, where Rebekah (me) falls in love with Joel (my now-husband, Gary) is true! I did fall in love with Gary at that moment, while he was sitting on the couch with my BFF (real life name Lorie), and it did happen when Lorie and I were on a double-date with Gary and his stepbrother.
Yes, the rest of this scene is also true, as they really did have a hard time starting the car, it really was raining, Gary’s dad was a truck driver, and Gary was (is) good at fixing cars. And yes, with Gary’s wet, long, hair, he truly looked oh so hot!
Lorie and I did wind up late for work at our job, but we didn’t get written up or fired. Side note: Lorie and I have remained good friends over the past 34 years, and even though we live over two hours away from each other, we still get together at least once each year.
Melinda Kasper Freeland and Lorie Chavarria Creech 2019
At the end of this scene (not pictured/quoted), it talks about it would be over a year until Rebekah saw Joel again. This is also a true part of the story.
What parts of our relationship are true that happened after Gary and I met back up? You’ll just have to keep reading my other newsletters, my blog, and follow me on all my social media channels to find out! Ha!
If you want to read the rest of this chapter RIGHT NOW – along with the rest of the book, grab your paperback or digital copy now! And joy, joy! The e-book version is available for only $0.99! Get your isolation / summer reading in! We all need some good news at this time in our life right now – I promise this book has a happily ever after ending!
