What a fun post, and the covers are great!

That first love feeling is wonderful... and awful, LOL. I think, in retrospect, I still enjoy the feeling of being with my dh (whom I consider my real first, and only, love), for the long term, but I'm probably just getting old, LOL. Those first love days take a lot of energy. I DO remember when I met dh, online, and I was barely getting any sleep, and just barely taking care of responsibilities, because all I wanted to do was be online talking to him. I think people who meet in real life are not much different -- you can't stand to be away from each other. In my case, this first love lasted, but I have had those flings like you had on the boat, and they do make for nice memories. ;)

Thanks for coming by today! Looking forward to the convo...

Sam

The one thing I remember about my first love is that he had a great sense of humor. He could always make me laugh.

Nicola--love the sounds of your books. True escapes!

Can I state for the record that ANYONE who takes me on a two-week cruise at this point can be my one and only. I'm wiped out. ;-)

My first love was tall, smart, funny, and kind. He had glasses--I love a guy with glasses. I fell in love with him because he was cute, but I stuck with him because we had so much fun together. Of course this grand affair took place in middle school. ;-)

Good luck with your books!

I can remember the excitement of wondering if he cared for me like I cared about him. I remember wondering if he would ever take the first step and ask me out and cherishing a present he gave me for my birthday so much that it eventually fell apart. I look back to those days and laugh at how silly I was. Young girls can be so melodramatic.

My first love was unrequited. Just a friend I had for one summer. He was a brilliant math person (college math professor now) and I can barely multiply, but he made always made me feel smart, and special, and funny. Funny haha not funny strange ;-)
He wasn't a playboy at all, but he was a man who was at ease around women. He was raised by a single mom and was very close to his sister and you could tell he just "got" women. He genuinely enjoyed their company, romantic and otherwise. That was important to me since I was shy around most guys, but not him.
He's happily married and I'm happily married now and we've lost touch, but boy did it take a long time to get over him!

My first love was when i was in the fifth grade, and he was the cute chubby boy that smiled widely whenever i looked at him. his name was lee and he was the sweetest boy every, we had our first date at pizza hut, at our own table while his mother grinned and giggled as we acted big. for valentines day he gave me a heart shaped donut, which i never ate. it was too pretty.
we were together for a few months until he moved away and broke my heart. I was saddened to hear years later that he was killed in a car accident with his parents. so sad. but he was so sweet. i'll never forget him!

now i'm married to my first true love as an adult, and he my best friend and loves that i'm a sappy romatic who cries at commercials and some kids movies (Casper anyone?)and i couldnt be happier.
great post, Nicola i look forward to reading your books.
jody

Hi, Nicola! My first grown up love is still hanging around. :) I had those high school crushes, and one boyfriend I thought I loved desperately, but it wasn't until I was in college that I had my first grown up romance. (Though can one really be grown up at 18?) I married him at 19. We've had our ups and downs, but we're still married nearly 23 years later. And we're still silly together. I stand at the window and wave goodbye to him in the mornings, and when he comes home, I drop everything to run to the door and hug him. He makes me laugh, and he infuriates me too. I guess that's the way it's supposed to be, right? ;)

Lynn Raye Harris
www.LynnRayeHarris.com
SPANISH MAGNATE, RED-HOT REVENGE, Harlequin Presents, Aug 09 (US/UK)
CAVELLI'S LOST HEIR, Dec 09 UK, January 2010 US
THE PRINCE'S ROYAL CONCUBINE, March 2010 UK

OMG, I can still remember the first time I saw my first love (I was 12 and he was 16). My knees went all weak and shaky, I turned hot, my heart rate went crazy, and I lost all ability to speak. And that happened every time I saw him! I became a basketball fan (he played center), and religiously rode my horse along the Myopia trails each afternoon (he was captain of the cross-country team and they ran those trails every day), and my friend and I even bush-whacked our way through acres of forest so that we could peek through his back yard while he swam in his pool...can you say teenage stalker, LOL?

When I was 13, I crashed a high-school dance because my dad was the police officer on duty, and he was giving me a ride home following my own dance at the middle school. He encouraged me to ask my crush for a dance. I did, and he agreed, despite the fact he was now 17 and a senior, and all his friends were howling with laughter from the sidelines (I was still wearing Mary-Janes and knee socks). He was incredibly sweet and said he'd seen me on the bus, and gallantly said that I must be a sophomore (I was in the 7th grade). To this day, when I hear the song that we danced to (If You Leave Me Now), I can still feel his sweater under my cheek and smell his soap.

The main thing I remember about my "first love" is that he was a real mama's boy and so the relationship never really got off the ground. Seeing how my life turned out I was much better off moving on -- and I'm sure he was too -- but I do recall vividly the butterflies in the tummy feeling every time I was near him. He was truly a nice guy and we were very young.

And it lasted for 4 long years !! During my 4 years in junior high I had a terrible crush on a black-haired black-eyed boy. His name was Alexandre and it was a hopeless case of unrequited love. I remember I had learned his schedule by heart so I could "accidently" see him in the school alleys... the good old years !!lol. I remember how happy I was just seeing him in the morning, I felt like energized.
I still see him once in a while. We never speek of course but it always makes me smile...

I've actually remembered, if we're carrying it back to the earliest moment when one was smitten with a boy, that I was totally bowled over by the dark good looks of a Puerto Rican boy when we were in daycare together. It was before I started kindergarten, but I still remember him. Tanned, black hair, dark eyes. He called me "Leen" because of his accent, and I was in love. I can't remember his name, but I wonder if he set me on the path to writing about all these dark-haired, Latin tycoons? LOL!

Lynn Raye Harris
www.LynnRayeHarris.com
SPANISH MAGNATE, RED-HOT REVENGE, Harlequin Presents, Aug 09 (US/UK)
CAVELLI'S LOST HEIR, Dec 09 UK, January 2010 US
THE PRINCE'S ROYAL CONCUBINE, March 2010 UK

Lynn - 23 years later? That makes you....wow. I never would have guessed it.

I can honestly say I dated a bunch but loved rarely. My first love was in high school. I was sad over a crush gone wrong and he and I talked about it....boing! New crush was born. But it didn't really start until one day after school, when he kissed me at my locker before band practice.

We were together almost three years, off and on. I definitely ended up with the right guy in the end (Met him when I was 19, married him after I finished my degree) but I still keep an eye on what my first love is up to - and hope he's as happy as I am. :-)

Nic- fab story - gotta say a whirlwind romance on a cruise sounds pretty darned nice!

Donna

Emotional, Feel-Good Romance
http://www.donnaalward.com

Hi Nicola!

Funny that the blog today should be about first loves....I had a dream about mine last night. :-) I met him in 5th grade when I sat behind him in class. We picked on each other incessantly through middle school and became good friends in high school. I didn't find out until we *ahem* "hooked up" a few times during college (when I was back in town visiting) that he'd had a crush on me, too. Apparently, everyone knew we each were interested in each other, but neither of us wanted to mess things up by saying anything, LOL! We didn't try a relationship - with me being 1000 miles away at school, etc, we figured we'd see where life took us. Mine took me to DH, and his took him on a different path. We still catch up now and again. I still have a huge soft spot for that man, and probably always will. DH met him a few years ago and totally approves. :-D

My first love was the boy next door. Everyone thought we would end up getting married but that didn't happen. We ended up good friends however.

I just started Two Weeks in the Magnate's Bed and I'm really enjoying it. I worked for a cruise line for over 17 years and still love to cruise. Can't wait to see what you have instore for Lana.

My husband and I cruised the South Pacific on Windstar which was luxury at it's finest!

http://marilyns-romance-reviews.blogspot.com/

My first love was a much older man who was the absolute nicest guy at our church. I was totally convinced I loved him, and I was gutted when I realized that my love what not returned!
Years later I laugh when I talk to my Mom about it (I was about 11 or 12 and he was in his twenties)as he is now pudgy and balding but still a sweetheart and married to the "other" woman he left me for, LOL....

Wow!
Thanks to you all for sharing.

At the risk of sounding soppy, I had a lump in my throat as I read them.
Lovely :)

Nicola

http://www.nicolamarsh.com
A TRIP WITH THE TYCOON(Harlequin Romance) OUT NOW in USA & UK
TWO WEEKS IN THE MAGNATE'S BED(Harlequin Presents) OUT NOW in the USA
MARRIAGE: FOR BUSINESS OR PLEASURE? (Harlequin Modern Heat) Dec 09 UK, Feb 2010 USA

Thanks for having me, I've had a ball!

The winner of a signed copy of TWO WEEKS IN THE MAGNATE'S BED is Jill KQ.

Please email me privately at nicola@nicolamarsh.com with your details, Jill, and I'll get the prize in the post.

Happy reading, everyone :)
Nicola

http://www.nicolamarsh.com
A TRIP WITH THE TYCOON(Harlequin Romance) OUT NOW in USA & UK
TWO WEEKS IN THE MAGNATE'S BED(Harlequin Presents) OUT NOW in the USA
MARRIAGE: FOR BUSINESS OR PLEASURE? (Harlequin Modern Heat) Dec 09 UK, Feb 2010 USA