Everyone Says I Love You... Except to Me
It's Friday! I don't even know where this week has gone, but I'm happy to report I'm slowly catching up on things, phew.
Today, I'm pleased to have the wonderful Cally Taylor on my blog. Cally's second novel, Home for Christmas, is due out shortly. I've recently finished it, and it's a fantastic, heart-warming, perfect holiday read with characters everyone can easily relate to. I'd definitely recommend it.
Over to Cally!
Everyone can remember their first kiss andmost people, unless they were particularly drunk, can remember when they losttheir virginity. But how about the first time a boyfriend or girlfriend said 'Ilove you'? How old were you? Fifteen? Eighteen? Twenty? Older?
Ihad to wait until I was twenty-three to hear those precious three little wordsfor the first time. It wasn't that I hadn't had boyfriends - I'd had three bythat point, but none of them had ever told me they loved me. Firstwas Casper*. We were 15, at different boarding schools and would sneak out atnight to meet on the Malvern Hills for elicit snogs. Casper was astonishinglyhandsome and very intelligent but when he sent me a beautifully eloquent letterover Christmas holidays, telling me how much he enjoyed our time together, Ifreaked out that he was getting too 'heavy' and finished things. He neversaid'I love you' (hardly surprising considering..).
Nextup was Jake. I was 18 and spending my gap year sharing a house with a bunch ofstrangers in Worcester while I did a secretarial admin course. He was a friendof one of my housemates - 23, a chef and rode a motorbike. I fell hard and fastand so, it seemed did Jake, initially at least but as we approached the fateful3 month mark (what is it about 3 months and make or break moments inrelationships?) he started to pull away. When he finished with me he said itwas because I was going to uni that autumn and he didn't want to get hurt. Henever said I love you.
Mythird relationship was with Ben. I was 21, had spent my 3 years at uni single(apart from the odd dalliance) but was still hanging around Newcastle, helpingout at Drama Society while I tried to get a job. Ben was a second year statsstudent who was in the Music Society with a friend of mine. She was convincedwe were perfect for each other and set us up on a blind date. We got onstormingly and were together for 3 months (there's that time frame again!) whenBen decided to give up his course, move back to Sussex and wave goodbye to ourrelationship at the same time. He never said I love you.
Notlong after Ben and I split up I moved to London and got a job. The years rolledby and, before I knew it, I was nearly 23 and still hadn't heard those threelittle words. How come everyone else I knew had been told 'I love you', but notme? Just like Beth in my novel 'Home for Christmas' I started to worry thatmaybe there was something intrinsically unlovable about me.
So,what would you think if I told you that the Internet was directly responsiblefor me FINALLY finding love just a couple of months after my 23rd birthday? Wouldyou judge me if I told you I flew to the Netherlands, without telling anyone,to spend the weekend with 20 year old Frank, a man I'd only ever talked toonline? And that, 48 hours after we first hugged hello, he told me he loved me(and I said it back)? And that he spent Christmas with my family and we datedfor nine whole months before I realised that...But that's another story!
How about you tell me about the first timeyou were told 'I love you' instead...*All names changed to protect theguiltyinnocent
Talli says: How's that for a cliffhanger? I want to know more about Frank! Thank you, Cally. Here's more about Cally's book:
Beth Prince has always loved fairytales andnow, aged twenty-four, she feels like she's finally on the verge of her ownhappily ever after. She lives by the seaside, works in the Picturebox - acharming but rundown independent cinema - and has a boyfriend who's so debonairand charming she can't believe her luck! There's just one problem - none of herboyfriends have ever told her they love her and it doesn't look like Aiden'sgoing to say it any time soon. Desperate to hear 'I love you' for the first timeBeth takes matters into her own hands - and instantly wishes she hadn't. Justwhen it seems like her luck can't get any worse, bad news arrives in thedevilishly handsome shape of Matt Jones. Matt is the regional director of amultiplex cinema and he's determined to get his hands on the Picturebox byChristmas. Can Beth keep her job, her man and her home or is herromantic-comedy life about to turn into a disaster movie?
'Home for Christmas' by Cally Taylor willbe published by Orion paperbacks on 10th November and is availablefor pre-order from Amazon.co.uknow. Cally can also be found on her blog, Facebook, Twitter or website.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Today, I'm pleased to have the wonderful Cally Taylor on my blog. Cally's second novel, Home for Christmas, is due out shortly. I've recently finished it, and it's a fantastic, heart-warming, perfect holiday read with characters everyone can easily relate to. I'd definitely recommend it.
Over to Cally!
Everyone can remember their first kiss andmost people, unless they were particularly drunk, can remember when they losttheir virginity. But how about the first time a boyfriend or girlfriend said 'Ilove you'? How old were you? Fifteen? Eighteen? Twenty? Older?
Ihad to wait until I was twenty-three to hear those precious three little wordsfor the first time. It wasn't that I hadn't had boyfriends - I'd had three bythat point, but none of them had ever told me they loved me. Firstwas Casper*. We were 15, at different boarding schools and would sneak out atnight to meet on the Malvern Hills for elicit snogs. Casper was astonishinglyhandsome and very intelligent but when he sent me a beautifully eloquent letterover Christmas holidays, telling me how much he enjoyed our time together, Ifreaked out that he was getting too 'heavy' and finished things. He neversaid'I love you' (hardly surprising considering..).
Nextup was Jake. I was 18 and spending my gap year sharing a house with a bunch ofstrangers in Worcester while I did a secretarial admin course. He was a friendof one of my housemates - 23, a chef and rode a motorbike. I fell hard and fastand so, it seemed did Jake, initially at least but as we approached the fateful3 month mark (what is it about 3 months and make or break moments inrelationships?) he started to pull away. When he finished with me he said itwas because I was going to uni that autumn and he didn't want to get hurt. Henever said I love you.
Mythird relationship was with Ben. I was 21, had spent my 3 years at uni single(apart from the odd dalliance) but was still hanging around Newcastle, helpingout at Drama Society while I tried to get a job. Ben was a second year statsstudent who was in the Music Society with a friend of mine. She was convincedwe were perfect for each other and set us up on a blind date. We got onstormingly and were together for 3 months (there's that time frame again!) whenBen decided to give up his course, move back to Sussex and wave goodbye to ourrelationship at the same time. He never said I love you.
Notlong after Ben and I split up I moved to London and got a job. The years rolledby and, before I knew it, I was nearly 23 and still hadn't heard those threelittle words. How come everyone else I knew had been told 'I love you', but notme? Just like Beth in my novel 'Home for Christmas' I started to worry thatmaybe there was something intrinsically unlovable about me.
So,what would you think if I told you that the Internet was directly responsiblefor me FINALLY finding love just a couple of months after my 23rd birthday? Wouldyou judge me if I told you I flew to the Netherlands, without telling anyone,to spend the weekend with 20 year old Frank, a man I'd only ever talked toonline? And that, 48 hours after we first hugged hello, he told me he loved me(and I said it back)? And that he spent Christmas with my family and we datedfor nine whole months before I realised that...But that's another story!
How about you tell me about the first timeyou were told 'I love you' instead...*All names changed to protect the
Talli says: How's that for a cliffhanger? I want to know more about Frank! Thank you, Cally. Here's more about Cally's book:
Beth Prince has always loved fairytales andnow, aged twenty-four, she feels like she's finally on the verge of her ownhappily ever after. She lives by the seaside, works in the Picturebox - acharming but rundown independent cinema - and has a boyfriend who's so debonairand charming she can't believe her luck! There's just one problem - none of herboyfriends have ever told her they love her and it doesn't look like Aiden'sgoing to say it any time soon. Desperate to hear 'I love you' for the first timeBeth takes matters into her own hands - and instantly wishes she hadn't. Justwhen it seems like her luck can't get any worse, bad news arrives in thedevilishly handsome shape of Matt Jones. Matt is the regional director of amultiplex cinema and he's determined to get his hands on the Picturebox byChristmas. Can Beth keep her job, her man and her home or is herromantic-comedy life about to turn into a disaster movie?'Home for Christmas' by Cally Taylor willbe published by Orion paperbacks on 10th November and is availablefor pre-order from Amazon.co.uknow. Cally can also be found on her blog, Facebook, Twitter or website.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
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