The Meet-Cute in Getting Red-Hot With the Rogue by Ally Blake
28 Comments October 28th, 2009 in author Posted by Amyby Ally Blake, author of Getting Red-Hot With the Rogue (Harlequin Presents, Nov. 2009–in stores now!)
In life I’m a planner. With two daughters under the age of two that’s the way things have to be in order to remain semi-sane!
But in my writing I don’t plan a thing. Nadda. When starting a book, I sit down at my computer with a new Word file open in front of me, all clean and fresh and loaded with possibility, and off I go. That way I get to enjoy the surprise of how my heroes and heroines meet, clash, and learn, and see things clearly for the first time as they overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to fall in love just as a reader would.
All that fun begins at the beginning. And my verrrry favourite beginnings are all about the “meet-cute”.
“Meet-cute” is a screenwriting term for a fun and unusual and, well, a darned well cute way for the leads to meet. Think mistaken identity, inadvertent misunderstanding, being caught out in a most embarrassing circumstance. Sometimes it’s completely unique, sometimes zany, sometimes classically romantic. But it’s always fun!
Think Aidan’s dog making “friends” with Carrie’s leg in Sex and the City. In Ever After Drew Barrymore’s Cinderella throws apples at the man who has stolen her horse, not realising at the time its Prince Charming himself. In Pret-a-Porter, reporters Julia Roberts and Tim Robbins have accidentally been booked into the same room in a fully-booked hotel. Cute, right?
Along those lines, in my first Harlequin Presents, THE MAGNATE’S INDECENT PROPOSAL, the heroine tripped over her own shoes in a restaurant, ending up in the hero’s helpful arms, and in the ensuing afterglow of all that blending body heat they mix up their coat room tags.
In DATING THE REBEL TYCOON the hero ducks into a dark building in order to escape from having to explain himself to his sister who happens by, only to have to explain himself instead to a strange, shadowy, and very female, figure in the inky blackness.
But by far my favourite is the meet-cute in my latest Harlequin Presents, GETTING RED-HOT WITH THE ROGUE.
When I sat down to start writing GETTING RED-HOT WITH THE ROGUE, as always the story was completely up for grabs. Imagine me sitting in my ugh boots and trakky daks (Aussie for tracksuits pants – I prefer velour if that helps the imagery). In front of me sat a bowl of M&Ms and a cup of decaf coffee (nursing mum here, so no caffeine – heaven help me). Breathless anticipation ensued. In what fabulous way were my hero and heroine going to meet???
I did know who my hero would be as he’d made a brief appearance in DATING THE REBEL TYCOON. Dylan Kelly -– may I pause to say, ‘Yuuuummmmm’ -– is the head of Media Relations for the Kelly Investment Group. The Kellys are Brisbane’s most infamous, most deliciously provocative, most rabidly private, and most wealthy family. As for Dylan — the flat blue stare, the shaggy dark blonde locks, the confident charm, the deep, lazy drawl. What could possibly bring this god down from the comfort of his air-conditioned, ivory tower in the midst of a hut Brisbane summers day?
Well, as it turned out, it was Wynnie. Wynnie and one very particular, shiny, silver and nickel accessory.
The half acre forecourt keeping Kelly Tower clear of the maddening CBD crowds that traversed Brisbane’s hectic George Street had in its north corner a twenty-foot-high, silver, zig-zag sculpture – representing the impressive escalation of fortune securing representation with the Kelly Investment Group ensured.
The sculpture usually stood proud and alone bar a few stray pigeons brave enough to cling to its slick diagonal bars. Today it had been taken over by camera crews and reporters with mini-sound recorders and logo-labelled mikes. That kind of excitement had encouraged a crowd of ten times as many interested onlookers.
No wonder.
From what Dylan Kelly could make out through the sudden ache descending upon his head, the excitement in the reporter’s voice, and Eric wheezing in the doorway, in some kind of crazy protest a woman had handcuffed herself to the zig. Or was it the zag?
Dylan had nothing against handcuffs per say. They had their place in the zeitgeist of the single man. Just not in the middle of a busy work day, not in front of his building, and not when as the head of Media Relations it was his job to make the fact that a crazy person had picked that particular statue to which to attach her daft self seem less interesting than it certainly was.
The crowd parted, and Eric’s friend’s camera slipped into the gap, giving Dylan a better look at the ruination of his afternoon.
The meet-cute launches me into a story, both as a writer and a reader, but watching our heroes and heroines clash, and learn, and see things clearly for the first time as they overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to fall in love is what keeps me coming back for more.
Do you have a favourite meet-cute from a book or movie? Better yet, did you and yours have a cute meet fit for a romance novel?
I promise I’m interested purely conversationally, and I’m not at all trawling for ideas for the book I’m just about to begin 
.
______________________________________________________________________
GETTING RED-HOT WITH THE ROGUE. is out in November across North America or right now from eHarlequin!
http://www.allyblake.com
http://allyblake.blogspot.com
28 Responses to “The Meet-Cute in Getting Red-Hot With the Rogue by Ally Blake”
- 1 Pingback on Oct 29th, 2009 at 1:07 am
Ally,
I love it! What great set ups. I couldn’t agree more about the Meet-Cutes and yours are just too much fun.
As for a favorite- how about 27 Dresses where the wedding reporter gets an eye-full of the two-timing bridesmaid changing her dress in the back of the cab.
Mira
Ally, I thoroughly enjoyed your post! I’ll look forward to reading your latest Meet-Cute!
As for me, the manner in which my husband and I first met was definitely cute but would never qualify for an opening in a Harlequin Presents…I first looked into his gorgeous hazel eyes when he sat down in front of me in seventh grade study hall. We were both twelve years old. I knew then that we were meant to be, but he didn’t figure that out for himself until we were sixteen years old.
After three years of dating, we married and have been together ever since. We celebrated 16 years of marriage this past May.
He’s still my favorite hero!
Trenda
One of my favorite meet-cute is in the holiday film Love Actually between Hugh Grant and his love interest
Ally, my favorite of all your books is Dating the Rebel Tycoon, so I’ve been waiting anxiously for my copy of Red-Hot Rogue. Got it in the mail today. So, guess what I’ll be doing tonight!
Hiya Mira!!!
So nice to see the newest Harlequin PResents author on the block coming over for a visit.
Ah “27 Dresses”. Absolute meet-cute territory. How was he to resist, right?
Ally
Aww Trenda, now how much cuter can you get than meeting your very own hero in study hall
.
Now, I have every surety the beginning of your real life romance could be perfectly wonderful for a Harlequin Presents. First loves reunited make faaabulous romance fodder. I’m writing one right now as we speak!!!! Needless to say they did not get together at 16. Double their ages and we’re about on par
.
I hope you enjoy the rest of GETTING RED-HOT WITH THE ROGUE!
Ally
Ali, oh wow!!! I can’t believe that wasn’t like the first meet-cute I thought of.
I adoooore that storyline in Love Actually. The sexy new Prime Minister meeting his aide, and her dropping so many accidental swear words into the conversation he just can’t help but fall for her on the spot. Heavenly!!!
Now Richard Curtis is a man who knows how to write a wonderful romance. And a giggle to boot.
Ally
Joan! Thanks so much for coming over and saying such nice things about DATING THE REBEL TYCOON.
GETTING RED-HOT WITH THE ROGUE is about Cameron’s big brother Dylan. You certainly don’t need to have read one to read the other but it’s kind of fun following up on old friends, dontcha think? Ah Dylan, how I miss thee. Sigh…
Happy reading!
Ally
Loved your cute-meet in The Magnate Indecent Proposal, Ally! It was a great story that followed.
What about the gorgeous meeting between the H and h in PS I Love You? That was *such* a good scene. Always helps when Gerry B is the hero =)
Robbie, who is a huge fan of Love Actually too. I can’t help but cry when the Beachboys start singing at the end.
I’d never heard of the expression “meet cute” until I watched the movie The Holiday. Not that you need any excuse whatsoever to watch a movie with Jude Law but that is still one of my alltime favourite movies!
I can’t believe you write off the cuff! I love your books and am now even more in awe of how you produce them.
Keep ‘em coming!
Hi Ally,
I remember falling off a horse in front of the most gorgeous stableboy ever. We then spent the next half hour scouring a ditch for my glasses. In the rain. Maybe he thought it was cute (though I doubt it). Me, I was bruised, tonguetied, wet, and couldn’t see him anyway (thus reducing his appeal mightily as I discovered his voice was not chocolate laced velvet as I had supposed but rather helium laced and strangely impatient).
I did not marry him.
Love the cute meet in stories – I think it’s the humour, it reveals character fast.
Love Meet Cutes – have been known to employ a few of them myself, like my heroine Mel who got caught hiding in the hotel bathtub of my hero Jack in The Mile-High Club!
And I adore the sound of Red-Hot Rogue (both the meet-cute … and the red-hot rogue himself). For favourite meet-cutes I’d have to go with a classic and the scene in Gone with the Wind when Scarlett hurls a vase at a mantelpiece and almost beans Rhett who’s hiding behind the sofa:
“You Sir are no gentleman!”
“And you madam are no lady!”
Still makes me smile just thinking about it!
Heidi x
Hey Robbie!
So glad you enjoyed my MAGNATE’S INDECENT PROPOSAL. And I must cry about half a dozen times in Love Actually. My BIG sookie-la-la moment is in the Keira Knightley story when her husband’s bestie confesses his love and walks away. “Enough,” he says to himself. “Enough.”
Okay, off topic but you guys took me there! Show’s what a great story can do.
Ally
Kelly, see now that’s why we can have such a ball doing what we do – we can turn those “wouldn’t it be cool if” moments into a fully fledged love affair! I’m sure your hubby is rather glad it didn’t work out with la stableboy after all
.
And you’re so right about the humour of the meet-cute. It does away with small talk and gets right on down to the good stuff.
Ally
Heidi, now your MILE HIGH CLUB qualifies for a meet-cute like nothing else. It’s one of those “Grrr, I wish I’d thought of that” ones. Makes a girl like me feel the need to up her game
.
xxx
Amanda, *big wave*!
Awww ta for saying such nice things about my books!
I love hearing how other writers write. I have friends who plan to the nth detail which I find amazing! I, though, like to discover my story like a reader would – if I already knew the ending then I don’t think I’d be intrigued enough to write about it!
I think THE HOLIDAY brought the term out into the sunlight. For those who haven’t seen it, Eli Wallach’s character, an old screenwriting ace who befriends Kate Winslet, sum it up thus:
“Say a man and a woman both need something to sleep in and both go to the same men’s pajama department. The man says to the salesman Ted, I just need bottoms, and the woman says, I just need a top. They look at each other and that’s the meet-cute.”
Sigh… Another “wish I’d thought of it” meet cute!
Any more real life “meet cutes”???? Come on, I know you’re out there!
Great post, Ally!
Not sure if this counts as a meet cute or not, but… In the 80s, there was an English band called Splogdenessabounds who did a song called “Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Please”.
Given that I was a barmaid in the uni summer holidays, and I met my DH at work… it’s a standing joke that these were his first words to me. He was also a bit shy, and my colleague noticed that I went a bit pink when he was around, so she and his best friend decided to send us on a blind date.
I was meant to meet him outside the post office. Ha. As if I was going to stand there and get stood up very publicly. So instead I skulked next door outside the record shop, pretending to read the charts. I had no idea that he was going to turn up in a car (as a broke student, I walked or cycled everywhere), and he went round the one-way system in town three times before he spotted me.
But it worked. Twenty-four years later, here we are – and when I came back from London yesterday (took our youngest to see “Grease” in the West End for her birthday), he met me from the train with flowers and the news that he’d cleaned the oven for me. (And he still has those gorgeous blue eyes that make me weak at the knees…)
Ally, I adore your novels as I told ya before and your meet-cute in Getting Red-Hot With The Rouge is so cool. I think I am a life-time meet-cute though as Kelly’s mention of one, it never come up as a beginning of a love story; that’s why I love all of ya writers out there who turn these everyday events into a whole new novel. My last real life meet-cute was at my cousin’s house. She was getting married and we had to go and stay with her for the preparation of the party. At 3 a.m I got out for my late-night-chocolate and went to the kitchen in search for some. I was wearing my fav pink with cute hearts pj and punny slippers. I got the chocolate and went to sit on the big sofa at the livingroom, it was dark and i threw myself on the sofa to find out; too-late that it wasn’t empty!! I just turned and i saw him. Well, a shadow of someone since it was dark so i just said sorry and went running to my room. He was my cousin older brother’s friend.
The End
Hey Ally
Great story – The Magnate’s Indecent Proposal is probably one of my all time fave category romances and a definite MUST-READ-AGAIN-SOON! I have your Rogue on my TBR pile and it sounds like I’m in for another treat.
I absolutely ADORE the cute meet. My fave books open with a cute-meet and most of my wips, start with one too. However, I’m curious as to what the editors think (any lurking?) about meet-cutes because I’ve been warned against them in one rejection and have heard of others who have as well!
Thanks for a great post!! And with three boys under four (whoops five now) I KNOW about the need for planning!! Doesn’t mean I always get it right unfortunately
Rach!
I love the meet-cute! Wish I could write them…
Oh, wait… maybe I did in the current WIP!
Ally stepping up her game. Pfft. Nothing like selling to this line and realizing you gotta get your game on and quick in order to hang with this crowd. The talent pool is amazing! With meet-cutes!
Kate, I’m sorry but your first meeting kind of got squished out of my head by the “flowers” and “cleaned the oven” stuff
.
Now that’s my kind of hero!!!
Hi Doaa!
Now that’s an ideal meet-cute. I love the whole “who is that shadowy, male form in the darkness” thing. I used that very idea in DATING THE REBEL TYCOON. Nothing like hearing a deep male voice, getting the scent of a delicious cologne, relying on the tingles scooting acorss the back of your neck to steer you right before you’ve even seen the guy!
Only my hero and heroine weren’t already in their pyjamas, so you were one step ahead
.
Ally
Big waves to Rachael!!!
So glad you enjoyed my MAGNATE’S INDECENT PROPSAL. Damien was very very hard to let go of. In fact I kept accidentally typing his name when writing the next book too
.
Dylan in GETTING RED-HOT WITH THE ROGUE had the same effect. I’m a sucker for a man in a suit who can sass a sasser. I’m certain that’s not a word but you get what I mean!
Ally
Kimberly – you can’t leave us hanging like that!!!
Hi Guys
I’m having the best time reading your blog Ally.
When I first met my husband, in Glasgow Scotland, I thought he was English taking the P***S out of a Scottish accent. My boss told me he was more Scottish than I was since he’d been born in Oban.
Two weeks later, he asked me to marry him (I obviously made an impression) and I did six months later.
That was thirty-two years ago!! I know, you get less time for murder! Recently he told me he’d never had a boring moment. How I wish I could say the same! (That’s joke by the way.)
Love to you all – and keep typing!!
Christinexx
This is a fantastic blog post Ally! I’ve loved reading about everyone’s real and fictitious meet-cutes. As for me, my favourite would have to be in The Fifth Element, where Milla Jovovich falls through the roof of Bruce Willis’ taxi! It was brilliant, unexpected, and Brucie was heart-meltingly tender towards her. Not quite a traditional romance story, of course, but definitely a meet-cute.
I can’t wait to get my hands on Getting Red-hot with the Rogue!
Madeline