Can You Find LOVE - Use a Map/GPS! by Marianne Stephens

I thought I'd skip going into the boring details of checking road maps...don't you use a GPS now?...and branch off to a different tangent on this.

Let's see...read a road map and find your way somewhere. Isn't the journey to LOVE kinda like that? Don't you have to follow a "path", go in a certain "direction", to find true love?

Romance books use a road map/path/directions to get their heroines to their heroes. It's called a PLOT...and it's never an easy journey. There are always bumps in the road, detours, obstacles, slowdowns, wrong turns...just as you might find if following a map to some unknown destination.

Usually, you manage to find your way...just as our heroines manage to find that "happily-ever-after" ending despite all the setbacks. Flat tire? Run out of gas? Or, Hero's ex-wife shows up to create havoc? Heroine thinks hero is cheating on her? All detours of some type. A road map may not be able to help sometimes, but a crafty plot written to guarantee happiness can set the hero and heroine back on course to romance and love. 

Why don't we send our heroes and heroines on a fantasy journey using a road map and find "LOVE"?

How many cities in the United States are called "Love"? I did some searching on the Internet and here's some that I found:

Love, AZ
Love, IL
Love, KY
Love, MS
Love, TX
Love, VA

Now, you can also find variations for the word "Love" in cities around the country:

Lovers Leap, CA (tragic idea!)                                    Lover, PA
Love Canal, NY                                                           Loving, GA
Love Hill, AL                                                               Loving, KY
Lovejoy, GA                                                                 Loving, NM
Loveladies, NJ                                                              Loving, OK
Lovelady, NC                                                                Loving, TX
Lovelady, TX                                                                Loveland, CO
Love Lady, TN                                                              Loveland, IA
Love Lake, MO                                                             Loveland, OK
Lovely, KY                                                                    Loveland, WA
Loveless, AL (sad!)                                                       Loveland, OH
Love Point, MD                                                             Loveland Park, OH
Loveville, MD                                                               Loves Corner, IL
Loveville, TN                                                                Loves Park, IL

Most of those sound like interesting places to check out...do they live up to their names? Does "LOVE" define each city and hold some type of special magic for those seeking romance? Maybe I should have checked "Romance" for city names. Or, things to do with love and romance.

I actually did find a couple that might interest you. How about Horneytown, NC? Or, Romance, AK? And then there's my favorite, Intercourse, PA.

I've actually been to Intercourse more than once. Quaint little Amish city...mostly a tourist spot. Will you put that on your list of places to visit? Check your road map (or let your GPS find it for you!).

Story idea: What if I have my heroine visit cities with "Love" in their names, while looking for "Mr. Right"?

Hmm...sounds like a good idea!

http://www.mariannestephens.net

http://www.romancebooks4us.com

Photos: Flickr: Andii, Amanda "Bake It Pretty", lorigami's photostreams.
Also: Mapquest: Intercourse, PA