I had a fun visit with a friend last night. She’s single and I always enjoy hearing about her dating experiences. They’re not always as much fun for her as they are for me, of course. You remember what dating is like, right? There are far more “hits” than “misses.” So plenty of her anecdotes involve awkward moments, wild mis-matches, and dates that wear out their welcome.

But- as amusing as those stories are—I don’t listen to them simply for a laugh. No, I’m listening and hoping all the time that one of these days I’ll hear about a date with The One. Can you remember hearing that thrill in a friend’s voice when they’ve met The One? You might see it in their eyes or detect it in a dreamy sigh that’s never issued forth from a cynical friend’s mouth before. But you know. You can just tell when they’ve met that right one. And it’s in the hope of hearing that thrill in a friend’s voice that we wade through all the other stories—the misses.

It occurred to me that’s why we read romance, too. Don’t we love the near misses on the way to the happily ever after? That’s what makes it fun when a heroine stumbles across an old boyfriend. Or if we meet the heroine on a date with Mr. Wrong. We hang in there, waiting. Knowing the right one is around the corner, eager to see her find the romance she deserves.

I’m not sure if my friend had found The One yet. But I know the right guy is just around the corner. Romance has a way of finding us, usually when we’re not looking for it. And hearing all about how it happened is a story that we- as romance readers- never tire of.

**Have you had a conversation with a friend where you could tell she’d met The One? Do you remember vividly a moment when you knew a friend, sister, daughter, widowed mom had found a great romantic prospect? Or do you have a near miss dating story to share where you knew you were on a mis-match date within moments of your evening getting underway? Share some dating fun with me on the boards today and I’ve got a fun holiday haul for one random poster including my December book, Under Wraps, Sam Hunter’s fantastic I’ll Be Yours for Christmas, and a holiday ornament for your tree!

I’m currently working on a Blaze where the heroine goes on a dozen dates, so when I saw a review of Undateable: 311 Things Guys Do That Guarantee They Won’t Be Dating or Having Sex, I checked it out. While I was interested to see if the authors’ deal-breakers matched my deal-breakers, I really wanted to avoid having the hero commit any no-nos. The authors, Ellen Rakieten and Anne Coyle, rank men’s transgressions as Red Flags, Storm Warnings, Not Getting Any, and Kiss of Death. Examples of Red Flags are black jeans, crocs, cell phones clipped to the waist, ugly, gray sweatpants, and vanity plates. Storm Warnings are jorts (jean shorts–who knew?), being overly cologned, having a soul patch, fanny packs, shaving your chest, rearranging your junk in public, and playing Dungeons and Dragons. As for Not Getting Any, we have tube socks, bike shorts, holiday sweaters, double denim, open mouth breathing, and owning a rodent. Kiss of Death transgressions include wearing tighty whities, hair plugs, attending a medieval festival, bringing a baseball glove to a professional game, mesh tops, and guylights.

Some of these made me laugh and some were very familiar. Gleefully, I read the article aloud to my husband, who hates what he calls “arbitrary” rules. A little while later, I heard him rummaging around and he emerged from the closet with the belt clip to his cell phone. He made sure I was watching as he clipped the phone to the waistband of his jorts. He also wore tube socks and a tee-shirt on the storm-warning list. Oh, and there was a shadow beneath his lip–a one-day-old soul patch. I just looked at him and said, “No.” He laughed and left the house in his car with the vanity plates. He was probably going to shop for crocs. Later, he changed into black jeans. Also bike shorts, but he was actually biking. At least he didn’t bring home a rodent. Or a girlfriend.

Clearly, I was blinded by love when I was dating, so I don’t know about the 311 things. Sure, berating the wait staff would make a guy undateable for me, but what’s wrong with black jeans?

What makes a guy undateable for you?