Shannon here: Kelly Irvin shares insight into how her real-life romance inspired her latest Amish Romance, Matters of the Heart. Comment or answer the question in this post to enter the drawing for a print copy, U.S. only. Deadline: July 27th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Kelly:
Finding common ground, when opposites attract by Kelly Irvin
Trope is a word that gets thrown around a lot in writers’ circles. To be totally honest, I’m not exactly sure what it means. Something about themes or storylines you run into all the time in books, TV shows, and movies. What I do know is, that the trope in my Amish romance, Matters of the Heart, is “opposites attract.” It’s one of my favorites.
Probably because my husband and I are total opposites. Truly that’s not an exaggeration. He never reads, he loves action movies or stupid comedy movies. He loves classic rock n’ roll. He likes a spotless, neat, everything-in-its-place house. Me? I read fiction constantly. I love movies with depth and meaning. My favorite music genres are Christian and country. I’m a bit of a slob—but not terribly. I love theater and Broadway is on my bucket list.
It doesn’t matter. Because we fit together. We just do. For thirty-six years of marriage, we’ve made it work.
That’s what gives me hope for Declan Miller and Bethel King in Matters of the Heart. Declan loves being the center of attention. Not in a bad way. This is a good quality in an auctioneer. Declan and his brothers work for his dad in an auctioneering business started by his grandfather. The Amish didn’t used to allow men to become auctioneers. In particular, they weren’t allowed to use microphones and sound systems powered by electricity. That has changed. Now they use sound systems hooked up to generators because it’s really the only way to successfully call an auction.
Declan never feels more content than when he’s standing on the auction platform, microphone in hand, calling an auction, all gazes upon him. It’s who he is. Still in a family of auctioneers, he has to find his own niche. So he takes it a step farther. He tells jokes. All the time and with great zest.
Everyone loves it—almost everybody.
Bethel does mind an occasional joke. But she spends most of her time taking care of brothers who have a rare form of muscular dystrophy. And when she’d not caring for them, she’s working at the nursery in town to earn money to help pay medical bills and feed her family of nine.
Bethel takes life seriously. She doesn’t have a choice. The boys’ disease is the result of a genetic mutation that could be passed on to her children. She needs a man who understands what that means and is willing to take on that challenge.
And yet. When Declan and Bethel get together, something clicks. The air sizzles. The people around them seem to fade into the background. His jokes make her smile—despite herself. Declan wants to make her smile. But he also wants her to know he can be serious. Then the opportunity he never wanted presents itself. He finds himself on a precipice where he could lose the life he loves. The jokester finds himself in a situation where nothing could be more serious.
That’s all I can tell you for now. I don’t want to spoil the story for you. Just know that circumstances can bring opposites together and give them a chance to find common ground. No matter how different they may be. Once they realize that, there’s no keeping them apart!
Here’s an excerpt from Matters of the Heart:
“Watch where you’re going, sei so gut.”
The entreaty delivered in a soft, concerned tone brought Declan to a halt. He released the dolly handle long enough to shove his hat back and wipe at his face with the back of his hand. Bethel King stood in his path, both hands on her brother Robbie’s wheelchair handles. Her younger sister Claire pushed brother Judah’s chair. The younger kids’ clothes were bedraggled and their faces unhappy.
Bethel’s clothes and bonnet were soaked. Her lilac cotton dress clung to her pleasing form. Yes, the dress’s hem was black with mud, but her cheeks were red with exertion and her eyes the color of hot cocoa were dark and serious. She was still as pretty as she had been during their days in school together. Declan put both hands in the air. “Sorry I didn’t see you there. After you.”
Nerves zinged from the tip of his nose to his toes. As usual. Whenever he saw Bethel he turned into a blathering buffoon.
“It’s okay. I just didn’t want you to run into my brieder.” Bethel strove to move Robbie’s chair forward. The wheels sank deeper into the mud. She lifted the handles and heaved. The chair lurched forward. “We’ll get out of your way.”
Despite doing her best to deliver on that promise, she wasn’t able to move the wheelchair more than a few inches. She had plenty of practice pushing her brothers’ wheelchairs. Robbie, eleven, and Judah, ten, lived with a rare form of muscular dystrophy mostly seen in Plain families. They’d been stricken almost simultaneously as four- and five-year-olds.
“I can’t, Schweschder.” Claire, a skinnier, shorter version of Bethel, struggled valiantly, but Judah’s chair remained mired. She glanced at Declan. “Es dutt mer. Could you give me a push?”
“Don’t be sorry. I’m happy to help—”
“I’ll do it.” Bethel let go of her charge’s chair and hustled back to Claire’s. “Declan has expensive equipment that shouldn’t get wet.”
Everyone in the district knew the Millers’ sound systems had been stolen the previous year. They’d only recently raised enough money through fundraisers and generous donations from their Plain community to replace them.
“The speakers are covered. They’re in no danger.” Here was his chance to do something nice for a girl—now a woman—who was known for her kindness, but never seemed to warm up to Declan. Ignoring the shmuck, shmuck sucking of his boots, Declan waded over to Judah’s chair. He bent low, so as not to tower over the boy. “I reckon I needed a bath, how about you?”
“Just in time for church tomorrow. I wish I’d brought soap.” Judah pushed back his slicker’s hood and grinned. “Mamm says it doesn’t count unless I use soap.”
“Es dutt mer, I can’t help you there.” Declan straightened and reached for the handles. His hand collided with Bethel’s smaller one. She startled as if a boogey man had popped out from behind the closest tree. Why would she be so jumpy around him? He summoned a reassuring smile. “I don’t bite, and I don’t have cooties—contrary to what my schweschdre say.”
“I don’t want to put you out. We’re fine.”
“You can’t push both of them. You push Robbie. I’ll get Judah. We’ll be a team.”
Could she read between the lines? Did she even consider in the farthest corner of her mind what it would be like to be a two-person team with Declan?
It was so unlikely. Bethel had been the smartest girl in the class—in the school—but she never let her head swell. When the other kids played baseball at recess, she sat on the sidelines reading a book, pausing to cheer them on at exactly the right time.
He became a base-hitting machine just to earn her cheers. And she had been generous with them. Sometimes she even jumped up and clapped as he ran the bases. Hearing her yell, “Way to go, Declan,” had spurred him on to more than one headfirst slide into home plate.
She worried her lower lip with her teeth for a few seconds. “What about your equipment?”
“It’s in its covering and then double-wrapped with heavy plastic. Plus folks around here are far more likely to push it to the trailer than take it.”
Her forehead wrinkled. She nodded as if coming to an important decision. “Danki. We really appreciate your help.”
A chance to be helpful. Bethel always seemed so competent, so self-contained. She didn’t need anyone’s help, let alone Declan’s. Head bent against the wind and pelting rain, he followed her lead toward the line of buggies, his hands tight on the chair handles. “Knock, knock.”
Judah yelled over the wind, “Who’s there?”
“Oink, oink.”
“Oink, oink who?”
“Make up your mind. Are you a pig or an owl?”
Judah and Robbie chortled. Bethel, her shoulders hunched over the wheelchair, didn’t seem to hear.
Declan kept up a steady stream of jokes as they slogged across the field, across the muddy road, and into the pasture where the buggies were parked in the sprigs of grass foolish enough to sprout so early in the spring season. Wasn’t entertaining the boys another way of helping? Plus laughter was excellent free medicine.
Fortunately, the King buggy was close to the road. Her voice high and breathless, rain dripping from her bonnet and nose, Bethel waved at Declan. “I’m sure Claire can get it from here. Danki.”
“I’ve come this far—”
“Really, we’re fine.”
“Was it the jokes?”
“Nee, of course not. They were . . . funny.” She sputtered. “The boys love silly jokes.”
Declan swiveled. Claire lagged behind by several yards. She had a strange waddle-like walk. “What do you think, Claire?”
“I can get it from here.” She didn’t sound convinced, but she marched forward. “Danki.”
A gust of wind knocked Declan back a step. A fit of coughing overcame him. He hunched over. Between the wind and the cough, he couldn’t breathe.
“Go, go, you need to get out of this wind.” Bethel took the wheelchair handles. “Go home and have a cup of hot tea with plenty of honey and lemon. Sit by the fire.”
“I’ll be fine.” Bethel had enough on her plate without worrying about Declan. He sought a more serious tone—she seemed to prefer serious. “I promise. You get yourself and these buwe home and do the same.”
“Go!”
“Going.” Declan turned. Having his back to the wind would help. He needed to skedaddle before Dad found the abandoned speakers. He picked up speed. His boots encountered a wet, slick clump of grass. They slid out from under him.
Whomp. He landed flat on his back, cold rain running into his nostrils and open mouth. Not great. Not great at all. Gasping for air like a stunned fish, he stared up at the clouds. Two of them looked like old men with long gray beards grinning down at him.
“Ach, are you okay? Are you hurt?”
Bethel’s concerned face appeared over him, along with Claire’s. The rain dripping from their bonnets joined the deluge threatening to drown Declan.
His back and behind hurt.
But not as much as his pride. Or was it his dignity? So much for impressing Bethel with his strength and dexterity or whatever else it took to get her brothers squared away.
“Knock, knock.”
Frowning, Bethel swiped rain from her face. “I’m serious. Are you hurt?”
Too late to backtrack now. “Knock, knock.”
She shook her head. Rain sluiced down her face. Claire had no such compunction. She jumped in. “Who’s there?”
“Pecan.”
“Pecan who?”
“Pecan someone your own size.”
Question for Readers: Do you believe in “love at first sight?” Why or why not? Have you experienced it?
About Kelly: Bestselling and award-winning author Kelly Irvin has published more than thirty books and novellas, including women’s fiction, romantic suspense and Amish romance novels. Publishers Weekly says of her latest release, Matters of the Heart “Irvin gracefully braids together themes of sorrow and faith with a sweet opposites-attract romance.” Irvin worked as a newspaper reporter before spending more than twenty years in public relations. She now writes fiction full-time. She lives with her husband, photographer Tim Irvin, in San Antonio. They are the parents of two children, four grandchildren, and two ornery cats. Learn more & connect:
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About the book – Matters of the Heart: 
He’s the joking auctioneer of the community. She’s the serious nursery worker who cares for her siblings. What future could they have together?
Declan Miller has always had feelings for Bethel King. Back when they were in school, she was the smartest girl in the class—and, in his opinion, by far the prettiest. Now the two of them are in their twenties and while the attraction is still there, Declan is as hesitant as ever to let Bethel know how he feels. His wisecracking personality covers a heart that’s afraid of rejection.
Bethel can’t deny that Declan is nice, funny, and pleasing to the eye—a perfect match if you asked any girl in the area. But marrying Bethel would also mean marrying into her family. Two of her younger siblings have muscular dystrophy, and her sister Claire is now showing signs of having the same disease. Fiercely loyal and nurturing, Bethel has promised herself that she will always care for her family members. And with a good chance that she carries the gene and could pass it on to her children, Bethel has tried to convince herself that marriage and family just aren’t in the cards for her.
When a devastating diagnosis of his own turns Declan’s world upside down, Bethel is the friend he looks to for understanding, compassion, and a realistic outlook. As they share their dreams and fears and grow together in faith, a bond begins to develop between the two. Perhaps their combination of optimistic extrovert and thoughtful introvert really isn’t such a bad thing—perhaps it’s actually a part of God’s beautiful design.
Declan Miller is the joking auctioneer of his Amish community. Bethel King is a serious caregiver for siblings coping with a degenerative disease. Yet every time their paths cross, the sparks fly. Is there a future together for them?
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Come back July 23rd for Sara Jameson!
I absolutely believe in “love at first sight”. I had my first date with my husband in October of 1979, engaged in November and married in June 1980. Been together ever since. We are also total opposites. He is a night owl, me an early bird. He likes to listen to music while reading, I like it quiet.
I love it. Sounds so familiar. We met in December and married in February. Went it’s right, it’s right! lol
I don’t know that I believe in Love at first sight. I do believe you can feel a draw to a person that makes you want to perhaps consider getting to see the person again. But instant love would be hard. I’d need to be watching for cues of their character for sure to make that assessment.
I understand being cautious. After all, those marriage vows are for life!
Yes I believe in love at first sight. I fell in love with my husband the first time I saw him. We have been married 46 years and I would marry him all over again. We are also opposites. He doesn’t like to read and I love to read. We hardly ever like the same movies. He could listen to music 24/7 , the louder the better. I like music but I don’t want to hear it all the time and surely not blasting. This is just a few of our differences. But we make it work.
I understand the thing about music. Tim likes to blast music while we clean house (we share the duties) and I prefer background music or no music at all. I like to hear myself think. LOL.
maybe possible
Yes i beleave in love at first sight .I meat my husbandc40 +years ago .We didnt get married till 20 years ago. We are different than day light and dark.We are deeply in love. I love your books.
That’s so wonderful Ernestine. I love the way you describe it. I’m so glad you like my books!
I love sports, my husband can take or leave them. I love my bird watching. Him not so much. He is more of a neat freak than I am. I want a clean house, but not as picky about it as he is.
We will celebrate our 49 Wedding Anniversary next month. So I’m guessing we do have enough things in common to keep us happy and in love. lol!
Wow. 49 years. Congratulations! Tim is the neat freak at our house too. He is super picky. I’m not a slob, but I don’t worry about a few crumbs on the floor!
Maybe, but I have never experienced it so I don’t really know.
Though I have never experienced it for myself, I do believe that love at first sight is possible.
Good for you, Cherie. Sometimes people want to think something isn’t possible because they haven’t personally experienced it. I like to keep an open mind and view what’s happening with others!
I have a winner! Doris Lankford won the drawing. I appreciate Kelly for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.