[Note from Frolic: Today, we welcome author Dylann Crush back to the site! Her latest hero has some perfectly simple date ideas for you. Take it away, Dylann!]
Who doesn’t like being swept off their feet for a night on the town? Sharing a glamourous evening out with your significant other or someone you’re just getting to know can be a magical experience. But what if your town doesn’t have a five-star restaurant? Or live music venues? Or even a movie theater? That’s the problem facing Jasper Taylor, the hero in my most recent release, Crazy About A Cowboy.
If Jasper wants to save his family’s generations-old pecan orchard, he has to take on the role of hospitality host during his hometown’s run for the title of Most Romantic Small Town in Texas. That means showing visiting beauty queen Delilah Stone around the small town of Ido, and pulling out all the stops to find romance in some non-traditional places. Jasper gets off to a rocky start, but since it’s a romance novel, you know he’ll find his happy-ever-after.
But what about the rest of us? If you’re tired of the dinner and a movie routine, or don’t have the cash for a big night out, there are still plenty of awesome options available to spend time with your sweetie or potential significant other. To get you started, I asked Jasper for some advice, and he gave me his top five suggestions for non-traditional romantic dates.
Learn something new.
There are all kinds of opportunities available nowadays from painting classes to stand-up paddle board lessons. Trying something neither of you has done before levels the playing field and creates a new experience for both of you. You might find your date is an expert at axe throwing. Or you may have an uncovered knack for goat yoga. Trying something new will let you see how your date handles learning a new skill. Does he get frustrated and give up right away? Does she give it her all with a smile on her face? Who knows, you just might find something you both love and create a new tradition.
Heat up the kitchen.
If you want to get to know someone quickly, there’s no better way than by cooking together. Not only will you find out about their food preferences, you’ll also get a glimpse of how they work their way around the kitchen. Have they mastered the chiffonade cut when it comes to herbs? Been hiding a talent for juicing lemons? When you cook together, not only do you eventually (hopefully) get to eat the fruits of your labor, but opportunities for flirting abound. You can go for the easy jokes about cucumbers and melons or level up and see if you can work in puns about boiling points and foodgasms.
Take advantage of the seasons.
No matter where you live, Mother Nature provides plenty of chances to get out and do something seasonal. Maybe you can pick strawberries in early summer or find an orchard to gather apples in the fall. You might visit a local pumpkin patch where you can pick your own pumpkins then head home and see who can carve the funniest face. If you live somewhere where it snows, pull out the sled and head for the hills then go out for hot cocoa or set up a hot cocoa bar with all the fixings at home. In the summer you can pack a picnic and take a bike ride to a scenic location where you can spend the afternoon staring up at the clouds and getting to know each other. Being outside, spending time in nature, will let you know if your guy or gal shares the same love (or lack of love) of the great outdoors as you.
Go retro.
Spend an evening watching your favorite movies from when you were kids and sharing a big bowl of popcorn. If you’re both gamers, pull out one of the games you used to play when you had plenty of free time and see how many levels you can pass together. If your town has an arcade, you can challenge your date to a video game showdown and spend an afternoon or evening trying to best each other at the classics. Up the ante by picking something the “loser” has to do for the “winner.” Getting a glimpse into your date’s past can go a long way into figuring out whether or not you want a future.
Be a tourist.
Even in the tiniest towns, there’s something to see. If there’s a point of interest neither of you have visited before, make a plan to check it out. You might find yourselves on a walking tour of a haunted historic district, or in line to visit the world’s largest (insert strange item no one cares about here). If your town’s so small there’s literally nowhere you haven’t visited, take turns visiting your favorite spots. Is it an ice cream shop you used to visit as a kid? A local café? A dock where you used to spend summer afternoons fishing? By seeing your town with fresh eyes or through the eyes of your significant other, you’ll probably learn a lot about your date and maybe a little about yourself, too.
Hopefully that gives you a few new ideas on how to spend some simple, romantic time with your sweetie or potential love interest. If you want to find out what Jasper does to convince the beauty queen judge Ido should win the title, check out Crazy About A Cowboy. And if you have other date ideas you’ve enjoyed, please share them in the comments. Jasper and his brothers are always looking for suggestions on how to romance the women they love. XOXO
About the Author:
USA Today bestselling author Dylann Crush writes contemporary romance with sizzle, sass, heart, and humor. A true romantic, she loves her heroines spunky and her heroes super sexy. When she’s not dreaming up steamy storylines, she can be found sipping a margarita and searching for the best Tex-Mex food in the Upper Midwest. You can find her at www.DylannCrush.com.
Crazy About A Cowboy by Dylann Crush, out now!
Local cowboy Jasper Taylor has to decide if it’s more important to help his hometown of Ido, Texas win a contest or for him to win the heart of the woman he loves.
The little town of Ido, Texas, is up against some big competition. With the state tourism department on a search for the most romantic town in Texas, Ido is pulling out all the stops to win the title. Leading the effort is the newly appointed hospitality host Jasper Taylor. If he can secure the honor for Ido, he’ll be able to hang onto his family’s land.
But when the reigning Miss Lovin’ Texas and celebrity judge, Delilah Stone, rolls into town, she isn’t exactly welcomed with open arms. Delilah’s ready to put her beauty queen days behind her, and the only thing standing in her way is spending the next thirty days in Ido. It should be an easy gig, but someone in town is tired of all of the recent publicity. Somehow everything that ought to go right is suddenly going wrong.
Now it’s up to Jasper to convince Delilah to give Ido another chance by showing her just how romantic the small town can be…without losing his own heart in the process.
