I love a good love story. I think we all do.

In a world where we are surrounded by so many relationships breaking up, couples divorcing after 15-20 years together and bitterness between ex-lovers, it’s refreshing to hear that people still get giddy talking about what actually made them fall in love with someone.

There are so many things that make a woman captivating to a man. And it’s not always her physical beauty. It’s her inner radiance, her uniqueness, her inner light. Most of the time, it’s something she herself doesn’t see as anything special, but it’s the thing that made someone fall hard and fast for her.

Men share what made them fall in love…with past loves and current loves. All remember them with a smile and a sense of nostalgia, and in many cases, a longing for that incredible feeling they first felt when they laid eyes on her:

Paolo: “We met on the dance floor. I was the only one dancing until I turned around to see her dancing alone and that’s when our two magnetic fields pulled us together. I fell in love with her smile and her strength. She made me realize my potential and ​continues to help me break out of my shell every day. She can command a room the moment she steps into it but can be vulnerable and compassionate all at the same time.”

Jemson: “Being with her was so easy from the very beginning. She would make over an hour drive after work just to see me and we would watch movies, talk and laugh together. I fell for her because she opened my eyes to what real love was supposed to be. She does things without me even asking her. She just knows what I need without me saying a word.”

Dan: “I respected her so much. She was brilliant, gorgeous and genuinely gracious and kind to everyone she crossed paths with. She sat down with my grandmother, who was the toughest nut to crack in the world and had her smiling from ear to ear while holding her hand. She has this effect on everyone. It’s amazing and real. I believe she touches everyone she meets. She’s the best person I’ve ever met.”

Paul: “Her easy-going personality and sense of humor. We got along from the start with no effort whatsoever. It was just easy.”

Dean: “She was so calming. Her voice. The way she explained and viewed the world. I needed that calmness. She made me feel like the world was okay. It didn’t matter that I had work the next day or had to get up early. I never wanted to stop talking with her. After the first night I met her, I called my mom and said I met the girl I wanted to marry. She was and still is just perfect. Someone I learn from and grow from. She makes me a better person.”

Chris: “She was so persistent. She pursued me hard and that impressed me. She’s spontaneous and that has kept me on my toes!”

Craig: “When I first met her, with the first hug, I could tell immediately that she had an amazing heart. As I got to know her better, I was able to actually see how beautiful she really was inside and out.”

Logan: “Her huge heart. She has the biggest heart of anyone I’d ever met. She cares so much about everyone she meets but at the same time she’s a total firecracker. I love her spunkiness and that she always goes after what she wants in life. She inspires me to be a better man.”

Christopher: “What made me fall in love with her was when I realized that she made my life better. And when we weren’t together, the very thought of her brightened my day. People noticed a change in me which was all because of her.”

Jason: “What made me fall the hardest for someone in the past was the fact that she made no attempt to hide her flaws. Instead, she would play with them and even flaunt them in a way that magically drew me closer. If she was late, she’d come up with a funny reason why. If her place was dirty, it was so I could watch her clean in front of me. She would often tease me and keep me on my toes. Too many women worry about being perceived as high maintenance, but as Allison Armstrong says: ‘It’s okay to be high maintenance as long as you’re high performance!’ And she was and I loved her, even though she was the most difficult woman I ever dated.”

Hearing from these men what made them fall in love was truly heart-warming. It’s beautiful to see that men are as vulnerable, romantic and as taken by us as we are by them although they may not express it or show it in the same ways women do. The reality is, they love just as passionately, intensely and wildly as we do.

“He looked at her like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time.”

Her and his story: