The Real Love Story

When Susan Hable went to New York City in December 1999, she had a lot to do. So when her friend told her one morning that there was a man she wanted her to meet, Susan wasn't interested. But when she saw the man, Susan suddenly wished she had at least combed her hair. "He was a vision of cleanliness and perfection, and I was like Pig Pen," she says. But to Peter Smith, a partner in a New York law firm, she was anything but that. "I looked at her," he says. "I can't overstate it. I understood what people mean by love at first sight." They had three dates that week. By March, three months after meeting, they were engaged. Outwardly, they had their differences. He was a single father in Los Angeles; she was a New Yorker with a glamorous, globe-trotting job as a fashion stylist. They met in August 2012, during a marathon dinner date orchestrated by a mutual friend while JoJo was in L.A. for work. "I was dumbstruck," says Eric, the president of a real estate development and investment firm, of their connection. "She's beautiful, but there's also a warmth to her that was intoxicating."

They talked for hours, and after Eric showed JoJo photos of his kids, who'd lost their mother to cancer the previous year, "I felt like they—and Eric—were mine already," JoJo says. "Everything was so natural." Outwardly, they had their differences. He was a single father in Los Angeles; she was a New Yorker with a glamorous, globe-trotting job as a fashion stylist. They met in August 2012, during a marathon dinner date orchestrated by a mutual friend while JoJo was in L.A. for work. "I was dumbstruck," says Eric, the president of a real estate development and investment firm, of their connection. "She's beautiful, but there's also a warmth to her that was intoxicating."

They talked for hours, and after Eric showed JoJo photos of his kids, who'd lost their mother to cancer the previous year, "I felt like they—and Eric—were mine already," JoJo says. "Everything was so natural."Outwardly, they had their differences. He was a single father in Los Angeles; she was a New Yorker with a glamorous, globe-trotting job as a fashion stylist. They met in August 2012, during a marathon dinner date orchestrated by a mutual friend while JoJo was in L.A. for work. "I was dumbstruck," says Eric, the president of a real estate development and investment firm, of their connection. "She's beautiful, but there's also a warmth to her that was intoxicating."

They talked for hours, and after Eric showed JoJo photos of his kids, who'd lost their mother to cancer the previous year, "I felt like they—and Eric—were mine already," JoJo says. "Everything was so natural."Outwardly, they had their differences. He was a single father in Los Angeles; she was a New Yorker with a glamorous, globe-trotting job as a fashion stylist. They met in August 2012, during a marathon dinner date orchestrated by a mutual friend while JoJo was in L.A. for work. "I was dumbstruck," says Eric, the president of a real estate development and investment firm, of their connection. "She's beautiful, but there's also a warmth to her that was intoxicating."

They talked for hours, and after Eric showed JoJo photos of his kids, who'd lost their mother to cancer the previous year, "I felt like they—and Eric—were mine already," JoJo says. "Everything was so natural."Outwardly, they had their differences. He was a single father in Los Angeles; she was a New Yorker with a glamorous, globe-trotting job as a fashion stylist. They met in August 2012, during a marathon dinner date orchestrated by a mutual friend while JoJo was in L.A. for work. "I was dumbstruck," says Eric, the president of a real estate development and investment firm, of their connection. "She's beautiful, but there's also a warmth to her that was intoxicating."

They talked for hours, and after Eric showed JoJo photos of his kids, who'd lost their mother to cancer the previous year, "I felt like they—and Eric—were mine already," JoJo says. "Everything was so natural."