In honor of Valentine's Day, The News' projects team set out to collect love stories around Boston. Nine couples shared the stories of how they met and what makes their love special. Check out each story by clicking on the squares below:  

Maria Zambrano and Brooks Anderson met on Hinge, though Anderson said he had invited Zambrano on a first date four times before she finally agreed.  “She finally asked ‘When are you gonna take me out?’ because at one point I just refused to ask anymore,” Anderson...

When Angela and Harry Mains first met, they were both “miserable.”  The two had both been in previous relationships, but Harry said it took just one conversation with Angela to change his outlook on life. “I was actually talking to somebody instead of just listening,”...

Gabby Valente and Andrew Rowland first met six years ago at Stonehill College.  While at a popular Stonehill party spot, they hit it off instantly. Rowland asked Valente out on a first date, but she ghosted him soon after, as she was not emotionally ready.   “It wasn’t...

Heidi Peterson met her fiance while gearing up to guide a group of incoming college freshmen on a backpacking trip.  While taking the required class for student guides, she thought she was randomly paired with Tom Troxel, a fellow undergraduate at Stanford University.  “The...

Wearing matching boots and wrestling with Summer, a 4-year-old golden retriever, Hannah Orujev and Josh Zak recounted their eight-year-long love story. Zak and Orujev both grew up in western Massachusetts and met at an ice skating and laser tag party for a Jewish youth organization...

Brianna and Billy Gurney’s first date was a Red Sox game at Fenway Park — a perfect choice for a high school couple who had lived in the Boston area their whole lives.  At just 16 and 18 years old, a mutual friend introduced Brianna and Billy. Despite attending different...

Stephen Howe and Michaela Harkins first locked eyes waiting for class registration in a Bates College auditorium and have been together ever since.  Harkins knew Howe through a mutual friend who had a crush on her at the time.  “He was always described as mysterious,”...

Gemma Guerrazzi and Evan Gillis share a different kind of love story — a best friendship. The two met when they happened to be in the same group at Emerson College’s accepted students day. At the time, the final decision of where the two would end up for school was still...

Yashu and Chaitra Mittal first met seven years ago while working together at the same company in India. “My office was in Delhi and hers was in Bangalore which are two different cities in India, and I went to the Bangalore office for some time which is where I met her,”...