I appreciate a good question.
Many times, when you ask another, “What is love?” (and what you seek is a definition), the last thing you can expect is a definition. They will begin, “Love is like . . .”, or, “Love is when . . .” They might wax either philosophical or poetic, but neither of those is very precise. They might offer up emotional examples that take on the wide-eyed, whispered reverence for euphoric states – and in the end, you will always sense the absence of the well defined.
Love is neither an emotion or an affectation. Those are gray areas in in individuals who have not labored toward clarity and definition of self.
Love is actually less emotional than mental (and here I mean mental as a state of willful communication.) Love is a contractual agreement between two or more parties. A promise of actions is accompanied by the conditions under which the promise is deemed justifiable.
An example of this is when Jesus told his disciples that they would be his friends so long as they did what he told them to do. (John 15:14)
Love is always an intelligent choice. One does not ‘fall’ into love, as that entails a failure of will and choice.
As to the soul, try to think of it in terms of an intelligent identity. While the words we speak and write in our communications with others are tangible enough, it is neither of those but rather the intangible concepts behind them that are communicated. I can say to you, “beauty” and neither the spoken nor written version will enter your mind. The concept will be received and incorporated, however. The physical brain can be impaired, and the senses can be dysfunctional, and still the intangible concept will connect each intangible identity to the other.