Here’s a romance trope you don’t read every day: amnesia. Or maybe we’ve read it a hundred times, and just don’t remember!
Okay, bad joke.
In the amnesia trope, the couple has already met, fallen in love, and sometimes even married before the story starts. But then something happens, and one or the other of them falls/ hits his or her head/ is in an accident, and they cannot remember the other person. She — let’s decide on the female just to keep it simpler, but it could be either character — may not recall ever seeing her husband before. She can’t remember how they met, why they fell in love, or anything about their relationship before the mind-shattering event that caused the amnesia.
Her husband, of course, remembers everything, and he is blindsided that she does not remember him. At all. He loves her, but she treats him like a stranger, and he needs to win her heart all over again. He’s terrified that, this time, she won’t choose him.
Let’s toss in a twist. What if her husband remembers the events that happened prior to the accident? Events that prove their life was not exactly rosy, that they’d grown apart, or maybe even worse. So… not only is he worried she won’t choose him (again) but he panics that all the innocence they’ve rediscovered as they get to know each other again will be undone.
As soon as she remembers.
And, of course, she will.
A good author strings the reader along, building the overwhelming sense of doom as the heroine begins to regain fragments of her memory. When will she remember everything? And what will she do with that knowledge when she does? How will this potential train wreck play out?
Our own Deb Kastner did this masterfully in Her Forgotten Cowboy, which released a few weeks ago from Love Inspired. She blogged about it at Inspy Romance last month.
Tanner is blindsided to see his wife at a community event six months after she’d left him without so much as a note. He bolts through the crowd to her side, calls her name, and grabs her arm, but the expression on her face backs him up a step. It’s like she’s looking through him. Like she doesn’t know who he is.
And she’s pregnant.
That’s all in the first scene of Her Forgotten Cowboy, along with a few of Tanner’s memories about the deep depression Rebecca had fallen into after their daughter’s stillbirth. So we get why seeing her swollen belly is a sucker-punch to him. Still in the first chapter, we find out that Rebecca’s recently been in an accident. Though she’s been told she was married and separated, she doesn’t remember why.
But Tanner knows.
What a great context for a sweet second-chances romance with the amnesia backdrop! I read this story last weekend and enjoyed every minute of it.
Psst… I just remembered (haha) that Jolene Navarro has an amnesia romance coming out soon, too! The Texan’s Surprise Return. Definitely going to have to read that one when it releases!
“Is that you? You’re… you’re alive.”
For three years, Xavier De La Rosa’s family thought he was dead. Now Xavier is back home in Texas for Christmas, and finds a wife he can’t remember and adorable triplets he never knew existed. Can Xavier reclaim his memories and the love he left behind…before he returns to the job that nearly killed him?
Have you read an amnesia romance that you couldn’t forget? Tell us about it in comments, and what you liked about the trope. Or, if you haven’t read one, what do you think the pitfalls of that story line might be?
Valerie Comer is a USA Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner who writes where food meets faith and fiction. She injects experience laced with humor into her green clean romances. Her life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local foods movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.
I actually can’t recall the last time I read an amnesia story. It can be interesting. Depends how it is handled.
Hi Valerie, thanks for sharing. I’m certain I have read stories that feature amnesia, but I really cannot remember the titles. I’m hoping other readers here will post some names to prompt my own memory, and/or I will have some new stories to read.
Blessings:)
Hi Valerie! While I can’t remember reading any stories that have the coupe amnesia, I do remember two Hallmark movies featuring amnesia. My favorite is A Gift to Remember. A hopeless romantic, Darcy, insists on being swept off her feet. One day, while cycling to work, Darcy crashes into a sharply-dressed man walking his dog. When the man falls into a coma, she takes his dog home, waiting to reunite him with his owner. (Darcy becomes part sleuth to figure out the man’s identity. As a Christmas movie, the title was fitting and made me realize that our memory is a true gift on many levels, since it is our identity – whether it is good or bad.)
The second Hallmark movie with amnesia is Falling for Vermont. An author seeks an escape from the media she must deal with, but her plan goes awry when she crashes her car during a storm. She’s found wandering with no memory and no ID, so the town doctor lets her stay in his guest house until her memory returns.
What makes the stories work is that the person with amnesia is not married and falls in love with the person helping him / her to restore his / her memory. Interesting troupe. Enjoy your weekend. Best wishes.
I also know that I’ve read books featuring amnesia but can’t remember a single one. Hah! That amnesia bug must be contagious! However, Renate has a good memory for movies, and with her great descriptions I can remember watching both movies she talks about. I look forward to reading both Jolene and Deb’s books. They both sound terrific. (Though I probably won’t remember them later!)
I read about a true story once where the wife had amnesia and he had to win her again. They even had another smaller wedding so she would have one she remembered.
Hey, Valerie! I do recall a book about amnesia, but I too cannot remember the name – how ironic! These two do look interesting! I look forward to reading them!
Sherri., my memory isn’t that good. I have the Hallmark app to record which movies I watch . Then I googled the title and copied the blurb. I have amnesia with titles and a tors or character names. Enjoy your day.
I don’t recall reading one, but there was a movie with Drew Barrymore called 50 First Dates that is similar. Actually, I think there are several movies with this trope, but I don’t remember what they are lol.
Thanks, Renate. Now I feel a little better. The good thing about having a terrible memory is I can read books and watch movies over and over again and it’s almost like the first time every time.
Oh, wow, these sound sooo good!!! I don’t remember ever reading a book that had amnesia in it. At least, not one that lasted very long! I remember a book that tried to do it, but the character had to fake it and didn’t do a good job. Then, when the love interest found out, it took a lot more work to straighten out the deception, and why they did it. I honestly don’t remember the name of the book, though!
Like most romance tropes, it is ALL in how it’s handled!
I love Renate’s movie suggestions below!
Oooh, I’ll have to see if I can find those somehow! Sounds fun.
I’m laughing at how much “I’m sure I have but I don’t remember” is happening here with amnesia romances! LOL
Yes, it can be a real thing! And that second wedding is sweet. She never got her memories back, then?
No one else can remember amnesia romance titles either! I’m laughing.
Renate posted a couple of movie titles in this trope above. I’m sure there must be many.
Oooh, FAKING amnesia sounds like a fun twist! But I can see how it would be hard to pull off, for character and author both.
I remember another one! Second Time Around by JoAnn Durgin, who used to blog here at Inspy Romance.
Valerie! I am also laughing about how we as avid readers all are suffering from amnesia. I remember seeing the movie 50 First Dates. That one was a gut wrencher because the girl had lost her daily short term memory. Most people loose the long term memory until something triggers an older activity.
I think it goes to show that we all read many, many books, and often read them quickly. Which means the majority of them are somewhat forgettable. Understandable, really. As a reader, I’m the same.
So that begs the question, what makes a book MEMORABLE? So that readers don’t, in fact, forget it easily?
Susan May Warren wrote a really poignant one, ‘The Shadow of Your Smile’. It was so good that I have read it several times and each time it brings me to tears! It had everything. Amnesia, difficult marriage, tragedy and suspense!
Oh, that sounds interesting!
I haven’t read an amnesia story in a long time. I’ll have to check these two out.
I really enjoyed Deb’s, and I’m looking forward to Jolene’s!
Now that your reader above mentioned those 2 Hallmark movies, I too, remember both of them. Both were quite good. You’d enjoy them.
I haven’t read an amnesia story for a long time. Thank you for sharing these books.
Valerie! A book is memorable when it strikes a nerve with the reader. Thee reader identifies personally with the setting, characters, theme, conflict. Or the story is unique. For example – your Farm Fresh Series. I live in Agricultural community with Farm to Table. Or Tuscan Legacy – the painting’s made the series unique. Just a few examples. I agree as readers we read to much to fast and then suffer from amnesia. That was why I enjoyed was it Elizabeth that had the Christmas contest were we looked at the covers and made us revisit the Christmas stories.
Lost Memories and New Beginnings by Lorana Hoopes is a good story about amnesia.
Thank you!
That was a fun contest, wasn’t it!
You’re welcome! Enjoy :)
Good to know! Thank you.
Has anyone mentioned the Goldie Hawn/Kurt Russell movie, Overboard, which was recently redone with other stars? It’s not really a “I used to love you and don’t remember” plot. It’s a “You have amnesia and now I’m trying to convince you that we were married” plot. :)
Oh, that’s a cool plot twist! Love it.
I like this trope as its different and so much could be done with it. From frustration to recapturing love to regaining memories or just regaining some. I know of people who have had a concussion and still have no memory from getting knocked out to waking up a couple days later. This happened to a former neighbour who was playing basketball and knocked out. she still has no memory of even getting to the game.
Yes, lots of good opportunities for conflict! And like Deb said in her previous post, so many gradiations in experience that she could make it up as she went, so long as she was consistent!
I don’t remember😊. They had been recently married. I think she got some back but not all.
So interesting.
I have read a few and some handled better than others by the author. At 64 I have read so many books that I may remember little bits but not the whole story line or the author. My husband and I are known for reading a good book several times with lots of other books between. I look forward to reading these, both sound interesting.
I hope you enjoy these stories!