April 20th is National Look-Alike Day, so I thought it would be the perfect time to talk about twins (and triplets, and quadruplets…) in romance. Mostly I’m thinking babies here, although I’ve read (and written) some wonderful twin stories with adults as the theme (Redeeming the Rancher and Mistletoe Daddy with twin heroines Alexis and Vivian Grainger) were a lot of fun to write. And I’ve got babies on my mind, what with Grandbaby #3 due in a little more than a month!
At Harlequin Love Inspired, the editors are always pushing tropes. The more writers can cram into one story, the better. And twins is huge—so much so that I decided to put four-month-old twins Dante and Ariella (Ari) into the book I’m currently working on, Book Six of Rocky Mountain Family with the Winslow siblings. They bring automatic conflict into the plot, especially in this case, where hero Frost Winslow didn’t even know he was a father until heroine Zoey Lane shows up in town with his twins.
So what is it about twins that draws readers in? Two for the price of one? Double the cuteness, double the fun? Yet, let’s face it….in real life, the first response to the ultrasound that reveals two beating hearts may be a sense of shock more than anything. Two babies is twice as much work. Twice as many diapers. Twice as much feeding time. And that’s nothing to say of lack of sleep.
Of course, in romance novels we get to pick and choose what goes into our scenes, so we can skip over some of those sleepless nights in favor of days of fun snuggling with happy babies. I do usually throw a little colic and diaper changing in just so it isn’t too easy for my characters, but it really is double the fun because each of the babies his his/her own personality. And their interactions with each baby allows the mom and dad to learn more about themselves and God.
With that being said from an author’s perspective, do you as a reader enjoy books with multiples? Babies or adults? Why or why not?
~~Love Courageously~~ Publisher's Weekly Bestselling, award-winning author of 30 novels, Deb Kastner enjoys writing contemporary inspirational western stories set in small communities. She feels especially blessed to be able to include faith as a natural and genuine part of her characters' lives. Deb lives in beautiful Colorado with her husband and a pack of miscreant mutts. She is blessed with three adult daughters and two grandchildren. Her favorite hobby is spoiling her grandchildren, but she also enjoys reading, watching movies, listening to music (The Texas Tenors are her fav), singing in the church choir, and exploring the Rocky Mountains on horseback.
Yes, multiples are fun, whatever the age. All sorts of mayhem and confusion ensue.
Yes I enjoy twins, triplets etc. I remember LI had a 6 book series with twins in it Texas Twins. I enjoyed that series. With twins and multipoles you often get that secret language and they often have a bond. But its also good to see the twins who are completely different or rivals.
Carolyn Miller has twins in the breakout project. One is a successful Ice Hockey player and the other is sort of left behind and while not a professional sports star Is very capable in her own field (even if her brother doesn’t see it)
I enjoy them as adult MCs, I think they can be lots of fun. But apparently I still have some unhealed trauma from infertility because all the multiple baby books are just a big hard pass for me. Especially since it seems super rare that those babies were planned and wanted in the first place and now surprise! Not just one, but four babies for you to initially reject and then magically love. Bleh.
I enjoy reading about baby twins once in a while if they don’t take over the story by virtue of their being two of them. I think writing adult twins gives the author more room to play around with the unique relationship they have.
Twins run in my family, so I had to include them in a few of my own books. I do think they are fun to read. Some can be so much a like while others can be polar opposites.
I like babies in books, though I prefer them not to be the reason a couple marries, and I prefer them to be realistic. I don’t mind twins or other multiples, though I don’t gravitate to those books, either. I do like them to have their own personalities, though!
I like reading about twins and multiples or just baby’s in general cause my mom is an identical twin .I have read a few of deb kasners books with the babies in them.
I enjoy reading about multiples. They have a special bond even though totally different personalities. I have always found it so fun to see the way they are developed as they grow and/or how they are as adults. My late husband had twin brothers though he didn’t grow up with them. It was fun when they met as adults, all of his siblings actually. It was amazing how many similarities they all had even having grown up in multiple households.
Hi, yes, I love reading books with multiples, they are so much fun, it actually makes double the fun or even triple! Plus they are so close to each other they have special bonds. Have a great week and stay safe.
They really do add lovely conflict!
I totally remember the Texas Twins series. Such fun! I’ll have to grab Carolyn Miller’s book. It sounds like a lot of fun.
You make an excellent point, Elizabeth. Baby books are definitely not for everyone. Someone extremely close to me suffers from infertility and it’s difficult for me even to talk about my grandchildren. As far as babies in books go, my publisher won’t allow Christians to make that particular mistake (that’s a whole other blog post!) so they always end up “oops” babies.
sure, can be fun
That’s the tricky part. It’s easy for the babies to take over. In the book I’m writing now, it’s actually the relationship between the hero and heroine that’s complicated, as opposed to the co-parenting so much.
My adult twin sisters were total opposites, which made for fun writing (and I hope reading).
In the book I’m writing now, the twins are the reason my hero pushes his way back into the heroine’s life (despite her having turned down his proposal a long time ago) but only to co-parent. I admire how he needs to be a dad to his babies.
Yeah, I had a whole very long series with cowboys and babies. My editors just kept asking for more!
Fascinating! I enjoy researching how twins interact with each other.
Super fun and tons of conflict. For an author, that’s definitely a big plus!
That makes a lot of sense. I have friends who are twins or have them in their family and they hoped to have twins. I also have a friend who after having twins (which they expected due to twins on both sides of the family) didn’t want to risk another set of twins.
I enjoy books with twins—adults or babies!
Absolutely it can be fun and interesting.
I enjoy them all. It depends on the story line as to how they fit into the story. Thank you for sharing. God bless you.
I love books with twins & triplets. I have been reading a series of a lady who had triplets
I enjoy twin & triplets & more type books. I have some books from an author about different ones.
The first similarity with the men was that they all had a similar theme in the way they were dressed the day they all met. The reunion was arranged by the TV show Unsolved Mysteries. They were grouped in different hotels & rooms to meet in two sections so they could get all reactions on film, even having a local news station helping them. One of the reporters who knew us well met us at the door and was bursting with excitement, having already met some of them. We were already so full of nervous excitement but her electricity took us to another level! What a day of new surprises that was!
I like that fact that I never had to deal with twins (or triplets or quads)in real life….lol! The thought terrified me when I was pregnant with my kids.
Now reading about them, that’s another story (no pun intended) indeed! I can watch all the fun (or sleepless nights, or juggling schedules, etc) and walk away from the story with a smile. I’ve read books with quadruplets and OH MY I don’t know how that would work in real life. The dad was single & asked for help from his (very pretty) next door neighbor….you know how that ended right? Yep, with a happily-ever-after! She loved them from the start so that certainly sealed the deal.
I do like multiples in stories, whether babies or adults or anything in between. As adults, I think I like when they don’t know about each other but find out about each other through some means…..think Parent Trap kind of scenario. Each character brings their own personality & quirk into the story and I love that!
I don’t think I’ve read as many books that feature twins, and even less that are babies. I think what would draw me to a twin story is getting to see them in action, how they understand the other, how they communicate without words, how they treat the other, etc. I’m definitely looking forward to Julie Arduini’s next series featuring sextuplets. :)