Sweet Romance and Children

Annie Boone

I'm so happy to be bringing you our post for today! If you didn't know, I'm new to the group and this is my first post. I decided to start off with my take on children as supporting characters in sweet romance and how they make a happily ever after even better - family style.

I love to read a sweet romance where the hero comes to the rescue of a woman with a family. It melts my heart when the father in a story loves his children, isn't afraid to show it, and puts them first no matter what.

I’ve heard similar opinions from many of the readers I’ve talked to. We love a hero with a soft spot for children. The sort who wants to be a good father. He may have a crusty exterior, but a child will turn him to mush in the right situations.

So why do children and heroes together in a sweet romance story make our hearts go all gooey? I believe it depends on the story circumstances, the reader, and the day.

It doesn’t matter if the story is historical or contemporary. Western or set in New York. Small town or big city. Bringing children into a sweet romance can make that story so much better and so much more fun.

How many variations could be written about the group of little rascals in the picture below? I'd want to read every one about these girls!

Some stories will capture your heart just because you feel for the children. Orphans or children in bad situations will almost always grab a reader. Put yourself in this spot. You’re reading about a child who is living in an orphanage. He’s lonely, sad, feels unloved. You feel connected to him. You’re rooting for him! Then your hero comes in and saves the day in some way. You want to cheer, don’t you? The child is saved and the hero is fulfilled. The heroine has what she wants – a happily ever after with the perfect man and family. Can’t get any better than that!

If you’re a reader who doesn’t really like kids, you’re probably still going to love a hero who goes out on a limb for a child. You’ll buy into his good character. If you picture him as your dream man, you’ll vow to learn to love children, won’t you? Well, that may be a little stretch, but you get the idea.

And finally, if you’ve had a bad day with your own children, reading about kids who need a family will soften you up toward your own children. Maybe. Or possibly if the children in your story behave worse than yours, you’ll feel blessed. You may even appreciate them a little more. Is is possible a daydream about the hero who takes the kids while you have a bubble bath will inspire you to have a word with your husband? Food for thought.

But the bottom line, we all love to read sweet romance when it includes children in the story line. Some of my most popular stories have been about children. One of my first releases, published in August, 2015, A Ready Made Family, still has readers emailing me about it after all this time. Love Conquers All, A Cutter’sCreek story, has our hero and heroine adopting a child from the same orphanage he spent some time in.

And finally, my new series is a set of sweet historical romance stories where children are involved in every story line. Book 1 will be released by the end of January. The stories will come out over the next two months. To be notified about releases in this series, just sign up. When you do, you’ll get a free copy of A Ready Made Family as my gift to you while you wait!

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