Does Age Make a Difference by Merrillee Whren

The books I’ve written have a variety of ages for the hero and heroine. I’ve written stories with heroes in their thirties and the heroines in their twenties. I’ve written stories with heroines who are older than the heroes. I’ve written stories with heroes and heroines who are close to the same age.

 

When I first started reading romances many years ago, I would say all the heroes were older and the heroines younger. I married a younger man, although only a couple of years younger, but I have a friend who married a man seven years younger than she is. I wanted to read a story with an older heroine and a younger hero, so I wrote one. That book never sold, however, I did eventually write and sell a book to Love Inspired with an older heroine and a younger hero. That book was Love Walked In, now reissued as Second Chance Gift, the second book in my Pinecrest series.

 

 

 

I also wrote two more books with older heroines, A Place to Find Love and Kirsten’s Mission, first published by Love Inspired as Nursing the Soldier’s Heart.

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes the age difference is something the hero and heroine think about as the relationship grows, especially when the age difference is more than a couple of years. In other books age is barely mentioned. Currently, I'm working on a story in which the hero is over twenty years older than the heroine. 

 

Do you have a favorite age combination in the romances you read? 

 

 

Merrillee Whren is the winner of the 2003 Golden Heart Award presented by Romance Writers of American. She is married to her own personal hero, her husband of forty-plus years, and has two grown daughters. Connect with her on her Facebook page and sign up for her newsletter.