Unexpected Babies by Anna Adams, Harlequin SuperRomance #997, The Talbot Twins

Unexpected Babies is the first in The Talbot Twins series by Anna Adams. The next installment is entitled Unexpected Marriage. Unexpected Babies is about Cate and Alan Palmer, their troubled marriage, Cate's accident resulting with her having amnesia, her unexpected pregnancy at the age of thirty-eight (with twins no less) when their (until now) only son is eighteen and graduating from high school, and their efforts to struggle to put the pieces back together. The book is set along the coast, in Leith, Georgia. The town's Navy base while not significant has an underlying thread throughout the story, from Cate & Caroline's parents to the maiden aunt's mysterious choice to remain single all of her life.

Cate is a strong and likeable heroine. The book opens with her having planned a dinner to tell her husband of twenty years that she was pregnant only to have him not show up. She seeks him out at his office, overhears a conversation and gets upset that he has been hiding secrets from her. Leaving in anger, she gets struck by a car. When she awakens, she can't remember anything or anyone and is horrified after seeing her sister leave her hospital room to peer into a mirror and see the reflection of the woman who has just left the room in the mirror instead of her own (they're twins, of course). Throughout the book, she struggles to remember her past, struggles to break out of the mold that everyone expects her to fit into. It is clear that she is not the same woman she was before the accident. Until the accident, a rather closed woman who didn't discuss marital issues or engage in confrontational behavior, the new Cate is not afraid to challenge people, to voice her opinion, or even to admit her fears. She vows to work on her marriage with her husband, Alan. She does eventually get bits and pieces of her memory back, fleeting glimpses, though at the end of the book she is still the Cate of new post-accident.

Alan is a good and honorable man who has good intentions, however, doesn't apply them in the right way. He strives to "protect" his wife by taking on the stress of outside the home responsibilities. When his business is experiencing hardship, he hides it from her (and her sister who works for him and is a single parent of a college bound daughter). A latchkey child from the time he was ten when his mother left he and his father behind, Alan thought that by taking all the responsibilities onto his shoulders somehow he would shelter Cate and she would stay happy. And, keyly, stay with him. His reaction to the "new" is interesting. It's clear from the time she leaves the hospital to return home that the attraction between them runs strong for both of them. Like Cate, Alan has a fear of exposing himself emotionally. His conflict with his father, Richard, is glossed over by him until Cate makes him think on it and face it.

Normally, I don't talk about secondary characters, but I feel it's important to talk about Cate and Alan's eighteen year old, high school graduating son, Dan. Dan struggles throughout the book with all the changes around him. The world as he knows it has crumbled. The mother who was there from him to kiss his boo-boos, cook his meals, make popcorn for he and his friends when they came to his house after school, who was always there to protect and comfort him didn't remember who he was. He's struggling, too, with thinking his parents are going to get a divorce, especially when his mother comes home and she and his father sleep in separate bedrooms. Add to the mix, unreturned love from his lifelong friend and the fact he has to actually acknowledge his parents still have sex now that his mother is pregnant again at thirty-eight, and life for Dan Palmer isn't what he thought it would be. Dan is a likeable young man. I felt his reaction to things were true to a hormonal, confused eighteen year old young man who had expectations of what his life, and the life of his parents, should be. I hope Anna Adams will write a book about Dan. It would be interesting to see him portrayed as a hero a few years in the future from when this book takes place. I think his father was a good enough influence on him that he'd treat a heroine well. Yet he has spunk and vigor that would make him fun to read about if he and the heroine were to have conflicts.

I enjoyed reading Anna Adams' Unexpected Babies, and look forward to reading Caroline's story in Unexpected Marriage. Alan and Cate were both likeable characters. Sometimes I grew tired of their inability to trust one another, but I realize the frustrations they both felt at Cate not remembering, at having to start all over again, at knowing they were going to be bringing babies into a world where things between them and with Alan's business was uncertain probably put emotional stress on them.

I was upset with Cate towards the end of the book. Alan had done what she'd asked, he had opened up to her, had told her the truth about his business, but yet she still held things from him thinking it was for the best, he had too much on his mind with the business, etc. I wanted to scream at her that she was being a fool. The growth between Cate and Alan, as well as that of their rocky relationship with their son Dan, was believable. They didn't jump right into bed together, they took time to emotionally mesh before they got to the physical. The secondary characters of Cate's sister, quirky maiden aunt, frisky uncle, and Alan's father made for some humorous moments, as well as aided to the growth of Cate, Alan and Dan.

I would recommend this book to anyone who's looking for a sweet romance with some emotional scenes. There's nothing heavy to the book, but it's not light either. But the characters are likeable, their struggles real and the resolution believable. The ending isn't totally HEA (happily ever after). You get the feeling that Cate and Alan still have their work cut out for them, but that they will do it together.