An author and lifelong educator, Lisa Carter enjoys traveling to romantic locales and researching her next exotic adventure or teaching writing workshops. Her latest novel is The Twin Bargain (Love Inspired): Nursing student Amber Fleming couldn’t be more stunned when ex-marine Ethan Green makes an offer—he’ll babysit her twin girls if she cares for his injured grandmother. But can they keep it strictly professional? In this exclusive interview, Lisa explains her thinking behind the story, the spiritual themes in the book, and how her faith impacts her storytelling…
No spoilers, Lisa, but what can you tell us about The Twin Bargain?
Welcome to Truelove, North Carolina—where true love awaits—at least if town matchmakers have anything to say about it.
Although vowing to never go back to his hometown, life comes full circle for ex-Marine Ethan Green when he is forced to return to care for his beloved grandmother who has suffered a debilitating leg fracture. He also reconnects with Amber Fleming, who isn’t the annoying little pest he remembers. After a disastrous marriage and estranged from her father, she is juggling single parenting and nursing school so she can provide a better life for her four-year-old twin daughters, Lucy and Stella.
Concerned about his aging grandmother, Ethan’s determined to convince Grandma Hicks to move closer to his new job at the beach, however Grandma had promised to twin-sit until Amber graduated from nursing school. But then Grandma—a card-carrying member of the Truelove matchmaker trifecta—proposes a compromise. They strike a deal—if Ethan will take care of the twins for the two months until Amber’s graduation, Grandma will agree to leave her friends behind and relocate without protest.
At first, Amber is reluctant to agree to their plan. She hates feeling like a charity case. But with her nursing skills, Ethan needs Amber’s help in his grandmother’s recovery as much as she needs his twin-sitting skills to finish school. Agreeing to an exchange of mutually beneficial services, Amber and Ethan sign on to what is supposed to be a temporary twin bargain. Yet Ethan doesn’t tell Amber about the secret deal with his grandmother. Because of Amber’s trust issues, this has the makings of a disaster, the relationship equivalent to a ticking time bomb.
In the splendor of an Appalachian spring, it may require the combined efforts of the meddling matchmakers and the twins to bring these stubborn hearts together for a happily-ever-after romance in the small town charm of the Blue Ridge.
Tell us about your main characters. What about these two made you want to tell their story?
This is a second chance reunion romance, one of my favorite kinds of stories to tell. To Ethan, Amber has always been his best friend’s little sister. Yet to Amber, Ethan was so much more—her first love.
But when he returns to care for his ailing grandmother, he discovers Amber is no longer the pesky tagalong he remembers. Almost immediately—and to his great surprise—his heart is captured by Amber’s cute, twin daughters. These two fatherless girls are looking for a forever daddy. Though Amber and Ethan may not realize it at first, they too are looking for the kind of forever love neither has ever dared to imagine.
I loved the shared history between Amber and Ethan. Like the people who’ve known us the longest, they know the best, the worst and the most embarrassing parts of each other. Banter is their attempt to deal with the deep emotions they are unable to yet acknowledge.
I especially loved writing Ethan’s growing relationship with the twins. The little girls emerged with their own, very distinct—oftentimes hilarious—personalities. Writing the scenes with Ethan and the girls where he begins to fall in love with the idea of becoming their father was very sweet.
Also, I think readers enjoy seeing the Truelove matchmakers’ not so subtle attempts to bring Amber and Ethan together.
What spiritual themes run through the book?
Amber is a disillusioned single mom who put her trust in a man who abandoned her. Ethan is a lonely ex-Marine searching for a place to call home.
Both characters must learn to let go of the past if they are to move into a new future together as a family. I’ve been at that sort of crossroads more than once myself.
Amber struggles with forgiving her father and herself. Because of abandonment issues, Ethan has lived his life like a rolling stone, a don’t fence me in, love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy. His journey will involve finding someone—several someones—that he allows himself to love enough to make the ultimate sacrifice of committment. And in so doing, finds his truest self.
How does your faith impact how you approach storytelling?
In all my stories, I believe the themes of coming home, hope and reconciliation resonate with readers. I hope it will inspire them to find the courage to step out in faith, like Amber and Ethan, for whatever they may be facing in their own lives. I believe it is in loving others and in self-sacrifice that we often find, not only our truest selves, the self God made us to be, but also our greatest joy.
What do you hope readers will take away after reading The Twin Bargain?
The heart of this story is about a man searching for home. And trusting God. With the good. With the bad. With everything.
For some people, the memories of home are good. For others, memories of home are extremely painful. But I believe the longing for home is at the core of who we are as humans.
As Amber and Ethan discover, no matter how tragic the past or present, God has a place of belonging for each of us. And I believe no matter where you’ve been, no matter where you are right now, no matter what you’ve done—that God can take what is broken and make it into something beautiful. In fact, I think He delights in bringing beauty out of brokenness.
Why did I write this story? Because it is my prayer that no matter where you’ve been, no matter where you are right now, no matter what you’ve done—that you will ultimately find in Him your Home. The happily-ever-after for which all of us were truly made.
Visit Lisa Carter’s author page:
https://www.familyfiction.com/authors/lisa-carter/
The Twin Bargain
Lisa Carter
Love Inspired
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