I was fortunate enough to spend yesterday, Mother’s Day, with my mom–truly the best mom and grandmother I could imagine. Until she retired at 79, she was a children’s librarian. We were talking about moms in books for kids–both of us think the best mothering is done by the mom in The Runaway Bunny–and it got me thinking about moms in romance.
There are, especially in contemporary romance, a lot of mom heroines, often single, but I can’t think of any that stand out to me right now. The moms I recall with pleasure are almost always secondary leads, often in historical romance or in Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ novels.
Tessa, the mom of Ainsley, the hero in Lorraine Heath’s Waking Up With The Duke, is wonderful. Not only does she help her son and the woman he loves find their way to happiness, she has her own poignant love story that concludes with her proposing to her much younger lover. She’s divine.
In Sherry Thomas’ Private Arrangements, Victoria Roland, the heroine’s (Gigi) mom, is the bomb. She successfully wins a Duke of her own and her relationship with her estranged son-in-law Camden is wonderful. I adore this scene where the Duke of Perrin has proposed to her:
You want me to exert myself further. Well then, seducing a woman should be right up my alley, if only I could remember how. Now, do I kiss you before I lie with you or only afterward?”
She summoned a pinch of mock outrage. “As I said before, what a sheltered life you’ve led, Your Grace. It is both. I’m shocked—shocked, I say—that you do not know better.”
We should all be so quick on our feet!
Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ books often have stand-out moms. My favorites are April from Natural Born Charmer and Lilly from This Heart of Mine. Both begin the book alienated from their adult sons, the heroes, and both earn the respect and love of their boys–and this reader–in moving ways. And both get their own hard fought HEAs.
What moms in romance do you love? And why?
I’m not sure if she meets your criteria, but the most memorable mother in books that I’ve read recently is Luc’s mum in Alexis Hall’s Boyfriend Material. She’s supportive, wise and absolutely hilarious. She’s also portrayed brilliantly in the audiobook by Joe Jameson.
That one is on my TBR so this is good to know!
One mother I have never forgotten is the Dowager Duchess of Salford in “Sylvester or the Wicked Uncle” by Georgette Heyer. She bequeathed her rather startling eyebrows to her son, Sylvester, which played a part in the young debut novelist Phoebe Marlow. The Dowager’s conversations with both Sylvester and Phoebe following the resulting kerfuffle were so kind, wise and helpful. She was a wonderful secondary character and a supportive mother and mother-in-law to be.
A vote here for Blair’s mother in Linda Howard’s “To Die For”, a true role model for her daughter. (I’m generally not crazy about Linda Howard’s heroes, but I often love her heroines.)
Violet Bridgerton is so obvious I’m surprised she hasn’t come up yet.
David Cyprian’s mother Ellie in A Gentleman’s Position. She’s been through a lot, and now has a happy life and a fierce love for her son. She does not allow Lord Richard to mess with David’s feelings at all.
Graham’s mother in Sarina’s Bowen The Understatement of the Year is lovely. Also Rikker’s grandmother, she’s hilarious and so supportive.
Since I’m on the subject of grandmothers – Jessica Trent’s grandmother Genevieve in Lord of Scoundrels!
I do love Violet but it’s always made me sad she never found love again.
Genevieve is THE BEST. She just cracks me up.
Happy Belated Mother’s Day! 🙂
Okay, I know I’ve harped about this one a lot, but the FF historical romance The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite features a great mom as one of the heroines- one who is understandably worried and at her wit’s end because her teenage son is a radical seemingly hell-bent on getting thrown in prison for sedition (widowed mom, Agatha, owns a print shop in circa 1820 England). It’s a great read in a number of ways that I don’t even want to begin to itemize.
Still one of my favorite books of the past few years.
Mine too. And I hear Olivia Waite has another book coming out this summer, The Hellion Waltz. Looking forward to it.
I love so many of Nora Roberts’ moms, whether she is a single-mom heroine or the mother of the hero/heroine. I am currently rereading the Inn Boonsboro Trilogy and in my opinion, Justine Montgomery (the mother of the three heroes of the series) steals the show. She is a widowed sixtyish woman with three grown sons and a passel of grandkids, and while family is clearly the most important thing in her life, it is not ALL that she is. She has great relationships with her kids (and later, daughter-in-laws and the instant-grandkids she gets from her son’s marriage), but she also is a vibrant, active, strong, confident woman who is not defined only by her relationships to other people (Mom, Grandma, etc). I am in a different stage of motherhood than she is (my daughter is not yet three) but one of the biggest challenges I’ve had as a mom is to hold onto my own identity as a separate person from my daughter. My little girl is the light of my life and the most important part of it, but I am still a separate person with my own interests and achievements. Justine’s character just really resonated with me and I think that Ms. Roberts does a really amazing job writing moms who are fleshed out, multifaceted characters.
Pintup Dunn’s Forget Tomorrow/Remember Yesterday has a really multidimensional mom, which is unheard of in YA dystopia. I don’t want to give anything away but her character is tremendous.
Just came here to say that The Runaway Bunny is the best! My mom read it to me when I was little and I still remember most of the words.