We have a very specific Rec League from Sarah Drew, that kind of stumped us:
Twins. Specifically (if possible) the overlooked twin winning through. I’m Scottish and therefore really keen on underdogs. Twins preferred, siblings if there is real rivalry (at least on one side). Specific, much?
Sarah: So, like Jacob Have I Loved with a More Better ending?
Maya: SHIT way to take me back to my growing up in Maryland youth.
Sarah: Sorry!
Maya: No, it’s good, I just have thought about that book in like 25 years.
Carrie: I was OBSESSED by it when I was a kid.
Sarah: It made me MAD.
Maya: Yeah, I don’t think I ever got over her bestie marrying her sister.
Carrie: I’m still pissed at that shitty grandma.
Sarah: I am pestering my tired brain for underdog twin books.
Carrie: Didn’t Sweet Valley High have twins?
Maya: All I’ve got is Alanna. ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
Tara: SVH sure did.
Sarah: It did but the SVH twins were…well no maybe that fits.
Elizabeth was kind of an underdog. And also kind of a doormat, but I don’t think she ever really “won.” Jessica was a sociopath.
Tara: #teamelizabeth
Sarah: #absolutely
#exceptwith60%morespinalresilience
Tara: At least.
Aarya: I can think of many underdog siblings but not twins. Hmm. Let me browse and come back to this.
Naima Simone’s Scoring with the Wrong Twin. Heroine is asked to impersonate her identical twin sister at a model photoshoot. Sophia feels like an underdog compared to her sister, but they share a good/loving relationship (not rivals, but definitely overlooked/underdog). She feels self-conscious because no one pays attention to her once they meet the celebrity sister.
I’m not the biggest football fan, but Simone’s football books are excellent and I’d rec the entire trilogy. This book has a MAJOR deception element that doesn’t get resolved for a long time, so YMMV if that’s a dealbreaker.
There are tons of recs with rival/underdog siblings (Mia Sosa’s The Worst Best Man ( A | BN | K | AB ) comes to mind) but twins are tricker.
Elyse: The only twin books I remember were old skool historicals that were suuuuuper problematic.
Real Men Knit ( A | BN | K | AB ) features an underdog brother but not a twin
Aarya: Oof. My memory is terrible, but I think there is a sex scene in the Simone book while the deception is still occurring. I remember enjoying the book and it didn’t raise red flags at the time… but yeah, you’re so right about the problematic aspect (I think this occurs A LOT in false/mistaken identity trope).
In this book, at least, Sophia’s not deceiving for the intention of sex. Her sister asked her to pretend for a day (the sister committed to two modeling gigs and she can’t back out). So Sophia goes to the photoshoot and runs into the athlete hero. Chemistry, bam, one-night stand, and they part ways until they meet again.
I realize how bananas/problematic/ridiculous this premise sounds, but I liked the book! Eek. Okay, so I’d still recommend it with the caveat that deception sex is not okay and might be a dealbreaker.
Catherine: Hmm, what about False Colours, by Georgette Heyer? It’s not quite an underdog twin situation, but Kit is the younger son and his brother is the heir who disappears, and so Kit impersonates him so that the betrothal the family is trying to arrange doesn’t fall through. Premise is a bit alarming, but Kit does undertake the deception mostly to save the would-be-fiancée from embarrassment, and I think she cottons to things pretty fast. I haven’t read this book for a few years, and it’s Heyer, so please be aware of the usual caveats about racism/antisemitism in her work and take this recommendation with a grain of salt (I don’t recall anything specific, but it really has been a while)… but all that said, I always liked this one a lot – Kit and Cressy are both kind, pragmatic people with a good sense of humour about themselves, and it’s a very sweet romance. And younger twin winds up with the heiress while the elder twin… well, you’ll see.
Aarya: Why on earth do all these twin/sibling books have a deception/impersonation storyline? I’m sensing a theme here.
Shana: How about A Lily Among Thorns by Rose Lerner? The hero, Solomon, is a tailor, and his twin is a fabulous spy, so I think this meets the underdog request. There’s some deception from the spy, unsurprisingly, but the heroine isn’t the target. She’s a famous courtesan who runs a hotel, and unassuming Solomon has an uphill battle to melt her ice queen tendencies.
This makes me want to reread it, few books makes me as happy as that one does.
Claudia: In Mary Balogh’s Indiscreet, the hero has a twin brother and that older-by-seconds twin is the titled man. Not exactly underdog material but some. A major part of the plot is that the heroine confuses the two at first and, thinking the hero is the man she knows, she’s friendly to the newcomer who then thinks she’s “easy.” I love this book and it was one of the first I read that the hero owns up to his initial awfulness and grovels to a good, satisfying extent.
And I could swear Stephanie Laurens’ Cynster series has twins ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au )
Sarah: There’s def twins. Amanda and Amelia?
Claudia: Sounds right…
Any suggestions that really capture this Rec League request?
I love this trope but it seems I can only recommand 2 novellas:
Contempory: Switch Hitter by Sara Ney
HR: What’s in a Name by Nancy Campbell Allen, the 3rd story in the Timeless Regency Collection: Autumn Masquerade
Oh this one kind of fits: A Matter of Temptation by Lorraine Heath.
The hero swaps places with his dastardly younger twin who kept him prisoner to become the heir. I liked the gothic elements, but I think it couldn’t decide whether or not to go full dark romance, and it should have.
Not sure they really fit re rivalry, but there are a couple of Penny Reid series with twins, the Winston Brothers and Laws of Physics
Not twins, just brothers, but I think “Say Yes to the Marquess” by Tessa Dare fits.
Rachel Van Dyken’s duet, STEALING HER and FINDING HIM. The heroes are identical twins but were separated when their parents divorced—one went with wealthy dad while the other was raised by working-class and chronically-ill mom. In STEALING HER, the wealthy twin is severely injured in an automobile accident and in a coma, the father blackmails the other twin (by promising to pay for mom’s medical treatment) into taking his brother’s place—including with his estranged fiancée. It sounds crazy-sauce, but it’s a good story, very emotional, with the hero not able to tell the fiancée who he really is and the fiancée baffled by the changes (for the better) in her fiancé. But it’s actually the second book, FINDING HIM, that is all my angsty-emotional-melancholy catnips: the twin who was in a coma awakens to a new reality—including finding his former fiancée in live with his brother, who is now running the family’s business. He’s at loose ends when he meets a woman who is writing a book about her late fiancé who died of cancer the year before. I loved everything about FINDING HIM and it is one of my favorite reads of 2020, but I do think you have to read STEALING HER first.
The Royal We has this – Bex, who considers herself the underdog twin, studies abroad and falls in love with a prince, and her twin sister Lacey doesn’t take being the less important twin very well.
For once I have one! Siege of Hearts by June Calvin. 90s Signet Regency. Heroine and sister are fraternal twins with the sister being the great beauty who takes after their mom. The family makes them wear the exact same clothes so as not be seen favoring one over the other, but of course sister’s coloring and figure is totally different.
Hero is there to court the sister of course, but keeps finding himself drawn to heroine’s wry sense of humor (side note: just once I kind of wish a hero were drawn to the heroine’s facility with fart jokes). It’s a slow burn and there’s minor dastardy from long-term rival of the hero, but I really remember it because it was one of the first romances I read where the family is just GETTING IT SO WRONG, but it’s so hard because they love and value her. I got rid of it in a great book cull before I moved across the country (so 16 years ago) but still remember it (clearly), so I think it’s safe to recommend still.
PS There’s a mule named Hippolyta, too!
The Wild Child by Mary Jo Putney. As mentioned in another example above, the underdogness (that’s a word, right?) comes from one twin being ten minutes younger and therefore Not The Heir. Deception plotline, but not malicious – heir brother has a Very Noble Reason that he needs his twin to woo his intended.
Thanks to all for the recs – lots here for my TBR.
Stealing Midnight by Tracy MacNish (a HaBO from the past!) has the hero Aidan and his twin brother Padraig. One of the plot threads is that their parents have always refused to tell them which one is the older twin (and thus the heir to the family fortunes and estates) so that they’ll grow up with no jealousy between them.
I was thinking Lecia Cornwall’s “How To Deceive a Duke” had twins, but they’re not.
Claudia Stone has a historical Fairfax Twins trilogy. The first book, “The Duke’s Bride In Disguise”, is about twins who are separated at an orphanage. One sister is adopted by a titled family, while the other grows up in poverty.
“The Switch” by Lynsay Sands has twin sisters who are trying to escape forced marriages and an evil uncle. Bonus: They take turns dressing like a man and the hero gets all confused because he thinks he’s attracted to a guy. LOL
Fangirl! Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell is a great book, and Cath is an underdog twin. I think there’s a review on this site and it’s one of my all time favorites.
Truth or Beard by Penny Reid immediately came to my mind. It’s part of the Winston Brothers series that B mentioned already.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23314731-truth-or-beard?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=ombzyGGeeE&rank=1
Alyssa Cole’s Reluctant Royals series has A Duke By Default. Portia is the screw up twin.
Jude Deveraux has a duet. Twin of Fire and Twin of Ice – Historicals set in Colorado, IIRC.
I just saw a rom-suspense advertised in one of my many author newsletters. I haven’t read it, as it’s a new-to-me author. I searched my email trash folder for this title. It sounded like it might be fun. I have to put it on my list. Kallan: The Switch by Miranda P. Charles
Rebecca Brooks has a pre-order for one, Wrong Bed, Right Brother. This is an enjoyable series. Low angst, the meet-cute is always second-hand embarrassing fun.
There’s an old Point Horror Caroline B. Cooney book called Twins. The main protagonist is sort of the underdog twin, in a creepy Point Horror way…
YA horror with romance, BTW. Romantic interests are cool boyfriend Vs nice underdog as well. Actually, now I come to think of it, the feel of those Caroline B. Cooney books reminds me of Twilight. A bit twee, rather melodramatic, and some problematic aspects but enjoyable as foam shrimps.
Wings of the Falcon by Barbara Michaels and Elizabeth Peters. She’s half Italian/half English. Think it’s the first time I read about consumption. She mixes up the twins as one is crippled (faking it), but he’s a Zorro-like figure (the heir). Probably a little cringy now as I think originally published in the 70s with some stereotypes you don’t see anymore.
Julia Quinn had two books, one for each twin. One was a duke and the other a highwayman
The Rebellious Twin by Shirley Kennedy – old historical rom that I read back in the early 2000’s – One sister is AWFUL and the other is the nice girl who gets blamed for all the bad stuff the first sister does, until the end. Not sure if it holds up over time but this definitely hits the twins/rivalry/underdog winning through story elements.
Also a second for Fangirl – LOVED that book.
An Arranged Marriage by Jo Beverley has twins. The older twin, Kit, rapes (!) the female MC, Eleanor, (under Circumstances, but still), so in order to evade responsibility, he says it was his twin brother Nicholas who raped her, and he makes Nicholas marry Eleanor. And Nicholas and Eleanor fall in love, of course. Nicholas seems like an underdog at first, but he really isn’t, as this is the first book in the Company of Rogues series.
I have an underdog hero twin in LITTLE HAUNTING BY THE SEA. Think: basically the twin brother of Aidan Turner, if Aidan had died at the height of his Poldark fame (please never die, Aidan. Please stay broodingly gorgeous forever, and keep forgetting your shirt)… while he’s just an ordinary Dublin Garda who looks like someone famous.
There are also ghosts and mysteries and weird English seaside resorts too, if you like that sort of thing. mybook.to/LHBTS
‘Lover Undercover’ by Samantha Becke?
The ‘good’ twin (more introvert) has to become a stripper due to… reasons I can’t remember
Technically, “Shameful Secret, Shotgun Wedding” by Sharon Kendrick.
I’m not sure it meets the ‘spirit’ of the request though; rather exploited for angsty backstory. (And something the hero has had time to work through, had he put it to good use. Doesn’t excuse him now.)
I also remember finding the age-gap problem where the heroine doesn’t have the same reference points as the hero and his friends more interesting.
How about identical
cousinshalf-sisters? Victoria Holt’s The Mask of the Enchantress has the quieter/nice sister taking the place of the vivacious hellion.I feel like there might also be a historical with boy/girl twins that fits, but just can’t think of it.
I think one of Anna and the French Kiss sequels might have had this — Lola and the Boy Next Door, I think the titular hero is outshone by his twin sister.
DOUBLE TROUBLE by Deborah Cooke features the “bad twin” who falls in love with her sister’s husband after her sister leaves the family abruptly. I think there was something between the twin and the husband before he ever met the twin, and…I’m blanking in the rest. I just remember that it deals with twins.
Well, Shakespeare has some twin switching, if you want to go back that far. Or Flowers in the Attic.
There was a Harlequin I read a couple decades back where the girl comes to London, some guy yells at her, thinking she is his fiancé. Turns out she has a twin, turns out she ends up with the twin’s fiancé. Can’t remember the title.
Deceptions by Judith Michael was one I enjoyed – also older. Married twins switch lives, each thinking the other’s is better.
Bride of Pendoric by Victoria Holt, which I read at 11 and loved, has a family in which there are a couple sets of twins. The elder set had one twin die tragically and the younger twins think history will repeat.
Twins by Caroline Cooney is YA, obvs, and involves a switch. Takes the parents a second to notice.
Apparently, although I didn’t realize it until I went back through my notebooks, “the wrong/right twin” is a bit of a catnip of mine. So here are some other books that seem to fit the request:
COLLATERAL ATTRACTION by Liz Durano: Romantic suspense with the heroine having to impersonate her glamorous twin when she disappears.
BETRAYING THE BILLIONAIRE by Victoria Davies: MOC with hero marrying the “wrong” twin.
DEADLOCK by Cherrie Lynn: Woman searches for her missing twin, has to seek help from the man her twin betrayed.
TWO-TIMING by Audra North: Man has to masquerade as his twin, falls for a woman who thinks he is his brother. It’s been a while since I read this, but I remember thinking North did a good job making a somewhat o-t-t plot feel grounded and believable.
SINFUL LIKE US by Krista & Becca Ritchie: Twin brothers switch places and one ends up with the other’s fiancée. This book is part of a series about a large group of siblings and it might be better to read the books in order.
THE BAD TWIN by Avery Scott: Woman assumes her irresponsible twin’s job as a billionaire’s PA, unaware that a fake relationship will be required.
ONE AND ONLY YOU by Tabatha Vargo & Senna Daniels: Woman has loved her twin sister’s fiancé for years, ends up taking her sister’s place on the wedding day.
And, although it hasn’t been published yet, one of my favorite writers, Kati Wilde, has an upcoming book titled EVIL TWIN. I’m confident Kati will bring her reliably brilliant take to the twin trope.
Truth or Beard by Penny Reid. The heroine is in love with one twin who gets all the attention but then later falls for the underdog twin.
Christina Lauren’s recent The Unhoneymooners features a typically unlucky twin who goes on her sister’s honeymoon trip with her nemesis (the best man) when bride, groom, and many of the guests come down with food poisoning.
I think this may have already been mentioned but Penny Reid’s NA series Laws of Physics may fall into this. There’s a smart “boring” twin and a social but “fuck up” twin so the dynamics are a little different. The boring one has to pretend to be the sociable one for a little bit and ends up falling for a guy who the other twin hates? I kinda liked the eventual development between the twins relationship (though CW there is discussion and PTSD from sexual assault)
@Miss Louisa
It was The Lost Duke of Wyndham and Mr Cavindish, I Presume.
I’m not sure that they were actually twins, I think one was actually a lost cousin, but a major part of the plot was one of the heroes being raised to Be The Duke and feeling vast angst because he doesn’t believe that the other guy can do the job properly.
I really enjoyed the fact that the books cover some of the same plot but from different points of view.
I also have a HABO which involves a maid who looks exactly like her young lady and falls in love with the young lady’s fiancee because the fiancee doesn’t deserve the spoilt brat young lady. They travel to the US on the Titanic and the young lady dies because she’s spoilt and a brat and the maid is mistaken for the young lady and marries the fiancee.
But that’s not twins so much as doppelgangers. Or possibly droit de segneuir (?sp)
Baby I’m Yours by Susan Anderson has twins. One is a screw up and goes on the run and the other twin is mistaken for her by a bounty hunter. Hilarity ensues as the missing twin is a stripper and the other twin is a teacher.
Light and Shadow by Lisa Gregory. I loved this old school historical story. The “bad” twin disappears and her husband didn’t even know she HAD a twin so he hunts the wrong sister down who decides to pretend to be her missing sister until she can figure out what happened to her.
Everything else I have has already been mentioned.
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren: The twin sisters have a great relationship, but the heroine definitely feels like the lesser twin. Due to a shellfish incident at the wedding, she ends up taking her sister’s honeymoon with the groom’s brother, who she hates.
I haven’t read it so I can’t comment on the quality (though I have enjoyed other books by the author) but there’s a M/M romance by Eden Finley called Unwritten Law that might work for this. It’s about a guy who always breaks up with his identical twin’s boyfriends for him – until a certain guy comes along.
Kiss of the Highlander and the Dark Highlander – feature twins. as part of the Karen Marie Moning HIghlander Series. Can be read out of order or just these two.
I m a twin and I LOVE well written twins if I can find them.
The first one that came to mind for me was The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren. The heroine’s status as the underdog twin is part of why she “wins” in the end.
I would say 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne also fits. The heroine is the less traditionally successful twin, there’s a real rivalry between the twins, and she feels like she’s the underdog to her twin because of his friendship with the hero.
HOSTAGE TO PLEASURE by nalini singh has twins with a definite underdog vibe if you are interested in urban fantasy romances.
@BellaInAus:
I think you’re book is Amanda/Miranda by Richard Peck or something like that. I haven’t read it, but remember some of those details when I looked at the synopsis.
YA book – Stranger with My Face by Lois Duncan. I don’t know how much info is too much without being spoilers, but twins!