Ana Huang On What She Would Change In Twisted Love, Upcoming Adaptations, & Gods Of The Game

Twisted Love wasn’t Ana Huang’s debut, but it was the romance success that put her on the map in 2021. Since then, the acclaimed series has been picked up by Netflix for an adaptation, while her sports romance series Gods of the Game has been aquired by Amazon MGM for a film trilogy.

While these are still in development, with no confirmed release dates set, fans of the romance author still have plenty to look forward to, starting with her October 27th release – The Keeper. The third and final installment of the Gods of the Game series, The Keeper picks up this World Cup story with Noah Wilson, and with forbidden love, nanny/employer, single dad, and grumpy MMC tropes.

Read the full details here:

He can resist any woman in the world…except for the one he shouldn’t want.

Famed goalkeeper Noah Wilson doesn’t do relationships or complications. The only thing the grumpy single dad wants is to do his job and spend more time with his daughter.

Unfortunately, his bachelor status has made it impossible to find the right nanny for her. With the World Cup looming and a string of fired nannies in his wake, he has no choice but to hire the last person he wants close to his orbit.

Carina is too stubborn and far too appealing for her own good, but she’s also a natural with his daughter.

And the way his heart skips a beat whenever she’s around? That’s nothing more than a coincidence. He’s sure of it.

***

Carina Vu has a problem. She’s worked multiple jobs and saved up for years to fulfill her childhood dream of visiting Antarctica, but just when she’s close, an unexpected emergency wipes her account clean.

Now, she’s back to square one. The clock is ticking, and she needs another job ASAP. Her best (and only) option is to nanny for Noah, the brooding athlete whom she’s convinced hates her.

But the more time she spends with him and his adorable daughter, the more cracks she sees in his gruff exterior. And the man underneath all that grumpiness? He’s enough to make her rethink everything—including what (and who) it is that she actually wants.

Ahead of the release of The Keeper, ScreenRant sat down with Huang to talk about her upcoming screen adaptations, what’s next, and of course, her own favorite romance recommendations for fans.

ScreenRant: We’re very excited about The Keeper and the wrap-up of Gods of the Game. It’s a shorter series for you. Twisted was four books, and Kings of Sin is five. What made you want to write a tighter series?

Ana Huang: I think for me, sports romance is definitely a departure from what I usually write. But it was something that I was really interested in, just because I thought it would be fun to kind of explore that found family angle, and then also to challenge myself to write something a little outside of the box. But even when I was thinking about this series in my head, it was always a trilogy because it’s all based on different positions that they play. And obviously, there are more than three positions in football (or soccer, as we call it here in the U.S). But three felt like a good number, and I think it was I think it was the right choice.

SR: This is your first time writing a child as a main character, and that’s obviously like a big departure for you. How did you feel about that about that? What surprised you about writing the daughter?

AH: It was definitely hard. I don’t have children, and it was hard for me because she’s also a little bit older than I think a lot of kids in single-parent romances tend to be. She’s 11, and first I was like, okay, how do 11-year-olds act? How do they talk? Luckily, I have a little cousin who is 12, and so in my head I was like, “Okay, does this sound like something they would say? Is this like too mature? Is this like not mature enough? Is it too childish?” So there’s that aspect, and then obviously in romances, it tends to be about the couple, right? It’s about the two leads, but when you introduce a single-parent romance, the children or the child is also really important. So it almost becomes like a relationship between three people because now it’s not just about how these two leads feel about each other, but I also have to take into account another person. And so that was a very different dynamic for me to write. But I thought it was really fun because I love Evie so much. I think her relationship individually with both Noah and Karina is so sweet, and she is a little bit more on the mature side for an 11-year-old. But it was interesting for sure.

SR: How did you deal with in terms of language? Like, how did you deal with slang? Because knowing this is going to be turned into a movie, and slang moves very quickly, it’s very easy to have that feel fake, like a grown-up writing language that they don’t really know. How did you handle that?

AH: [laughs] It’s like that meme with Steve Buscemi, where he’s like, hello my fellow kids! That is not the energy I want.

I actually try to steer away in all of my books. Obviously, I think some of it seeps through just because it’s the way I talk, but I try to really stay away from using very obvious slang. I try to keep the language as neutral and classic as possible because by the time the book comes out, you’re reading it and you’re like, oh my god, this this feels kind of dated, you know? Or people don’t understand it. So I try to steer away, and also from pop culture references. Obviously there are some, but it’s not something I really lean into.

SR: Speaking of pop culture references, obviously Twisted Love was written a while ago, and there is a pop culture reference to Nagini in it. Given everything that has happened with Rowling, is that something that you would take out if you were writing that again today?

AH: Yeah, I would. I wrote that a long time ago, and I think that is something that I would not put in today, because of everything that has happened with that world, but you know back then I wasn’t even really thinking about it because it was such a common touchpoint. But as I’ve learned more and been more conscious of these things, it is something that I definitely keep in mind more.

SR: Back to Gods Of The Game, and the movie. Can you give us any updates on the movie situation right now?

AH: I’m super excited. I can’t give away much. We are in the process, it’s moving along. It’s still sort of in the early stages, script writing, all of that. But I am very excited to see all of the characters and the Black Castle family come to life on screen. And yeah, I think it’s been a while since we’ve had like a soccer, football element on screen. Obviously we have Ted Lasso, but in terms of movies.

SR: What about updates on the Twisted TV series?

AH: That is a little further along than Gods of the Game. It was optioned first, so we are much further along on that adaptation. I really can’t say much about it. I’m so sorry, but we are moving speedily. So that’s all I can say.

SR: With both of those, are there any particular scenes that you think are going to be really difficult to adapt, or any particular scenes that you are like, yes, we have to find a way to keep this in?

AH: I mean that’s always the difficult part about adaptations, right? Because it’s a different medium, so you have to think about it in a different way, and also some things that might read really well in a book, maybe it won’t translate as well on screen. But for me, there are huge touchpoints that I think people would really riot if they weren’t in there. For example, in Twisted Love, the arc of him going to London and the grovel and all of that is like a must for me. Maybe like certain details can be expanded or changed for screen, but that general arc of that story has to be there. And this is a smaller detail, but her red velvet cookies that she brings to him is not a huge thing in terms of the plot, but it is such a fan favorite and sort of like an iconic image for the book. It just has to be like red velvet cupcakes.

And the hard part about adapting romance is that so much of it is internal. When they do things, you understand their reasoning, you understand their mindset and why they act the way that they do, but you don’t have that when you’re on screen. And so I think the hard part of that is how to convey that sort of interiority. And if it’s not possible to convey it, do you have to change some of the actions or the dialog a little bit so that it reflects their intentions a little bit better? It’s a fine line.]

Ana Huang’s Essential Romance Recommendations

Crazy Rich Asians (Kevin Kwan)

Crazy Rich Asians is always such a classic for me. It is close to what my books are, especially for the Kings of Sin series. Everyone is always saying [that series] gives Crazy Rich Asians vibes. I have watched it so many times. I watched it in theaters, and it’s my go-to plane movie. It just has everything! It has The romance, it has the glamor, it has the travel. But there’s also a depth to it in terms of culture and family, which I really relate to as an Asian American, and so I just absolutely love that movie. that wedding scene with Colin and Araminta is iconic.

The Holiday

As we come up on the holidays, one of my classics is always The Holiday. The Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law drama. It is my comfort watch. Every year I kick off the festivities [by watching it]. The beginning of December, it’s time for my rewatch, and I think it is just so cozy. It feels so good, and it always makes me want to rent a cottage in the English countryside. Maybe I will meet my Jude Law! You know, possibly. So that’s super cozy.

Where The Blame Lies (Mia Sheridan)

So this is a little bit on the darker side. It’s a romantic suspense, and it’s about this college student who is kidnapped and held captive, but then she eventually escapes. Then years later, there is another crime that is very similar to the one that she escaped from. So she pairs up with a detective, and he protects her. They try to outwit the killer, and then they have romantic feelings develop.

My books also have some suspense elements, like not as much as this one, but I always enjoy a good mystery thriller. I tend to like books that have a very strong external plot as well, and I think this one really kept me on the edge of the seat, and the whole time I was trying to guess who the actual culprit was, which is super fun. I almost got it, but I wasn’t fully right.

This Time It’s Real (Anne Liang)

And then on the opposite end of the spectrum is a YA romance book. I really love all of her books, but this is YA, so the protagonist Eliza is a high schooler. She’s 17 years old, and then she ends up writing this personal essay about falling in love. But the problem is she made it all up, she’s never been in a relationship, and it goes viral. And she gets all these opportunities because of the essay. So she ends up getting into a fake relationship with her classmate, who also happens to be a very famous actor.

I love a good fake dating trope, and the two of them are so sweet. And it’s also not just about romance, but also identity and family and self-esteem and all of that. And I think it is just really heartwarming, really sweet, and perfect for people of all ages. Even if you’re not a teenager, I think it’s a really good read. So highly recommend that as well.

Ever After

To me personally, this is one of my favorite Cinderella retellings, ever. It’s a little different from the others because it doesn’t have actual magic. It’s very grounded. But I think that’s what I love most about it, besides the fact that I think the two actors that play Danielle and Prince Henry have so much chemistry. It just feels so grounded. I feel like the character is really empowering. There’s some great relationships in it. There’s bits of humor. There’s like a great emotional journey, and so overall, it’s just like a really well-rounded story. And I think at the end, I love the comeuppance as well. When I’m watching something where there’s an antagonist, I need the emotional payoff of a good comeuppance at the end, and I feel like this delivered it for me as well. In addition to the happily ever after, of course, we have to have the happily ever after.