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I am Lover of romance, who indulges in the romantic adventures of literature

My name is Renee, and I am the host of this site. I am a 34 year old woman, on the prowl for her mate, searching out the best of books, exploring the wilds of the imagination and delving into the heart of a beautiful love story.

 

Tea and Biscuits: Book Discussion-Families in Romance

by | Jan 16, 2017 | Tea and Biscuits Discussions | 11 comments

What can really make a romance fun and heartwarming at times is to see some great familial bonds grow. I always get a kick out of seeing a great family in a romance series. I have found in my reading, that I always get more a “kick” out a story or even a series when a good family is involved majorly in it. I fell in love with this aspect pretty early on in my reading of romance. There are many reasons why authors like to use a family to inspire a series. For once it is very motivating for the author, the readers and the story itself. It creates a unique dynamic and there is so many ways that an author can use a great family for a series. Another reason I have found is that most readers gravitate towards a fun filled family, or a family with a strong ties to each other. It creates a sense of kinship, love and a strong emotional connection. As human beings, that sense of closeness in a family is what most of us want in our own lives. At least for myself, I always love meeting a family that are close to one another, have fun together, protect each other and sacrifice for each other. Its the epitome of true love, and I love seeing authors create that sense of emotion in a book or even a series. Another aspect that tends to get to me pretty quickly is the way that the flaws of the various family members just bring a family closer. Sometimes these flaws can drive a family apart in the beginning or part way through a series which is based on a family. But sometimes these flaws can bring a family even closer to each other.

 

Now I want to share some examples of some of my favorite families that I have seen over the past fifteen years of reading romance. Some of these families are large and some of them are small and others fit somewhere in between. I love the variety, the knit closeness, the laughter and the bantering, the solid foundations and the strong bonds that we see here. I wasn’t able to list all my favorites but listed quite a few that I love.

My first family I would like to share, is one of the first that made a emotional impact on me. Now this family is small. This series I read many years ago, when I was only 16. After I discovered Lorraine Heath, I grabbed up Texas Glory. Now I read this trilogy out of order, but I am the type of reader that catches on very quickly. So it was no problem, however if you have wanted to read this trilogy it can be read in order or out of order, depending on your preference. There is only three books, and this is classic Heath writing, so you will breeze through these stories so quickly. Now this family, I love how close these three brothers are with each other. Their parents are gone, and they fought in the civil war. Now they have returned, with scars both on the outside and inside. We have Houston, Dallas and Austin. I love the way these brothers defend and protect each other no matter the cost. The way they sacrifice for each other is pretty inspiring. Now this series ins’t fluffy or super lighthearted. It has real emotion but will definitely give you some laughs along the way.

 

The Malory Anderson Family is a on going series by Johanna Lindsey and what a blast I have had with this series. Lindsey has really outdone herself with these fun filled characters. Now I have always been a huge admirer of this author, and I highly recommend HR lovers pick this series out. I do recommend you try to read it in order if you can. You get more background information on the family as you go along. Now when this series became the primary focus was on the main siblings of the story. Jason, Edward, James and Anthony. Now these siblings are a riot and have various personalities that will bring laughter to the story. Now at the beginning of the story. James is a bit of a outcast. I mean we see how his life as a pirate and we have the whole factor he kidnapped (kinda) his niece so she could spend three months on his ship didn’t put him in the best of terms with his other three brothers. Now this niece Regina, is loved by all of her uncles. Her mother (their sister) died and they raised her together. But Regina (she is one of my favorite heroines of this series) she does what is needed and heals past wounds between the brothers and makes them a family again. The bantering between this family is contagious a family full of sexy rakes, strong willed heroines and a family that will do anything for each other. How can you resist that? I know I can’t hehe

Now the next family I have gotten a bit behind since this author has done both a historical and modern, but they are the same family. But the historical is what I fell in love with. This series started out with only four books and has grown into a vast series that I feel I will never catch up on but everytime I read this family I fall in love with them all over again. The McKettricks are a endearing family that you can easily fall in love with. The series starts out with four brothers who may love each other but their father is desperate to get them married. They seem content with their single status. Their father comes up with a devious plan for them to find a wife. Now what these brothers resort to, is quite entertaining. Its a competition and not just for the first to have a wife and child but to inherit the triple M Ranch. And the series doesn’t turn out the way you quite expect it to. But it gives you barrels of laughs, hint of danger and mystery and well written plots guaranteed to make you fall in love with the western side of life.

 

My Next family I want to introduce is one of the more unconventional of families. Its three brothers, all three are bastard of royalty, a father who refuses to claim them. Now this series is a riot, and all three brothers I fell in love with. What is truly fascinating, is how different each book is but you still still the close ties these “brothers” have despite the circumstances surrounding their births. In each book we see their creativity, their charm and secret plan to put their “father” in his place. They each have their own reasons to take certain “action” and how love tends to get in the way. I love the brothers and the women that are their match in every way. This trilogy is different and unique but some of Jeffries best work.

 

The last family I really felt I needed to mention and many readers who have read this genre for a while, know exactly why I am saving this family for last because this family is the most influential and in depth family I have ever read. The Cynster family is the most famous family that Stephanie Laurens has ever written and her best work (although I haven’t had a chance to read her lately). What I do love about this author is the way that she develops this family and how she writes on every family member and its a pretty big family here. There are twenty books in this series. So a lot of love to LOVE here for sure. This family has close ties, plenty of fun alpha males and fiercely independent females to keep you entertained and give you a good time with. Not a family that will disappoint. This family is set in the Regency era, very emotional and dramatic plot lines that are rare and refreshing and will give you a unique look at this era.

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11 Comments

  1. Blodeuedd

    I sadly do not know any of those

    Reply
  2. Lola

    I also like seeing family bonds in books, but good friendships can have the same role for me. And I agree family bonds often create an unique dynamic and there are so much sides to family dynamics that books can show.

    The first books that come to mind is Teach Your Heart by Tracey Alvarez in which the male main character had to take care of his cousins because their parents were dead and slowly began to care about them.
    And Death of a Toy Soldier where the main character and her dad have this great bond, she sometimes gets annoyed with him, but they also have so much in common and really get each other. It was great to see.
    I also read a good book with strong friendship bonds recently, Speak no Evil by Jordan Ford where the three main characters (each has their own book) are so close to each other they call themselves a wolf pack or family at times. It’s great to see relationships like that in books. But sometimes also the more problematic relationships are interesting to read about. Great post!

    Reply
  3. Braine Supie

    I haven’t read any of these series and authors but I’m with you on family series. They meld all the books together and bring the stories to life. Makes it more relatable and realistic.

    Reply
  4. Carole's Random Life

    I love families in a romance series! I loved the McKettrick family and the Cynsters (although I have some of those books left to read). Lisa Kleypas wrote about the Hathaway family in another favorite of mine. These families just bring a special element to the story.

    Reply
  5. LilyElement

    I have to admit, I really enjoy the ones with quirky families 😀 They always amuse me oh so much

    Reply
  6. Karen

    I hate busy body, noisy families but I love big quirky supportive ones. Very few are springing to mind right now but maybe Virginia Kantra’s Dare Island series. The family is very prominent and developed over the series – not just the couples.

    Karen @For What It’s Worth

    Reply
  7. Sophia Rose

    Hey, this is an element that I love in my stories, too. I don’t mind if it’s a family in a standalone or a one that is a series about a family. I like the way certain authors can write family like Mary Balogh, Jo Beverley, Claudia Connor, Carolyn Brown, Lisa Bingham, Tillie Cole, Sharon Sala, Piper Davenport, Cecy Robson, Joanna Wylde, Jaci Burton, ahd I’m sure there are more. 🙂

    Reply
  8. Quinn's Book Nook

    I love family romances! I love them so much! I have some favorites in the contemporary subgenre. I love the Sullivans by Bella Andre, The MacGregors by Nora Roberts. I also love the Hathaways from Kleypas!

    Reply
  9. Rowena

    Ooh, you went old school with the Mallory-Andersons. I haven’t read any of those books in ages though I loved them once upon a time. I love reading about the family dynamics in a family series and some of the fictional families that I love are the Bridgertons (Julia Quinn), the Hathaways (Lisa Kleypas), the St. Johns (Sarah MacLean) and the Claybournes (Julie Garwood). There are a bunch more but I can’t think of any right now.

    Great post, Renee!

    Reply
  10. Anna@herding cats&burning soup

    *huge sigh* I haven’t read any of them! I love a good family dynamic as well. Sabrina’s Hellions is one of my favorites. They’re just so, well, them. lol I need to get the series of hers you mentioned read. I think I even own them!

    Reply
  11. Adria @ Adria's Musings & Revs

    Yes, I loved Sabrina Jeffries’ Brotherhood series! I have to add the Hathaways (Lisa Kleypas) because they are so broken and unruly in the beginning and through the series you see them get closer and closer even as they welcome new members. Also the Seasons series by Jess Michaels is so good!

    Reply

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