No matter where you fall on the spectrum, the families of Romancelandia have you covered. As in recent years, I offer you additional (or possibly substitute) romance families to spend time with this week and the whole holiday season if you want some extra company.
The Fernandez Sisters from Priscilla Oliveras’s Matched to Perfection Series
Family comes first in the Fernandez family, and these three sisters are close in ways that are both lovely and genuine. Like in any family, there are ups and downs, good times and heartbreak. At times, Yazmine, Rosa, and Lilí hurt each other, but their love and support for each other is unconditional. As a neat bonus, they keep falling in love with super dreamy guys, and the family keeps getting bigger. Read if: You love a big, close, slightly intrusive family. Especially someone else’s big, close, slightly intrusive family. Recommended Read: His Perfect Partner is book 1, and in this series, reading order matters more than it sometimes does. So read the first two books in order and when Their Perfect Melody comes out next week, you’ll be all set for Lilí’s story.
The Kabbah Sisters from Talia Hibbert’s Ravenswood Series
There’s a lot to love about Talia Hibbert’s books, but my favorite thing about them might be the way Hibbert lets her characters be human. Neither Ruth nor Hannah is perfect, but the character traits that make them who they are make them more lovable to their respective suitors, not less. In some books, characters are loved in spite of their flaws, but in Ravenswood, there’s no such thing as flaws—just characteristics that make people who they are. Talia Hibbert loves her characters as much as her heroes do, and that generosity in her writing makes this a family worth spending time with. Read if: You need a reminder that HEAs are for everyone. Recommended Read: A Girl Like Her is the first, so start there, but don’t skip Damaged Goods, a novella about an unexpected character from A Girl Like Her.
The Hernandez & Delgado Siblings from Andie J. Christopher’s One Night In South Beach Series
This series is like an epic family soap opera—there are siblings and cousins and grandparents, and plenty of love stories to go around. No one gets their happy ending without a heavy dose of drama, though, because hurt and heartbreak are also an important element of the family history. Fortunately, Grandma Lola is happy to meddle and matchmake, infusing the books with love and fun, and escorting the whole family to their respective HEAs. Read if: You’d like to spend Thanksgiving immersed in the best possible steamy soap opera. Recommended Read: Reading order matters a bit because of some of the secondary storylines, but if you want to skip around, I’d at least read each sibling set in order. So start with either Stroke of Midnight (book 1), or Before Daylight (book 4 and the first book of the Delgado cousins).
The Twisted Wishes Band from Anna Zabo’s Twisted Wishes Series
Okay, full disclosure: the bandmates at the center of Zabo’s Twisted Wishes series aren’t actually related. But so many of us spend holidays with friends we love—the families we’ve chosen for ourselves—and these books have some of the most compelling examples of found family that I’ve come across as a reader. Ray, Dominic, Mish, and Zavier argue and get frustrated, but they support and look out for each other with a devotion many people don’t have even from blood relatives. Plus, they pretty much live together on a tour bus, so they’re family in all of the ways that matter. Read if: You prefer that your Friendsgiving be rock and roll as hell. Recommended Read: Start with Syncopation. It’s kind of an origin story.
The Blaisdell/Marshall Family from Courtney Milan’s Brothers Sinister Series
Yes, I know they didn’t have Thanksgiving in Victorian England. But if they had, Robert, Oliver, Sebastian, Violet and their assorted friends and partners who get added to the mix almost certainly would have celebrated together. Given the power dynamics involved in this epic historical romance saga, the familial relationships can be a bit complicated, but the love and loyalty at their core is very simple. Milan is also a skilled writer, adept at entertaining readers while she captures the ways our families have the potential to bring out both the worst and best in us. Read if: You’d prefer that your 2018 Thanksgiving experience not be set in the U.S. Or in 2018. Recommended Read: The Governess Affair is a novella that provides context for The Duchess War, but you can start with either. Content warning for The Governess Affair—the heroine’s sexual assault (which happens before the book begins) is a significant plot point.
