Who is your favorite fictional family?
There is something about a big family that I just love to read about. All the family dynamics that come in to play (positive and negative)! I grew up with three older brothers, so I have plenty of material to work in to my books.
I have been having so much fun channeling my love of big families into my ongoing Bloom Sisters Series. I have always loved seeing siblings pop in and out of each other’s lives. Whether they are giving sage advice like Poppy Bloom does for her sister, Daisy, in A Date for Daisy, or joking around, like Hawthorne does as the only boy in a family of six girls! Perhaps my favorite part though, is interacting with the men and women who have built these families and raised the heroes and heroines we watch fall in love!
The matriarch of the Bloom family is Laura. She’s kind and generous, and she can bring the chaos of seven siblings into order with a word. Every book in the Bloom Sisters Series starts and ends with a scene from Laura’s perspective as she prays for and talks to her children.
I thought I would share some of my favorite fictional families from Sibling Sagas of
contemporary Christian Romance.
Liwen Y Ho’s Spark Brothers – I love how different each Spark brother is. A firefighter, an actor, a writer, a food critic, and a singer. The stories they must have to tell around the dinner table! So talented and creative – and all the passion that goes with it!
Elizabeth Maddrey’s Baxter Family – I adore how these brothers interact with their sister. I mean, they moved across the country with her when she inherited a bed-and-breakfast and fell in love!
Sarah Monzon’s Carrington family – Okay, I’m cheating a bit because these aren’t entirely contemporary! These are split-timeline books, and the modern day stories are of the Carrington siblings, each with wounds and stories that will take you on a journey.
Hannah Jo Abbott’s Kelly family – When their parents die tragically, the oldest sibling – Paige – sacrifices everything to raise her younger siblings instead of finishing college. Their backstory gives the Kelly family some of the tightest connections I have found in Contemporary Christian Romance!
Valerie Comer’s Delgado family – Cowboy siblings anyone? I know that not every book in the Saddle Springs Ranch series features a Delgado… but I love this family and I couldn’t leave them out!
And of course my very own Bloom Family. With 6 sisters and one brother, there is always something happening around the farm. I love how each Bloom family members has taken ownership of their own portion of the farm, turning it into a thriving farm tourism business with an event barn, bed-and-breakfast, and more.
I’m only three books into this six book series, but the family brunches just keep getting more fun to write! The latest installment, Poppy’s Proposal, comes out later this month! Through July 11th, you can get Hoping for Hawthorne for only $0.99 as a part of a Christmas in July promotion.
Okay – your turn! Who is your favorite fictional family? Have you read any of the ones I mentioned?
Tara Grace Ericson lives in Missouri with her husband and two sons. She studied engineering and worked as an engineer for many years before embracing her creative side to become a full-time author. She loves cooking, crocheting, and reading books by the dozen. Her writing partner is usually her black lab - Ruby - and a good cup of coffee or tea. She loves a good “happily ever after” with an engaging love story. That’s why Tara focuses on writing clean contemporary romance, with an emphasis on Christian faith and living.
I have not read any of the books mentioned. No one particular family comes to mind.
Hi Tara! Having worked in a bakery and raised three sons, I also enjoyed Elizabeth Maddrey’s Baxter Family. As a German American retiree and Oma of four that just celebrated 7 decades, I enjoyed the Tuscan Legacy series by Marion Ueckermann, Autumn Macarthur, Heather Gray, Narelle Atkins, Elizabeth Maddrey, Claire Revell, and Alexa Verde. Eighty year old Nonna Isabella Rossini and her grandkids is my kind of family. Loved the international component. Travel the world with the Rossini family – no passport, social distancing, or masks required. Enjoy your day.
It’s refreshing how your love of family comes through so clearly. No particular family pops into my mind at the moment.
I tend to like all the stories /series centered around family members
My favorite fictional families are Dee Henderson’s O’Malleys and Karen Kingsbury’s Baxters.
The Spark Brothers are great! I love the family dynamics in Hallee Bridgeman’s Jewel series, and her Dixon Brothers series!! Also, Dee Henderson’s O’Malley series and the sibling groups in different Susan May Warren books.
Thanks for the shout-out for the Delgado brothers! I realized while writing them that I’d never done a straight-up sibling series, so that’s what I’m writing in the next cowboy series (Cavanagh Cowboys). It’s a different challenge (which I like) because all the brothers have to be in all the books, at least partially, so it’s the girlfriends that are the new introductions as the series goes on. Also, I have to know some of the complexities of the brothers’ relationships with each other before the series begins. I’m almost done writing the first book. This weekend!!!! I hope!!!!
Also loved Elizabeth’s Baxter Family Bakery series. Another sibling series that comes to mind is Kimberly Rae Jordan’s 11-book!!!! Callaghans & McFaddens series. It’s a his-hers-and-theirs family, so it’s a great, complex series. Denise Hunter has some sibling series, too, but they are much shorter. Trad pub likes their three-book series, so smaller families work there. Some of Debra Clopton’s series are sibling sets, too.
I have not read these but each family sounds wonderful.
I hope you were inspired to check one of these mentioned! Thanks for commenting!
Hey Renate!
That series sounds amazing! I’ll add it to my TBR list right now :)
It was fitting that I got to write this post shortly after spending a week with all my siblings for the holiday!
Same here. Family sagas are my favorite type of series.
The Baxter Family is certainly an extensive series! I’ll admit, I got lost many many books ago, hah!
I haven’t read Hallee’s books, but I know I need to! And yes, Susan May Warren has a several good families!
Exciting news about the Cavanaugh Cowboys!
Yes, as I’m writing my series with 7 siblings, it’s a lot to keep track of! But as a reader, I love knowing a character well even before I start to read their book.
I hope you found something to add to your list!
I can’t possibly nail it down to any “favorite” sibling series, but I can mention ones I’ve read & loved! The Bradford sisters in Becky Wade’s series Bradford Sisters Romance, I just got done reading Suzanne Woods Fisher’s Three Sisters Island series (On a Summer Tide & On a Coastal Tide), Denise Hunter’s latest series Bluebell Inn series (Lake Season & Carolina Breeze), Jody Headlund YA series The Lost Princesses (Evermore, Foremost, and Hereafter) and so many others. I really love sibling series and the best part about them, is the feeling of being part of the family myself. I really like when an author can suck you into the story so completely that you feel a part of it :-)
I have not read any of these books you’ve mentioned, but they are definitely on my radar now! :-) Thanks for adding to my already toppling TBR pile, lol!
I have not read any of the books you have mentioned , I have read The Flame and The Eagle and it has two sisters in it and there is another book in this series coming up soon, I can hardly wait for it to come out. I have also read two other books that have sisters in them but they are standalone. The books you mentioned sound like very good reads, Thank you for sharing about them. Have a Great weekend and stay safe.
I loved Toni Shiloh’s family in the Maple Run series! I also love the Clarks in Janette Oke’s classic Love Comes Softly series.
I only have one sister, so big families are interesting to me. I love all family sagas, no matter how many siblings.
My “Love is” series (based on 1 Corinthians 13) follows one couple from beginning to date through marriage until children and beyond. Her relationships with her parents, sister, and in-laws are all extra places to show what love really looks like.
I loved Jillian Harts the Grangers. I enjoyed the different siblings and loved how the father also plays a major role in the books and has a bit of a romance though several books too.
There are other families I like also I just cant remember the names. I do like families in a series as you get to know them and still see them in the new stories of the series.
Always happy to help, hah! The ones you mentioned are great, too!
Thanks for sharing!
Yes – the Maple Run series got a shout out when I did my favorite fictional small-towns!
I grew up with no sisters, so I’ve been relying on all the stories from my friends about what it is like as I write a family with 6 girls!
How fun to have a side plot with a romance for the father! I’ll have to check that out!
Ones that come to mind are Dee Henderson, O’Malleys and Pepper Basham has several family based series.