Pat, they say true love conquers all! I hope you enjoy A Song at Twilight, should you try it. Happy Holidays to you!
Nancy, happy you like the sound of A Song at Twilight. Thanks for the good wishes!
Peggy, I hope you enjoy the book snd thanks for the congratulations!
Sue, working heroines have a purpose that their leisured counterparts somehow lack. And being a jeweler sounds like it has fascinating possibilities for a heroine. Investigator heroes are more frequent, but it's still a calling that gives them plenty of scope to be in the thick of things.
Laura, well, I certainly hope it brightens the day, rather than the opposite!
Emily, I enjoyed the Bridgerton series too. My favorites might be Anthony's and Francesca's stories.
Kamia, large families are seldom dull, I agree! You can usually find something happening somewhere with someone in a big extended clan.
Tracie, Mari Carr is another author yet unknown to me. But I'll look up the Wild Irish series.
Rebecca, score another for the Bennets! It's interesting that they're the runaway favorites from Austen, rather than the Dashwoods, Bertrams, or Elliots.
Linda, Clan MacGregor seems to be popular too.
Desiree, small, close-knit families can be fascinating to read about too, if the members are well-developed. The cover for Waltz with a Stranger has grown on me since the first tine I saw it.
Peggy, humor is a powerful element for binding people together, whether friends, families, or lovers. So is trust, when you feel you can tell those people anything, even if it may not be what they want to hear.
Anna, I think you're entered automatically if you comment. Thank you for your interest!
Debbi, glad you like the sound of it.
Kent, contests can be a lot of fun. I don't win often myself, so I'm always stoked when I do.
Lorraine, I agree with all you've said about books featuring large families. And I can promise that there is lots of family action in Waltz with a Stranger.
Shelly, Anne of Green Gables is one of those books in which nobody needs to be a supervillain in order to be interesting. There are some unpleasant characters, like Anne's occasional nemesis Josie Pye, for example, but by and large, the denizens of Avonlea are likable, if flawed.
Wasanaa, I agree, stories with families have huge potential--they're the gift that keeps on giving. While I haven't read any of the Cynster books yet, I have enjoyed the other families you mention. And Eve finding herself with a growing family of friends and allies is one of the pleasures of the In Death series, especially when you consider how alone she was when it all began. Her world is larger, and she's growing along with it.
Ann, the Bride Quartet series was very enjoyable. And the four women really were like sisters, even if they also had biological siblings as well.
Carla, the Mallorens! Like the Cynsters, a family I haven't yet read about--but no doubt will in future.
I think my own favorites might be the Poldarks (Winston Graham's wonderful saga) and the Emersons (from Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody romantic mystery series). But I'm always willing to discover another clan.
Beth, by sheer coincidence, I recently finished the third book in the Boonsboro trilogy too. Nora Roberts is another author who shines at capturing the close-knit family. I think she's written her share of dysfunctional clans too, but fortunately, they never get the last word in her work.
Nancy, I love Anne of Green Gables too! Her family history also runs the gamut. Her birth parents loved her, then she was orphaned and fostered out, then she was adopted by the Cuthberts, and finally raised a big family with Gilbert. I was kind of sorry that only Rilla got her own book, because I would have enjoyed seeing each Blythe child have an individual story.
Patricia, I've heard about the Cynster family but haven't read any books in that series. I'll have to check it out in the New Year.
Amy, another vote for the Cynsters! Loving families that fight are possibly the most rewarding to read about.
Chelsea, the Bennets are flawed but so human. And so vividly drawn--Austen was a master at depicting character.
Janie, two more fictional families to add to my reading list! And families that have each other's backs are much more sympathetic than families seeking to knife each other's backs!
Clare, I've read Montana Sky. I agree--the family dynamics there are intriguing, and there's a distinct flavor of King Lear about the relationship between father and daughter. Except the father was a great deal nastier.
G S, I think I wanted to be a March sister when I was a kid reading Little Women for the first time! They get so much joy from each other's company.
Bonnie, thanks for your interest! Another vote for the Bennets!
Julie, I haven't read that series, but I observe that a Western setting seems to lend itself naturally to big, sprawling family sagas. Happy Holidays!