Aloha to Bella Andre and The Sullivans

We have two posts today ... and two Hawaiian words!

First word - 'ohana

It means family, including extended relatives and 
even friends who are close to the 'ohana.

Back on December 15, I wrote an editorial piece, Everyone's Writing about Self Publishing (at this link).  I referred to a Time Magazine article which interviewed romance authors Bella Andre and Sheryl Hoyt.     

Bella Andre set self publishing on fire with The Sullivans.   The Sullivans are on tour with Novel Publicity & Co.   I share with you Bella's guest post related to 'ohana:

WHY I LOVE FAMILY BASED ROMANCE SERIES

I love reading romance (I read one book a day when I can!), and one of my favorite tropes is the family-based series. I absolutely love Julia Quinn's historical romance Bridgerton series and have loved taking that idea of the big family into present day with my Sullivan contemporary romance series. 

What I love when I read - and what I want my readers to get from The Sullivans- is to feel like they're a part of the family, and to know each of the characters so well that they can begin to know anticipate what the will start saying and doing at family gatherings. I love it when I'm reading a big family scene and I know, "Oh, this character is going to react like this" or "This character will hate this!" I love it even more when the characters surprise me and I learn new things about them.

One of the advantages of writing a series about a large family is that even as the hero and heroine are having conflict with each other, we can see them being loving towards their families, so we know the depth of love they're capable of.

There are plenty of big family scenes in my Sullivan books for you to get to know each character, what they're like, and how they feel one another. Just like a real family, every Sullivan has a special relationship with each of the others. Smith and Sophie are extra close, as are Marcus and Lori. Ryan and Zach are so close in age that they spent a lot of time together as kids and have a special bond as adults.

Mahalo, Bella, for sharing your love of family based romance with readers!   Novel Publicity is hosting several giveaways at this link.   I am giving away a Hawaiian 'ohana souvenir to one randomly selected commenter.   To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about family series.

2.  This giveaway is open to all readers.  

3.  Comments are open through Saturday, January 12, 10 pm in Hawaii.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, January 13.

Mahalo,

Kim in Hawaii

To learn more about Belle and her books, check out her website at bellaandre.com.