The Family You Make is the first novel in a contemporary romance series set in Sunrise Cove, a small California town near Lake Tahoe. There are currently six books in the series, with book seven scheduled to be released in January 2025. On her website, the author promises that “these books truly stand alone.” Unlike most romance series, the characters don’t jump books. The only connection between the books is the setting.
The Family You Make is primarily the love story of Levi and Jane. Their meet-cute is a near-death experience on a gondola high above the ground. This meeting leads to a pretend romance, for the purpose of appeasing his family, that becomes real quite quickly. Secondarily, this is the story of Mateo and Charlotte, neighbors and co-workers who are in a cat-and-mouse-type relationship. Their romance is a much slower burn, most of which we don’t see on page. Presumably, they’ve been at this game for a while when the book starts. Mateo has already asked Charlotte out a bunch of times, and she has consistently refused. No worries, though. This is a romance novel, and both couples find their happily-ever-after.
In Jill Shalvis’ usual style, the novel moves and flows seamlessly. It took me no time at all to finish because I didn’t want to put it down. I also appreciated that the sex wasn’t very graphic. Don’t get me wrong. There was passion and sensuality but nothing so detailed that it turned into porn on the page. And the scenes on the gondola had my heart racing. To me, the only flaw, which wasn’t much of flaw, was that the conflict toward the end felt a little forced and rushed. Some may feel differently, though. Either way, this was a lovely romance novel, and I would definitely like to read the other books in the series. I’m intrigued to read about other characters in this setting without the author trying to force them to be friends with and mesh their personalities with characters from other books.
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