In this holiday season, I would like to celebrate one of my favorite tropes: found family.
It seems like this is the time of year we are bombarded with pictures of happy family gatherings, from advertisements to the cozy end of every Hallmark movie. Family bonds and family conflict are also at the heart of so many novels. I even recently did a post on romance books featuring siblings. But for many, the family you are born into doesn’t always lend itself to cozy scenes. Luckily, there are plenty of example of stories where unrelated characters bond together to create their own family of choice. I love these found families, filled with people that let you be yourself. I love that they know you and love you even when you don’t get along. This kind of acceptance is super appealing, as is the fact that you choose these people to be in your life, rather than the accident of sharing DNA. Maybe they are the people who understand what you’re going through due to shared experience. Maybe they just happen to enter your life at the right time. Found families is a theme which can be found in every genre.
General Fiction/Historical Fiction
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
During World War II, Juliet Ashton is a writer looking for a subject for her next book when she gets a letter from a man on the small channel island of Guernsey. They begin a heart-warming correspondence where Juliet learns about the lives of those in a small book group on the island and how the war has impacted them. Eventually, she decides she must visit Guernsey in person and finally meet all the people she has come to care for through letters. The community bonds in Guernsey really are as strong or stronger than family. While their literary society may have originally come about as an alibi to the occupying Germans who caught them breaking curfew, it became a lifeline to get them through the war. While I loved the slow-burn romantic storyline, I really fell for the whole group of eccentric characters in the society. This is the kind of book that celebrates the joys of reading, and how reading – such a traditionally solitary endeavor!– can create deep bonds between people. Read-alikes: For those who love stories of bonding over books try The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons or The Lonely Hearts Books Club by Lucy Gilmore. Epistolary fans should try 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff or The Correspondent by Virginia Evans.
A Man Called Ove by Frederick Backman
Swedish author Backman is kind of a specialist in heartwarming stories where characters build families of choice and this is probably his most famous. It focuses on Ove, a genuine curmudgeon. He’s an older man, very grumpy and stern, and inflexibly fond of routine. And he’s also deeply grieving. So for those who have only seen the movie poster and this think this is purely light-hearted I have to warn you that you learn right off that Ove is looking to commit suicide. But here’s the thing: every time he gets close to doing it, he gets interrupted. And each interruption, beginning with his annoying new neighbors, reminds him that he is not as isolated as he thinks, and that near-strangers can become not just friends but family. I think Backman’s talent of making you laugh while still serving up heavy stuff is pretty unique. Read-alikes: If you want more prickly people and found family try Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine or the grieving hero in The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. If you’d like more of Backman’s mix of humor and pathos, Anxious People is a hoot.
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
One of my favorite novels of recent years has biological family and found family pushing and pulling thoroughly the book. Because let’s face it – the reason many go looking to create their own chosen family is the loss or disruption of family bonds. In this novel Tova is a woman whose life is defined by the loss of her son. She has routines she follows to keep herself moving, but can never really move forward. One of those routines is her job cleaning up at the local aquarium. This is where she comes in contact with my favorite character: Marcellus the giant Pacific octopus. An unlikely… friendship? Well, friendship of sorts forms between Tova and escape-artist Marcellus. But really, Marcellus opens Tova up to the possibility of life beyond her grief. And then there’s Cameron, a young man whose biological family failed him profoundly. He thinks that the hunt for the father he never knew will fix everything, not realizing that it’s the connections with locals like Ethan, the Scots grocer who gives him a job and a place to live, that ground him for the first time. For a special treat, try this one in audio. Read-alikes: Complicated relationships, both familial and community are also found in Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett. How animals can bring disparate people together can be found in How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior.
Mystery
Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
The titular club is a group of four residents in a British retirement village. They get together each week to investigate – as a hobby, only! – various unsolved murders. Like one does, just to keep intellects sharp, I guess? It’s a bit macabre. But it’s also good practice when a murder happens in their own community. The murder investigation is a bit shaggy and less interesting than the characters, which is readers keep coming back to spend time with them. The four residents – Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron – all have their own distinct voices. Their placement in the village means they are more or less isolated from their own families (if they have them), so the relationships they form as a club fills that void. They don’t always get along or see eye-to-eye, which honestly just makes them more like family. Read-alikes: For more of the same humor mixed with mystery plus an elderly protagonist to cheer on, try Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutano.
In Death series by J.D. Robb
This future-set mystery series centers on Eve Dallas. She is the heart and soul of the book and when we meet her in book 1, Naked in Death, she is achingly alone. Fantastic at her job as a police lieutenant in New York City, Eve nevertheless has managed to keep the bare minimum of human connections. The reason why I include these books on a list of found family is that this changes in the most wonderfully satisfying way as the series goes on. The most obvious connection she makes is with the delicious man who she meets on a brutal murder case. Roark goes from suspect to lover to the person who is a catalyst for her coming out of her self-imposed isolation. Not that she comes willingly! But each connection she makes help Eve heal from the terrible abuse she suffered as a child. The mysteries in the series are very well-plotted, but for me the reason to keep visiting a series that is over 60 books long is to spend time with this Eve’s family of choice. Read-alikes: Another strong female cop who meets her better half as a murder suspect is Sam Holland from Marie Force’s Fatal series, beginning with Fatal Affair. Carol O’Connell’s Mallory is a darker version of Eve. Also a brilliant cop, she does have a found family that try and keep her sociopathic tendencies at bay, but whoa is she damaged. Start with Mallory’s Oracle.
Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny
While Gamache leads the way, this is a team series that has strong found family vibes, both among the investigative team he heads in the Sûreté du Québec, but also in the small Quebecois town of Three Pines. In Book 1, Still Life, Gamache and his team head to Three Pines to investigate a murder. While there, they get to know the inhabitants of the small town. As the series progresses, we see more of the way the town is a safe haven for the quirky residents. The Three Pines people help support Gamache through difficulties both professional and personal. While Gamache has biological family that he loves, the extra support of team members like Beauvoir and Lacoste, as well as townsfolk including Myrna and Ruth, make all the difference when times are tough. Read-alikes: This series has a cozy setting in Three Pines, but the crimes and plots are usually anything but cozy. But if you want a small town series that IS cozy and full of found family, a interesting departure might be the Shady Hollow series by Juneau Black, which features animals as characters (think Redwall). There are lots of other interesting police teams in fiction, including the Slough House misfits in Mick Herron’s series who are a super-dysfunctional family. Start with Slow Horses and be glad Jackson Lamb isn’t in your family.
SF/Fantasy
A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
A spaceship crew, alone among the stars, seem like they would naturally form into a family of sorts. I always loved the deep friendships of the crews of the various Star Trek ships, but it is the misfits fighting the good fight in Firefly that really formed my idea of SF found family. In books, one of my favorite crews is that of Wayfarer. Becky Chambers assembled a wildly varied crew for her wormhole-drilling spaceship. In this, the first novel of a loose series, we meet the crew through the eyes of a new member. The ship is supposed to be a new start for Rosemary, but she gets more adventure than she bargained for. If you want something feel-good where the diverse characters are supportive and kind, this is the book for you. Read-alikes: There are so many great starship crews in SF, but I really love the crew of the Rocinante in the Expanse books by James S.A. Corey, beginning with Leviathan’s Wake. While the series has many other stories to tell, with complicated political world-building among solar system factions, the Rocinante’s crew is at the heart of the books. If you are willing to take a sidestep into steampunk, I’ve got an airship crew for you in the Kitty Jay books by Chris Wooding starting with Retribution Falls.
Murderbot series by Martha Wells
The SecUnit who self-identifies as Murderbot isn’t looking for family. At all. Humans baffle the SecUnit, as it is decidedly not human (it’s a construct of human tissue and mechanical parts, and it’s not too happy about the human tissue bits sometimes). But nevertheless Murderbot DOES form a family of sorts, including with the humans of the PreservationAux team they contract with in book one, All Systems Red. Dr. Mensah and her team are the first humans to treat Murderbot as something other than disposable equipment and while they resist forming bonds with them, it happens just the same. Even while trying to decide what it really wants to do with the free will it gained from corporate control, Murderbot also forms a sibling-like bond with the AI he dubs ART (asshole research transport). Hilarious, violent, cranky Murderbot – you deserve a family like ART and PreservationAux. Read-alikes: For another highly sarcastic protagonist that is (no longer) human, the Bobiverse books by Dennis Taylor starting with We Are Legion (We are Bob). For more loners who find family they are not looking for, the Witcher books by Andrzej Sapkowski or Well’s fantasy series about the Raksura.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
Witches in England have a mandate to not congregate and stay under the radar, but when Mika Moon gets a message asking for her help training some young witches, she lets her own loneliness tempt her to try and help. She travels to a remote country house and meets not only the three young witches, but a motley crew of caretakers. I loved the gentle pace and cozy feel of this fantasy, which has a touch of romance between Mika and handsome librarian Jamie. The whole house pulls together when there is a threat to the children and shows how you don’t need to be related to want to protect the family you’ve built. Read-alikes: Cozy Fantasy has been having a moment in the last few years, so hopping into another standout of the genre like The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst is a natural. It also has a lonely protagonist longing for connection and community. TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea also features a lonely protagonist who must care for some uniquely magical orphans, one of whom happens to be the antichrist. That doesn’t sound cozy, but I swear it is.
Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
Former soldier Viv is an orc looking for a quiet retirement where she can open a coffeeshop. She doesn’t really know how to go about it, especially as no one in town has even heard of coffee. Luckily, she gets help in many forms from the locals, most especially succubus Tandri and a whiz of a baker (even if he is a rat) called Thimble. While this is a cozy read, that doesn’t mean it’s boring! It’s not easy for an axe-wielding orc to completely settle down, but finding and protecting the place where Viv finally feels like she belongs is the highest of low stakes. Read-alikes: Certainly continue with Baldree’s other books in the series! But for another small business-owner in a fantasy world building community, try You Can’t Spell Treason without Tea from Rebecca Thorne. Even more sapphic romance and found family can be found in The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong.
Romance
Brash Brothers by Jenna Myles
The heroes of this series of romances (which starts with Kade) all met when they were youths in a group home. Bonded together by that experience and the difficulties of their upbringings, the boys grew to be the tightest of families. They start a business that is so successful that the men are wealthy enough to have anything they want, but that doesn’t change the way they depend upon one another. Having only each other so many years, things change throughout the series as one by one they find women to love, but that doesn’t stop them being constantly in each other’s business. Each book is a pretty slow burn romance, and the series has a ton of humor and some occasional light action. I’m always surprised that more people haven’t read this series, as it’s one of my favorites. Unlike some interconnected series, each book has a lovely core couple, but we still get lots of time with the larger family shenanigans. Read-alikes: Two romantic suspense series featuring men who become chosen brothers are the Men of Haven series by Rhenna Morgan and Cherise Sinclair’s Sons of the Survivalist. I think the guys in Lyssa Kay Adam’s series that starts with The Bromance Book Club also form a great family of choice. They may bond over their love life troubles, but the ties and support continue through the series.
Linear Tactical series by Janie Crouch
I have read a ton of protector romance-type books in the romantic suspense genre that have strong found family vibes due to the tight relationships between a band of brothers who face danger together. If that’s your jam, you can’t go wrong with the books of authors like Susan Stoker, Riley Edwards, Anna Hackett, Brittnet Sahin, or Jemma Westbrook. We meet the Linear Tactical team in book one, Cyclone, which is set in small-town Wyoming. Like a lot of these series, the bonds are formed between team members, in this case of a private security company made up mostly of former special forces soldiers. The reason these kinds of books work for me is that I like how the team members (usually all men, but sometimes mixed-gender teams) depend on each other to save their lives in dangerous situations, but also lean on each other for support in their personal lives. Not only do the teammates remain important to each other, but as they get coupled up, the women they love sort of form their own sisterhood. No one understands what loving a dangerous man is like better than someone in the same boat, so to speak. An off-the-books law enforcement team that has strong found family vibes is the Deep Ops romantic suspense series by Rebecca Zanetti. For a historical take on a group of characters who bond over their wartime trauma, try Mary Balogh’s Survivor’s Club series, one of the gems of the Regency romance subgenre.
VIP series by Kristen Callihan
From a band of brothers to (chosen) brothers who are with the band! Rock star romances are not exactly rare in romance, and lots of the series follow the formula found in the VIP series, where each book follows the story of a member of the band finding love. The band members are often closer than family due to the amount of time they spent together as they come up in the music business. They meet as teens, and grow up like brothers. Not to spoil the series, but there is also a traumatic experience in the VIP series that makes them especially protective of each other. My favorite book in the series is actually Managed, about the band’s manager Scottie, and its such a wonderful realization as the book goes on that even though he is not in the band and feels apart, the guys all consider him family. Read-alikes: For rock star romances with a found family vibe, the Stage Dive series by Kylie Scott is a sure bet. For the messy family dynamics of a rock band from general fiction stacks, Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Reid Jenkins is a great read.
Knitting in the City series by Penny Reid
The women of Reid’s Knitting in the City series don’t seem to have that much in common. When we meet them, they are an established group of friends with a common interest in knitting. But as we learn from the heroine of the first book, Neanderthal Seeks Human, Janie doesn’t even knit. The group’s weekly gatherings are not really about their (mostly) shared hobby – it’s about the friendship and support they give each other. I like the tight bonds of the women in this series. Even as each book focuses on one of the women finding love, the group is still integrally important to the series. They don’t fade away into the background as their own romance is closed and another begins. As she showed in her Winston Brothers series, Reid is great at these kinds of series that show how the family (or found family) is just as important to the characters as their new relationships. Other super supportive friend groups in romance include the neighbors in the Billionaires of Manhattan series by Annika Martin, as well as the LGBT community among the neighbors in Casey McQuiston’s One Last Stop. Oh, and for more LGBT goodness, the guys who share a house in Saxon James’s Accidental Love series are supportive but in each other’s business in a hilarious way.