The Family You Make (Sunrise Cove, #1)

by Jill Shalvis

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

🎧︎The Family You Make is the first book in the brand new Sunrise Cove series. My expectations for this one were high and in true Shalvis form, it did not disappoint. The visit to Sunset Cove was filled with heart tugging moments, humour, awesome characters, passion and not one but two lovely romances.

The beginning of 🎧︎The Family You Make saw the main characters, Jane and Levi, stranded on gondola during a freak snowstorm. When the gondola in front falls to the ground, they knew they were in trouble. Fearing the worst, Levi calls his mom to tell her goodbye. But then he couldn’t go through it and instead led her to believe that Jane was his girlfriend. A revelation which made her ecstatic.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, one could not help the laughter that bubbled up occasionally during Jane and Levi’s interactions. These two developed a bond during their hair-raising experience and the fact they survived made it even more special.

While Levi may have survived his time in the gondola, he faces an even greater problem. His family wanted to meet Jane. If only he could convince her to be his pretend to be his girlfriend until his parents’ 40th wedding anniversary dinner.

Jane and Levi were wonderful characters. Jane fears forming relationships as based on her experience, the ones you love abandon you. So she left first. Levi is dealing with his share of pain, but after meeting Jane, he wants to take a chance on love. Then there are Charlotte and Mateo. These two were definitely made for each other. However, issues from Charlotte’s past hinder her from opening her heart. Levi and Mateo had faced many walls in the pursuit of the women they knew were meant for them.

The romances that developed between our characters were sweet and passionate. I enjoyed them both and became invested in their journey to happily ever after.Levi’s family members were a hoot. They loved meddling in his life, but it’s all done out of love. The lengths they went through to meet Jane cracked me up. 


Narration

This is my second time listening to Erin Mallon’s narration, and it was a pleasurable experience. She has a great array of voices for all the characters. Charlotte’s southern accent sounded authentic. She did a great job with portraying the characters’ emotion, which added depth to the story.

🎧︎The Family You Make is a beautiful story that will make you laugh, cry and swoon. Its a story of healing, forgiveness, love, family and friendships. It demonstrates that family isn’t necessarily made up of blood relations. Family represents the people in your life who will stand with you through the good and the bad times. The people who accepts you the way you are. There were so many things to love about this story.  The  delightful characters, the gorgeous setting and the variety of themes highlighted throughout the story.