#RomBkLove Day 25: Series & Sagas: Comfort, Continuity, Connection? What is the appeal of long-running series?

 Two of my very favorite series are actually PNR and SFR so I am going to save them for tomorrow's post (Nalini Singh's Psy-Changeling Series and Kit Rocha's Beyond Books).

In the past year I have re-read or binge read a ton of series.  The shared world-building whether in PNR/SFR, Historical or Contemporaries, provide comfort and continuity to me. When I am so exhausted by the constant adversarial change in the world, going back to a familiar & welcoming place in my books is emotionally restful.  After an initial investment, in learning the world-building of particular series, I can sink into it deeper and deeper with each book. The only thing I don't love about series is that when they get better and better and I can't in good conscience tell someone to skip ahead because they would miss the gradual buildup of the story and not have as much meaningful pay-off.

Stephanie Laurens and Julia Quinn's big series (Cynsters and Bridgetons)  are not those kinds of series however. Their series share characters and setting but the books essentially stand-alone. What they share strongly is tone.  These two series were integral to my romance education. They both have things that I have sought again and again in romance: a great sense of the ridiculous and scene-stealing secondary characters.

In contemporary romance, the first series where I really became invested was Shannon Stacey's Kowalski Family books. Centered around a extended family in small-town NH. The family feels really genuine, the family is struggling and chafing because of big and small resentments, and unvoiced feelings. As the series progresses, many of these issues get resolved without them sinking into plasticky perfection. The romances are fun and sexy without being wacky, sweet without being saccharine. I just want to hug these Kowalskis and stay at their inn.  

Although I initially resisted, I fell deep into Kristen Ashley's sprawling and lightly interconnected series. While I read all the Rock Chick, The 'Burg and the new Magdalene series books, my heart is firmly in her Colorado Mountain books. Set in two small Colorado towns, Gnaw Bone and Carnal, these books have strong action & suspense plots, sprawling casts, and colorful secondary characters.  I cared about Sunny and Shambles  and Jim Billy and Nadine just as much as I cared about Tate and Lauren.  These books are cracky and have many things about them that drive me absolutely crazy (house-design porn and macho-insanity) but I fell for the friendships and the action.  I can't re-read one, without re-reading the rest.

What series do you return to? Why read series and sagas?