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Shannon Stacey’s Heat Exchange launches Shannon’s Boston Fire series, a trilogy whose heroes are all firefighters-and whose heroines whose sparks set the men ablaze. Shannon talks about why series are so compelling to readers and how the bonds of community can be just as strong as the bonds of family. Thanks for stopping by, Shannon!

Like many of my fellow romance readers, I love series. I love getting to know a family or a setting and seeing recurring characters as they live out their happily ever afters. And, as both a reader and an author, one of my favorite things when it comes to series is exploring the complicated and intense relationships between men. Sometimes those men will be brothers (and cousins) like those in my Kowalski family series.

But other times, a series will explore more of a brotherhood—men (and women) who become a family through a common emotional bond rather than by blood It’s the kind of relationship I’m exploring in my new Boston Fire series, which is centered around firefighters. When men not only live and work together, but go through life and death situations together, their bond can rival that of their nuclear families, which is a fascinating dynamic to explore. And my Boston firefighters will really be shaken up in the third book of the series, when a female firefighter joins their “brotherhood”.

As a reader, one of my favorite “brotherhood” series has always been Suzanne Brockmann’s Tall, Dark and Dangerous series about Navy SEALs, but there are so many of them in the romance genre. Law enforcement and military series usually have strong brotherhood threads in them. There are sports teams and, in recent years, the rise of the motorcycle club romances.

Rather than sharing branches on the family tree, these men share a common experience. Whether it’s a sports team training to win a championship or firefighters working together to save lives, or Navy SEALs who’ve suffered through rigorous training and face down death together, they’re men who’ve come together and been forged into something of a family unit.

When romantic conflicts impact the hero in such a way they could impact the life he’s made for himself, he stands to lose not merely a job, but the family he’s made for himself. It’s a delicious layer of emotional tension that can really elevate a romantic read. When I’ve come to know a guy over a series of books and I see him struggling between his heart and his sense of honor and duty to the men he serves or works with, I can’t put the book down until he gets his happy ending.

How do you feel about series built around a brotherhood of men who aren’t actually brothers? And do you have a favorite to recommend?

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her husband and two sons in New England, where her two favorite activities are writing stories of happily ever after and driving her RZR through the mud. You can contact Shannon through her website, where she maintains an almost daily blog, or visit her on Twitter, her Facebook page, or email her.