Hi, Janice Cole Hopkins here and I am thrilled to be a guest blogger on Petticoats & Pistols. It’s my fifth time doing this over the years, and I very much appreciate the opportunity of visiting with you. I’m a huge fan of Western romance because it’s what I mainly read and write. Of course, I wear several hats, and I also enjoy the P & P blogs daily as a reader. Even though I’m a prolific writer who published 16 books last year, I’m also an avid reader who reads over 365 books a year. I know because I leave at least one review each day on Amazon for the books I’ve just finished. Before you question my sanity, I agree that 16 books were too many for any one year, and I have vowed to slow down. I will only be publishing eleven books in 2024 and eleven in 2025. LOL.
I have now published three books in the multiple-author project, The Matchmakers – Agatha Returns. I’d like to share my new release about a blacksmith, A Match for Silas, with you today. Silas has abandonment issues since his beautiful mother left him and his father when he was just a child. His father was also a blacksmith, and his mother didn’t like that lifestyle.
Silas appeared briefly in both A Match for Marshall and A Match for Cord, but now, he tells his own story. When even Vanessa, the town flirt, wants nothing to do with him, Silas decides to follow Marshall’s and Cord’s examples and write to the matchmaker. But when his intended bride comes, she’s exactly what he doesn’t
want, someone from high society. However, her circumstances prevent Jacqueline from returning home, so what’s he to do? They decide to take things slowly while he courts her, but he’s so afraid she won’t be happy with a lowly blacksmith that he jumps to conclusions.
For my readers, this will be a series within a series because all eight of my books in this MAP are set in Pinyon Falls, in the beautiful Hill Country of Texas. A Match for Marshall and a Match for Cord have already published, and Marshall and Callie and Cord and Moriah also make appearances in this new book. Then, there will be five more of my books to come in the series, the last being published in August of 2005. The next book is A Match for Merle. This will be Vanessa’s story, and I’ve already written the rough draft. It’s on Amazon preorder now and will be published on July 1. However, any of my books can be read as standalones because they all have a definite ending and never require you to read another book to tie up loose ends.
Do you like a series of books set in the same place that has former characters appearing again? Would you rather read a series like this or a standalone book? What is the longest series you’ve ever read (how many books)?
Those who answer all three questions in a comment will be entered into a drawing for a Kindle copy of A Match for Silas.
Click to Buy–A Match for Silas
Click to Buy–A Match for Merle
I love series set in the same place with characters visiting and I like standalones.
I think the Fool’s Gold series was the longest I read. Not sure of the number of books. A lot.
If that’s by Susan Mallery, I think it’s 20 books. That is a long series.
Do you like a series of books set in the same place that has former characters appearing again? Yes.
Would you rather read a series like this or a standalone book? I read and enjoy both.
What is the longest series you’ve ever read (how many books)? The Mrs. Murphy series by Rita Mae Brown (#32 is in processing at our public library, Feline Fatale).
That is a long series. I think most of us avid readers read and enjoy both series and standalones. I do, but I like having all the books in a series before I begin because I read fast.
I don’t mind if it’s a series or a stand alone, as long as it’s clean & well written. The longest book I’ve read (and my favorite novel) is Les Miserables (unabridged). That thing is a tome!
I agree it needs to be clean and preferably Christian for me.
Enjoy both equally. Katie Burkholder series. Yes i like series set in a former characters place.
I’m not familiar with that series. I’ll have to check it out.
Linda Castillo is the author. It’s about a former amish woman who is chief of police in the town she was raised in. Suspense thriller.
I love a series where you get to know all the characters and their stories. It almost feels like they are family.
That’s good to know, and I feel the same way.
don’t mind
standalone
can’t remember, 5 books
At least you’re reading.
I love a good long series of 10 or more books and revisiting previous characters too
Many of the multiple-author series are long.
I enjoy both. I love a good series, but sometimes you want to read about new places and new characters.
That’s certainly understandable.
I like both, but I usually read stand alones for several reasons. 1. I like to continue the reading immediately and it is not available. 2. Sometimes the cost could be a little expensive. The longest series I have read is probably about 6 books.
Those are good reasons.
I enjoy both but prefer stand alone because you don’t have to wait to read the rest of the story. A lot of time I only get to read a few books of the series and never get to finish the whole series. I guess about 5 or 6 books would the most I have read in a series.
I save those in a continuing series until I have them all, so I understand what you’re saying.
1-Do you like a series of books set in the same place that has former characters appearing again? I do like these series. 2-Would you rather read a series like this or a standalone book? from time to time I also enjoy these books as I dont need to remember other names etc. 3-What is the longest series you’ve ever read (how many books)? Oh goodness, I am not sure, I have read so many series over the many years. I am thinking about 8. quilting dash lady at comcast dot net
Many of us enjoy them both.
I really like series that are set in the same location with previous main characters making an appearance in the current book, but I enjoy stand-alone books equally.
The longest series that I’ve read all the books in are a couple 12-book series by Jessie Gussman:
Coming Home to North Dakota
Flyboys of Sweet Briar Ranch in North Dakota
I like Jessie’s books, too, and have read many of them.
I actually like both a series and a standalone book. I like getting to know all the characters in a book and like a series where you find out what happens to all the characters that are introduced. I have read several series a lot in the love inspired harlequin suspense historical and love inspired series. I would say six in the Gilbert Morris Dani Ross mystery series.
I read both too. It’s good to have variety.
I really enjoy a series, providing I can find all in the series and read in order. A stand alone is quite agreeable to me, except when I reach the end and want more, more, more of these characters and their lives.
I like to wait until I have the whole series too.
Sorry, I didn’t finish reading your questions before I replied. I have read 6 books in a series. Have a blesse day.
No proble.
I LOVE series set in the same place with recurring characters, as long as the recurring characters stories aren’t re-told in detail! I read series and standalones, as long as I’m reading, I’m not too picky! The longest series I’ve read has a total of at least 46 books, and I’ve read 43; they’re written by different authors. I happen to have those 43, too. I’m reading one as the books are released that is going to have 26 when it ends, and another series has number 10 releasing next month, and the author hasn’t said how many books will be in that series. All of them can be read as standalones, though you get a better experience if you read all of them in order.
Wow! 46 is a big series, but I’m involved in some of those big ones too.
Series are okay but 4 max for me. I’ve read several that are closer to 8 but by the time they are all released I’m ready to be done with them.
I can see getting ready to move on to something else. However, the books in the multiple-author projects are often more like individual standalones, so they’re sometimes different.
Good morning, wow 16 books in one year that is really alot and good for you and all us readers!! Yes I love book series set in the same place and with the same characters, I love knowing what is going on with the characters. I like both series and standalone, as I alternate between the 2 when I read. I will read a series and then a standalone and vice versa. The longest series I have read was 7 thick thick books and I really loved it all. Have a great day and a great weekend. (I am not entering this ebook giveaway as I am not tech savvy and dont read ebooks at all, but Thank you. )
You sound like my kind of reader. Thanks for the thorough comment.
Do you like a series of books set in the same place that has former characters appearing again? Yes Would you rather read a series like this or a standalone book? I will do both What is the longest series you’ve ever read (how many books)? The George Winslow series is the longest series I have read and I stopped after book 50, I believe. It started back before the Mayflower.
He has been recommended to me, but I’ve yet to read any of his books. I need to give them a try.
Yes, I prefer series and I like them in the same town, family, etc and I think the longest series I read is the Hope Harbor series by Irene Hannon and the newest Sandcastle Inn comes out April 2. The first one in the series is Hope Harbor and in my opinion, do not have to read in order. It’s a closed door romance series.
I’ve read quite a few by Irene Hammon, and I’ve listened to the first one in the Hope Harbor series on Audible. I listen to Audible books as I walk for exercise 6 days a week.
I do enjoy reading a book that has characters from a previous series in it. Makes the people more alive to me.
I enjoy a series of books, but prefer a series of only three or four. Standalones are great, too… a little less binding to me. I often feel if I read one book in a series, I need to read them all, & that can be overwhelming if there are too many.
I’m not sure the longest series I’ve read. Eight, ten, ?? I don’t read that long a series too often, & even if the books are excellent reads, I rarely go back & reread them as I often do with a favorite standalone or trilogy.
I don’t usually reread books at all. I have too many new ones in my to-be-read pile.
I like both series and standalone books. Longest series I am reading is still ongoing which is Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen series. It is currently on book #30.
30 is a lot. I consider most multiple-author projects as standalones. A true series to me has a continuing family or continuing characters. But I like them all.
I enjoy stand alone books. There is a completeness to them and I don’t have to wait for anything further. As for a series, I do enjoy them if they are not too long. Some series have many months between books and years before they finish. For that reason, I like to have all the books in a series before I binge read them. It keeps the characters and the overall story arc fresh. With some series it is the location or item that ties the series which makes it easier to stretch reading it out. I just finished a 6 book series tied together by a mystery. These are the series that really should be read right together. The advantage of reading a series set in a small town or within an organization, is being able to “check up” on characters we got to know in previous books.
The longest series I have read is Elizabeth Hoyt’s Maiden Lane series which is 12 books long. I have read pieces of other longer series by other authors, but those were books that stood well on their own, even though you would have a better appreciation of the characters and their development if you had read the series in order from the beginning.
All the books I write have a definite ending, even if they’re in a series. You don’t have to wait for the next one to have closure. The new one will have a new set of problems.
I’m like most of the other ladies comments. I love series & getting to know each character in the same place.
Your books sounds like a Awesome read. However, I’m still a print gal.
I do enjoy a series set in the same place with basically the same characters appearing in all the books but featuring a different person in each book.
I enjoy the series with the same and with different characters. I enjoy seeing old friends in the pages as well. I have no preference for series or stand alone. the longest I have read is JD Robb’s In Death. It is up the 50s.
I agree. I will be writing for Westward Home and Hearts Mail-Order Brides series next year, and by that time it’ll have over 50 books. That’s the biggest I’ve been involved in.
I apologize to those I answered late. I got blocked from P & P with a message saying the firewall had detected malware. I tried to fix it but couldn’t. I’m still blocked at home, but today I got on with my laptop at my daughter’s house, which tells me it must be a provider problem. Hopefully, I’ll get it straightened out soon since I now know in what direction to go for help.