Matt · Elise· Ally· Tante Maryse· Maddy· Sophie· Mr. Laurent· Dr. Klara Keller· Dr. Ann-Marie Best· Rusty
Character Spotlight: Ally Alavro
Mother to Matt and Maddy, Ally Alvaro lives in Collingwood, Ontario, and is a trained physiotherapist. While vacationing in Chamonix, France, during her undergraduate years, Ally met Joseph Ravanel, a local painter and mountaineer. It was love at first sight, but romance took a back seat when she returned to Canada and her studies. Imagine her surprise when Joseph showed up at her doorstep.
Confident, practical, and no-nonsense, Ally is not easily won over—or easily intimidated. Fiercely devoted to her family, she possesses a quiet resilience and deep compassion, qualities that have guided both her career and her life. Though Canada became her home, the Ravanel family’s roots in the French Alps have kept Chamonix close to her heart, binding two countries and two very different worlds together.
Character Spotlight: Matt Ravanel
Canadian-born Matt Ravanel always dreamed of becoming a doctor. While his twin sister, Maddy, chose the life of an artist in British Columbia, Matt jumped at the opportunity to take a position in Chamonix, the very town his father, Joseph, came from. Engaged to the beautiful and wealthy Elise Laurent and working as a traumatologist at the Hôpital de Chamonix, Matt is living the dream. From his gorgeous condominium overlooking the Bossons Glacier and the Arve River, life couldn’t be much better. And now he’s been selected to trial a prototype Nanobot Repair Unit that could revolutionize trauma medicine.
A bit of a rebel, Matt has a sensitive side, though his stubborn streak is never far from the surface. He’s worked hard to get where he is and is fiercely proud of his accomplishments. He and Maddy may have been fiercely competitive all their lives, but where family is concerned, Matt is a real softy.
Sister-in-law to Ally and aunt to Matt and Maddy, Tante Maryse is French from the tips of her toes to the top of her sleek chestnut bob. Never married, her true loves are canvas and paint, and like her younger brother, Joseph Ravanel, she found worldwide fame with her stunning alpine landscapes. But the canvas is not her only form of art; Maryse tends a garden filled with colour, texture, and taste in Barbizon, France.
Formidable, Tante Maryse can cut through red tape with the arch of an eyebrow and a Gallic shrug. She doesn’t know the meaning of the word “non,” loves her family as much as fine French cuisine, and never backs down from a challenge.