I read a lot of Star Wars tie in novels when I was a teen (and some Dragonlance), and my favorite ones of the lot were the X-Wing novels, especially the ones about Wraith Squadron, a new group made up just for the books that was built out of skilled fuckups to give them another chance. It's found family, military scifi, and hijinks, and also did a really good job of expanding the Star Wars universe and showing what it's like to be a fairly normal, if skilled, person in the world.

Also, I agree with your assessment of Hurley's work -- it's well written, but not for me. Too gross, too grimy, too focused on the negative.