Review – All Is Bright

23 Friday Sep 2022

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Book Review, Sneak Peek

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All Is Bright, Book Review, Hope's Crossing series, Raeanne Thayne

Return to Hope’s Crossing this Christmas in New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne’s latest heartwarming story of matchmaking at the holidays!

All Is Bright

Hope’s Crossing series

by RaeAnne Thayne

ISBN: 9781335933997

Publication Date: September 20, 2022

Publisher: HQN

Blurb:

Sage McKnight is an ambitious young architect working at her father’s firm who takes on her most challenging client in Mason Tucker. The former pro baseball player is still healing from the physical and emotional scars after a plane crash left him a wheelchair-using single dad, and he’s determined not to let anyone breach his emotional defenses. Sage knows her work on Mason’s new home in Hope’s Crossing is her best work yet, and she won’t let her grumpy client prevent her from showcasing her work personally.

With Sage’s gift for taking broken things and making them better, the matchmaking talent of the quirky locals and a generous sprinkling of Christmas cheer, Mason doesn’t stand a chance against the power of this magical holiday season.

BookShop: https://bookshop.org/books/all-is-bright-a-christmas-romance/9781335449979

Harlequin: https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9781335933997_all-is-bright.html

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/all-is-bright-raeanne-thayne/1141697219?ean=9781335933997

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/All-Bright-Christmas-Romance-Novel-ebook/dp/B09P1NF9KN/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=all+is+bright+raeanne+thayne&qid=1662582061&sprefix=all+is+bri%2Caps%2C109&sr=8-1

Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/All-Bright/Raeanne-Thayne/9781335449979?id=8292090795540

Powell’s:https://www.powells.com/book/all-is-bright-9781335933997

*****

Excerpt:

“We’re now walking into the home theater,” she spoke to her outstretched camera, “one of the more challenging rooms of the renovation. Prior to this update, the room had a series of steps leading to the different levels of recliners. Obviously, that would no longer work for the homeowner, so we chose to remove the steps completely, instead building a gradual slope with room to maneuver around each level of seating. Beyond featuring state-of-the-art electronics that will be easily upgradeable, everything in here—from the blackout window shades to the sound system to the recliners themselves—can be controlled through a single smart home phone app.”

She turned the camera to face her. “Doesn’t this look like a wonderfully cozy place to watch a movie or catch your favorite sporting event?”

She smiled into the phone camera, then moved back into the wide hallway leading to the library/office, her own favorite spot in the house.

“You can see here we have sliding pocket doors that open and close with the push of a button. We chose to replace the traditional doors in many of the spaces with these pocket doors, which gives more room for the homeowner to navigate, and we also…”

Her words trailed off as she heard a sound behind her and turned to see a large, dark-haired man using a wheelchair, framed in the doorway.

He frowned, an expression she had become all too used to seeing there, during their few in-person interactions and their more frequent video conferences.

“What are you doing?” he demanded. “You’re not filming this, are you?”

Sage dropped her phone with an inward wince and stopped recording. Technically, this was still her job site, which meant she had full permission to check on the progress of the work until they handed the finished home over to the owner, who happened to be this man, former professional baseball player Mason Tucker.

With effort, she forced herself not to show any of her dismay. Out of all the clients she had worked with during her career thus far, Mason Tucker was the only one who made her palms sweat and her stomach feel knotted with stress.

“Mr. Tucker. Um, hi.” She forced a smile, feeling awkward as hell and wishing she had waited until the contractor would be here to take a tour.

“I haven’t been here in weeks and wanted to document the progress that has been made since I visited last. I didn’t see any vehicles outside and assumed everybody was gone for the day.”

“I’m parked in the garage of the guesthouse.”

“I didn’t even know you were in town. Have you been here long?”

The last she knew, Mason had been living in Portland, where he had once played for the same baseball team as another town resident, Spencer Gregory, who was married to Sage’s friend Charlotte. Sage knew Spence and Mason had remained friends, despite life circumstances that had led to both of them retiring.

For a moment, she wasn’t sure Mason would reply, then he finally shrugged. “I wanted to be close as we started to wrap things up so I can keep an eye on things and be on hand if there are any questions or problems. My daughter and I moved into the guesthouse a month ago.”

Why hadn’t her dad or Sam Delgado told her Mason was already living in Hope’s Crossing?

Beyond that, she suddenly thought, how in the world was he making the guesthouse work? That place wasn’t at all wheelchair accessible, with three steps leading into the place, narrow hallways and no accessible bathroom like those she had designed for this main house.

Renovating the guesthouse was part of the master plan but not until all the work was finished on Wolf Ridge itself.

“That place is a mess. How are you getting around?”

“I’m managing,” he said, his voice curt. “I can still get around on crutches, as long as I don’t have to go far.”

“You shouldn’t have to go far, from one end of the guesthouse to the other. It’s tiny.” She imagined a man Mason’s size would make the space shrink to almost nothing.

“It works fine for me and Grace. It’s only a few more weeks anyway, right?”

“I suppose.”

Sam Delgado had assured her when they spoke earlier that the renovations to Wolf Ridge would be finished shortly before Christmas.

Sage had to admit, she wouldn’t be sorry to put the job behind her.

While she was thrilled with the way her designs had transformed the mountain estate, working with Mason Tucker himself was another story.

She tried to be compassionate. Whenever she grew frustrated with him, she would remind herself that Mason had endured the sort of tragedy that would have completely destroyed someone without his resilience. While she was only charged with renovating this house, Mason had to completely rebuild his life.

He had every right to be surly and uncooperative.

While she might know that intellectually, it was difficult to remember when she was dealing with yet another last-minute change order.

Still, he had superb taste and basically unlimited financial resources. In a few more weeks, when the job was finished, Wolf Ridge would meet his needs now and long into the future.

The home now featured a new indoor pool, spa and high-tech exercise room on the bottom level, two new elevators at either end of the house and heated floors throughout. Wolf Ridge also featured a kitchen that worked for people of any mobility level and wheelchair accessible bathrooms on each level, including the extensive owner’s suite on the second floor.

Sage loved everything about this house, from the skylights to the beams her dad had mentioned to the wider doorways and hallways. It was warm, luxurious, comfortable.

She wanted to show off her work to the world. The only trick would be convincing the intensely private Mason Tucker.

Faced with his glower now, Sage felt as if she faced a Herculean task.

She had to try, though, didn’t she?

Her fledgling internet show had exploded in popularity over the past year, allowing her foundation and personal pet project to help far more deserving people than she had ever envisioned.

Sage could only imagine the vast number of views—and thus ad revenue—a video featuring Wolf Ridge would bring in. People would love a glimpse inside the house redesigned for the reclusive and private Mason Tucker.

The public still clamored to know everything it could about the former professional athlete who had endured so much physical and emotional pain.

If she could showcase Wolf Ridge on the Homes for All internet channel, she would also bring awareness to some of the issues and obstacles noninclusive design presented to those with mobility challenges.

She drew in a breath, not sure where to start. Yes, he would likely slap her down but she wouldn’t know unless she asked, right?

“The progress while I’ve been overseas is amazing. I can’t believe how different everything looks, with the finish work and the new flooring.”

“Sam and his subs have put in some long hours.”

“It shows. And Jean-Paul tells me he’s going to have nearly all the furnishings ready to go in a few more weeks, except for a few custom pieces.”

“That’s what he tells me.”

“I can’t see any reason you and Grace can’t move in before Christmas. How exciting!”

A shrug was his only response, which she supposed was about as eloquent as Mason Tucker could be.

She stuck her hands into the pockets of her wool coat.

He was going to say no. She knew it and braced herself for it.

“There’s no easy way for me to ask you this so I’m going to come straight out with it.” She drew in a breath. “For the past year, I’ve hosted a YouTube channel, Homes for All, which features projects with the kind of innovative universal design elements we have tried to incorporate here at Wolf Ridge.”

He raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

“While it’s called Homes for All, we feature commercial as well as residential projects. I hope to continue raising awareness of how limiting and even discriminatory some design practices can be for those who are, er, differently abled.”

He again said nothing, only continued to look at her out of those hard blue eyes that concealed his emotions completely.

“I have poured so much energy into Wolf Ridge, and I’m absolutely thrilled with the way the house has turned out. It’s everything I dreamed and more. I feel like more people should see it. Don’t you? I would absolutely love to feature your home on my channel.”

She held her breath, hands curled inside her pockets.

As she might have predicted, he didn’t leave her waiting long for his answer.

“Hell no,” he said with blunt finality, then turned away and started to roll back down the hall so abruptly she could only stare at him.

After a moment, she pursued him. This was too important to give up at the first obstacle. “Just like that? You don’t even want to hear the details?”

He paused and maneuvered to face her. “Why waste both our time? I don’t need to hear the details. Whatever you have to say doesn’t matter. My answer will remain a hard no.”

The man was impossible. Her grandfather Harry might have called him pigheaded, but Sage preferred the more diplomatic obstinate.

And yes, how could she blame him for that? Mason was trying to rebuild a life for himself and his daughter in Hope’s Crossing, away from the prying eyes of the tabloid press. She already knew he was an intensely private man. He had made her sign a nondisclosure agreement before even talking to her about what he wanted done at the house.

She might have been more surprised if he had agreed to let her feature his house on her channel.

Still, she had never been good at taking no for an answer. She could be every bit as pigheaded as Mason Tucker. She figured she had inherited that from Harry Lange himself.

“What I love most about your home is how seamlessly we have managed to integrate the new design into the existing structure without altering the basic style and grace of the home,” she said. “I’m sure you can agree that the changes will benefit everyone who lives here, not only you.”

“Sure,” he said after a moment. “You definitely know what you’re doing. The house is exactly what I wanted. That still doesn’t mean I want the whole world peering in at the transfer bars in the shower or the damn lift I need to use so I can get in and out of my spa.”

Sage was so caught up in the first part of what he said, the unexpected praise coming from her difficult client, that she almost missed the second part.

“That’s exactly what I try to showcase on my channel. When done right, universal design can blend with the overall style of a home or commercial property, small and sometimes barely noticeable changes but enough to make a huge difference to those who need them.”

“No,” he said again. “Judging by how seldom you’re here, you must have other projects. You can focus on those.”

“I have. You can watch the videos online. We have about thirty of them up now. But Wolf Ridge is the most ambitious residential renovation I’ve ever undertaken. Most people would never have poured the kind of resources you have into making such extensive changes to an existing structure. They would have sold the house as is and built a custom home somewhere else. Because of the location and the basic sound structure of the house, you chose to renovate instead. The results are beautiful, and I want the whole world to see it.”

“And I don’t,” he said bluntly. “I don’t need to give the whole damn world any more reasons to pity me.”

A muscle clenched along his jaw, and Sage felt immediately ashamed of herself for her selfishness at wanting to showcase her best work here.

Her motives weren’t completely selfish, she amended. Yes, she was proud of her work on Wolf Ridge. This project, more than any other she had been part of, might help her begin to emerge from her father’s huge and well-earned shadow.

It wasn’t easy being Jackson Lange’s daughter and trying to find her own way in the same field as one of the world’s most brilliant architectural minds.

That was the very reason she hadn’t taken Jack’s surname, even after they reconnected. She still went by Sage McKnight, the name she’d always had. She didn’t want to be known first as Jackson Lange’s daughter, with the weight of all those expectations on her. She wanted to succeed on her own.

Beyond that, she was doing good work with Homes for All. She knew she was making a difference in people’s lives, not only by changing minds about universal design but by changing lives.

Should she tell Jackson Lange that Homes for All was also the name of her foundation, funded by the ad revenue her videos generated online? The purpose was to help people who couldn’t otherwise afford to make necessary changes to their living spaces when age or health issues impacted mobility.

No. She didn’t want to guilt him into letting her invade his privacy by showcasing Wolf Ridge.

“Will you at least think about it?” she finally said. “You don’t have to decide anything right this moment.”

He shrugged. “I can think about it from now until Christmas. I won’t change my mind. My house, my decision. You can take all the pictures and video you want for your own personal use but if you post them online, I’ll sue your ass for breaking our nondisclosure agreement.”

He wheeled away without another word, leaving Sage to gaze after him with helpless frustration.

She hadn’t really expected any other answer, but she had hoped.

Her watch alarm dinged, and she glanced down at the reminder she had set. She was supposed to be at her mother’s bookstore and coffeehouse, Books & Brew, in ten minutes.

She quickly shot a few more images then walked back out into the December twilight.

Excerpted from All is Bright by RaeAnne Thayne.
Copyright © 2022 by RaeAnne Thayne.
Published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

*****

Review:

Thayne’s newest is all you could want in a holiday read. Chock-full of small town charm, with likable characters and a heartwarming story, it’s tender, heartwarming, and brimming with emotion.

Mason is struggling with his new physical limitations, the loss of his wife and his career, being a single dad, and having his estranged mother come back into his life. It’s a lot and throwing in an attraction to his architect is making it even more complicated. But the more time they spend together the harder he finds it to resist her.

There’s also a secondary story of childhood friends who are struggling with letting the past control their present. Together with the main plotline, it helps to highlight Thayne’s feel-good story full of fortitude, grief, and forgiveness.

(Part of a series and can be read as a stand alone but returning readers will enjoy meeting old friends again.)

*****

Author Info:

RaeAnne Thayne is the #1 Publisher’s Weekly, New York Times, and USA TODAY bestselling author of nearly seventy books. Her books have been described as “poirgnant and sweet,” with “beautiful, honest storytelling that goes straight to the heart.” She finds inspiration from the beautiful northern Utah mountains, where she lives with her family. She loves to hear from readers and can be reach through her webiste at raeannethayne.com.

Author Website: https://www.raeannethayne.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRaeAnneThayne/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/raeannethayne

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raeannethayne

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/116118.RaeAnne_Thayne

*****

Spotlight – Summer at the Cape

12 Tuesday Apr 2022

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Raeanne Thayne, Summer at the Cape

Summer at the Cape is the fourth original hardcover from New York Times, USA TODAY, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne. With the emotional pull of Debbie Macomber, Barbara Delinsky, and Susan Wiggs, RaeAnne tells the story of the Porter sisters, Cami and Violet, who come together to mourn the death of Violet’s twin, Lily. Over the course of the summer, the sisters must make peace with each other and also individually with their free-spirited, outspoken, activist mother who left their father two decades earlier.

Summer at the Cape

by RaeAnne Thayne

ISBN: 9781335936356

Publication Date: April 5, 2022

Publisher: HQN

Blurb:

As the older sister to identical twins Violet and Lily, Cami Porter had always been the odd sister out. The breach became even stronger when her parents split up—while the twins stayed in Cape Sanctuary with their free-spirited activist mother, Rosemary, fourteen-year-old Cami moved to L.A. with her by-the-book attorney father, Ted. Nearly twenty years later, when Cami gets the tragic news that Lily has drowned saving a child, Cami returns to her childhood home—her mother and Violet need her.

Lily had spent her entire life looking for something to be passionate about, and in leasing a property from neighbor Franklin Rafferty and setting up Coastal Pines Glamping, she was about to see her dream realized. Following her death, the sadness and grief Rosemary, Violet and Cami feel is compounded by Jon Rafferty, son of the neighbor whose land Lily had leased. Jon, who hadn’t seen his father in years, is stunned to learn that his father is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease, and he worries that the Porter women took advantage of him. But Jon can see that the Porter family is in mourning, and agrees they can keep the land through the summer, and then they’ll need to shut the glamping site down.

Then there’s Violet—the child Lily saved, Ariana Mendoza, is the daughter of Violet’s former high school sweetheart, Alex Mendoza. She could never forgive him way back when for cheating on her, but she is so grateful that his adorable little girl is okay. Alex still has feelings for Violet, but he is overcome with grief and gratitude at the same time for the loss of Lily, who died saving his child.

*****

Excerpt:

VIOLET

WILD, FRENZIED BARKING RANG OUT WHEN Violet Porter let herself into the back door of her mother’s comfortable kitchen at Moongate Farm.

Rosemary was nowhere in sight. Instead, a cranky-faced schnauzer–toy poodle mix planted himself in front of the door, telling her in no uncertain terms that she was an intruder who wasn’t welcome here.

“Hi, Baxter,” she said, mouth stretched thin in what she knew was an insincere smile. “How are you, buddy?”

Lily’s dog only growled at her, baring his teeth with his hack-les raised as if he wanted to rip her throat out.

The dog hated her. Violet wasn’t exactly sure why.

She might have thought he would look more fondly toward her, considering she was the identical twin to his late owner. But maybe that was the problem. Maybe the fact that she looked so much like Lily but clearly wasn’t her sister confused the dog and made him view her as a threat.

He had never really warmed to her, even when he lived in her condo with Lily. Since Lily’s death, he had become down-right hostile.

“Stop that. What’s gotten into you? I could hear you clear back in my bedroom.”

Her mother’s voice trailed out from down the hall, becoming louder as she approached the kitchen, still fastening an earring.

She stopped dead when she spotted Violet.

“Oh! Violet! You scared me! What are you doing here?”

“You invited me. Remember? You’ve known for months I was coming to help you out during my summer break.”

“You were coming tomorrow. Not today!”

Okay. That wasn’t exactly the warm welcome she might have expected, Violet thought wryly. Instead, her mother was staring at her with an expression that seemed a curious mix of chagrin and dismay.

She shrugged as Baxter continued to growl. Wasn’t anybody happy to see her?

“I finished cleaning out my classroom and calculating final grades this morning. Since all my things were already packed and loaded into my car, I couldn’t see any reason to wait until the morning to drive up. Is there a problem?”

Rosemary, usually so even-tempered, looked at her, then at the giant wrought iron clock on the wall of the Moongate Farm kitchen with a hint of panic in her eyes.

“No. It’s only…this is, er, a bit of a complication. I’m expecting dinner guests any moment.”

“That must be why it smells so good in here.”

It smelled like roasting vegetables mixed with garlic and cheese. Violet’s stomach rumbled loud enough she was certain her mother had to hear, but Rosemary didn’t seem to notice, looking at the clock again.

Why was she so nervous? Who was coming? If she didn’t know better, Violet might have suspected her mother was expecting a date.

Not impossible, she supposed. Her mother was still a beautiful woman, with high cheekbones, a wide smile and the deep blue eyes she had handed down to Violet and her identical twin.

Rosemary didn’t date much, though she’d had a few relationships since her divorce from Violet’s father.

As far as Violet knew, she had broken up with the most re-cent man she had dated more than a year earlier and Rosemary hadn’t mentioned anyone else.

Then again, just as Violet didn’t tell her mother everything that went on in her life in Sacramento, Rosemary likely had secrets of her own here in Cape Sanctuary.

“No problem,” she said, trying for a cheerful tone. “You don’t have to worry about feeding me. If I get hungry later, I’ll make a sandwich or something. I’ll get out of your way.”

“You’re not in the way,” Rosemary protested. “It’s just, well…” She didn’t have time to finish before a knock sounded at the back door. Baxter, annoying little beast, gave one sharp bark, sniffed at the door, then plopped down expectantly.

Violet thought she heard a man’s deep voice say something on the other side of the door and then a child’s laughter in response.

Something about that voice rang a chord. She frowned, suddenly unsettled. “Mom. Who are you expecting?”

“Just some…some friends from town,” Rosemary said vaguely. She heard the man’s voice again and her disquiet turned into full-fledged dismay.

No. Rosemary wouldn’t have. Would she?

“Mom. Who’s here?” Her voice sounded shrill and she was quite sure Rosemary could pick up on it.

“I didn’t know you were coming tonight,” her mom said defensively. “You told me you were coming tomorrow, so I…I invited Alexandro and his daughter for dinner. He’s been such a help to me with Wild Hearts. I could never have set up all those tents or moved in the furniture without him. I’ve been meaning to have him and his daughter over for dinner but the time got away from me, until here we are. I’m sorry. You weren’t supposed to be here until tomorrow and I didn’t think it would be a problem.”

The news hit her like a hatchet to the chest. Alex was here, on the other side of the door. Alex, who had once been her best friend, the man she thought would be her forever.

Alex, who had betrayed her.

She had seen him exactly twice since they broke up a decade ago.

One previous encounter had been a few years after he married Claudia Crane, when she had bumped into him at the grocery store while home from college for a brief visit.

The second time had been four months earlier at Lily’s memorial service.

That was two times too many, really. Three encounters was asking far too much of her.

She wanted to jump back into her car and head back to Sacramento.

No. This was silly. She had known she would see him this summer. How could she avoid it? Cape Sanctuary was a small town. Not only that, but his house and boat charter business were both just down the road from Moongate Farm.

The concept had seemed fine in the abstract. Like algebra and the periodic table.

It had been nearly a decade, after all. She was a completely different person from that besotted girl she had once been.

He meant nothing to her anymore. She should be able to blithely chat with him about what he had been up to the past decade.

Yeah. Not happening.

Maybe she could turn around, climb back into her car and go hang out at The Sea Shanty until he was gone.

No. That was just kicking the can down the road. She had to face him eventually. Why not now?

She could come up with a dozen reasons, but none of them seemed compelling enough for her to flee without at least saying hello.

“I’m sorry,” Rosemary said again, her hand on the doorknob. “It’s fine, Mom. Don’t worry about it. Don’t leave them standing outside. I’ll just say hello and then head over to the bunk-house to settle in. You won’t even know I’m here. It will be fine.”

She didn’t believe that for a minute, but she forced herself to put on a pleasant smile as her mother opened the door.

And there he was.

As gorgeous as ever, with those thick dark eyelashes, strong features, full mouth that could kiss like no one else she had ever met…

Her toes curled at the unwelcome memories and she forced her attention away from Alex to the young girl standing beside him. She had dark hair that swung to her shoulders, bright brown eyes and dimples like her father.

Right now she was staring at Violet like she had just grown a second head.

“Miss Lily?” she whispered, big brown eyes wide and mouth ajar.

Of course. Ariana thought Violet was her sister. It was a natural mistake, as they were identical twins, though as an adult, Vi had mostly seen the differences between them.

She approached the girl with the same patient, reassuring mile she used in her classroom when one of her students was upset about something.

“Hi there,” she said calmly, doing her best to ignore Alex’s intense gaze for now. “You must be Ariana. I’m Violet. Lily was my twin sister.”

“You look just like her,” the girl said breathlessly. Her gaze narrowed. “Except I think maybe your hair is a little shorter than hers was. And she had a tattoo of flowers on her wrist and you don’t.”

When they were in college, Lily had insisted on getting a tiny bouquet of flowers, intertwined lilies and violets and camellias to represent the three Porter sisters.

She had begged Violet and Cami to both get one, too. Cami, older by two years and always far more mature than either Vi or Lily, had politely explained that she didn’t want any tattoos because of the serious nature of the law career she was pursuing. Violet had promised she would but then kept putting it off.

She still could go get a tattoo. After Lily’s death, she had thought more seriously about it, but the loss of her sister was always with her. She didn’t need a mark on her skin to remind her Lily wasn’t here.

She forced a smile for the girl. “Right. No tattoo. That’s one sure way of telling us apart.”

Plus, she was alive and Lily wasn’t. But she wasn’t cruel enough to say that out loud, especially not to this child.

Lily had drowned after rescuing Ariana and a visiting friend when a rogue wave from an offshore winter storm dragged the girls out to sea. Lily had somehow managed to get both girls back to safety, but the Pacific had been relentless that day, and before Lily could climb out herself, another wave had pulled her under.

Violet certainly couldn’t blame this child for a cruel act of nature.

Or for her parentage.

Excerpted from Summer at the Cape by RaeAnne Thayne.
Copyright © 2022 by RaeAnne Thayne.
Published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

*****

Author Info:

New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne finds inspiration in the beautiful norhtern Utah mountains where she lives with her family. Her stories have been described as “poignant and sweet” with “beautiful honest storytelling that goes straight to the heart.” She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.raeannethayne.com.

Author Website

Twitter: @raeannethayne

Facebook: RaeAnne Thayne

Instagram: raeannethayne

Goodreads

*****

Spotlight – Sleight Bells Ring

16 Thursday Dec 2021

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Raeanne Thayne, Sleigh Bells Ring

Sleigh Bells Ring

by RaeAnne Thayne

ISBN: 9781335522443

Publication Date: October 26, 2021

Publisher: HQN Books

Blurb:

None of the Sheridan family members has visited the gorgeous Angel’s View Ranch in the entire thirty months Annie McCade has been the caretaker of the property, and she has no reason to believe this holiday season will be any different. After all, why would they visit? Annie knows Wallace Sheridan, the family patriarch who hired her, loved it here but no one else in the family did. They couldn’t face their dark memories of the place. Annie certainly understands their pain–when, as a child, she lived on the ranch, she saw a young and frantic Tate Sheridan come galloping out of the mountains,, looking for help for his severely injured father, who would later die from massive injuries. Since then,with the exception of Wallace, the whole remaining family couldn’t get away fast enough.

And actually, Annie is grateful to have the place to herself–her ne’er-do-well brother got himself thrown in jail over the holidays, and she took temporary custody of her little niece and nephew for Christmas. Until Tate shows up and she unexpectedly hits him square in the face with a snowball! She worries that she is about to get fired, but Tate, after confronting the ghosts of his past, realizes he wants Annie to stay. His big family and their entourage are arriving the next day, and he can’t manage them–and the big, echoing ranch house–without her.

So Tate has a brilliant idea. He tells her she and the kids can stay, through the holidays at least–if she agrees to pretend to be his long-lost love, to keep his busybody matchmaking grandmother off his back.

Annie is at first outraged by the suggestions and then intrigued. How hard could it be to pretend she and Tate have fallen for each other? He’s gorgeous, after all–and some part of her heart had never forgotten their long-ago friendship. The trick, she realizes, will be convincing her heart during the magical holiday season that it’s only make believe.

*****

Excerpt:

THIS WAS WAR. A RELENTLESS, MERCILESS BATTLE for survival.

Backed into a corner and taking fire from multiple fronts, Annelise McCade launched missiles as fast as she could manage against her enemies. She was outnumbered. They had teamed up to attack her with agile cunning and skill.

At least it was a nice day for battle. The snow the night before hadn’t been particularly substantial but it had still left everything white and sparkly and the massive ranch house behind her was solid and comforting in the December afternoon sunlight.

A projectile hit her square in the face, an icy splat against her skin that had her gasping.

At her instinctive reaction, giggles rang out across the snowy expanse. She barely took time to wipe the cold muck off her cheek. “No fair, aiming for the face,” she called back. “That’s against the rules.”

“It was an accident,” her six-year-old nephew, Henry, admitted. “I didn’t mean to hit your face.”

“You’ll pay for that one.” She scooped up several more balls as fast as she could manage and hurled them across the battlefield at Henry and his twin sister, Alice.

“Do you give up?” she called.

“Never!”

Henry followed up his defiance by throwing a snowball back at her. His aim wasn’t exactly accurate—hence her still-dripping face—but it still hit her shoulder and made her wince.

“Never!” his twin sister, Alice, cried out. She had some difficulty pronouncing her Rs, so her declaration sounded like “Nevoh.”

Alice threw with such force the effort almost made her spin around like a discus thrower in the Olympics.

It was so good to hear them laughing. In the week since they had come to live with her temporarily, Annie had witnessed very little of this childish glee.

Not for the first time, she cursed her brother and the temper he had inherited from their father and grandfather. If not for that temper, compounded by the heavy drinking that had taken over his life since his wife’s death a year ago, Wes would be here with the twins right now, throwing snowballs in the cold sunshine.

Grief for all that these children had lost was like a tiny shard of ice permanently lodged against her heart. But at least they could put their pain aside for a few moments to have fun outside on a snowy December day.

She might not be the perfect temporary guardian but it had been a good idea to make them come outside after homework for a little exercise and fresh air.

She was doing her best, though she was wholly aware that she was only treading water.

For now, this moment, she decided she would focus on gratitude. The children were healthy, they all had a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs and their father should be back home with them in less than a month.

Things could be much, much worse.

“Time out,” Henry gasped out during a lull in the pitched battle. “We gotta make more snowballs.”

“Deal. Five-minute break, starting now.”

Annie pulled her glove off long enough to set the timer on her smartwatch, then ducked behind the large landscape boulder she was using as cover and scooped up several snowballs to add to her stash.

The sun would be going down in another hour and already the temperature had cooled several degrees. The air smelled like impending snow, though she knew only a dusting was forecast, at least until the following weekend.

She didn’t worry. Holly Creek, Wyoming, about an hour south of Jackson Hole in the beautiful Star Valley, almost always had a white Christmas.

Annie’s phone timer went off just as she finished a perfectly formed snowball. “Okay. Time’s up,” she called. Without standing up, she launched a snowball to where she knew the twins would be.

An instant later, she heard a deep grunt that definitely did not sound like Henry or Alice.

Annie winced. Levi Moran, the ranch manager, or his grizzled old ranch hand, Bill Shaw, must have wandered across the battlefield in the middle of a ceasefire without knowing he was about to get blasted.

“Sorry,” she called, rising to her feet. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

She saw a male figure approach, wearing sunglasses. The sun reflecting off the new snow was hitting his face and she couldn’t instantly identify him.

“No doubt,” he said, wiping snow off his face with his sleeve. She frowned. This was definitely not Levi or Bill.

He stepped closer and Annie felt as if an entire avalanche of snow had just crumbled away from the mountain and buried her.

She knew this man, though it had been nearly two decades since Annie had seen him in person.

It couldn’t be anyone else.

Dark hair, lean, gorgeous features. Beneath those sunglasses, she knew she would find blue eyes the color of Bear Lake in summertime.

The unsuspecting man she had just pummeled with a completely unprovoked snowball attack had to be Tate Sheridan.

Her de facto boss.

The twins had fallen uncharacteristically silent, wary of a tall, unsmiling stranger. Henry, she saw, had moved closer to his twin sister and slipped his hand in hers.

Annie’s mind whirled trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

Tate Sheridan. Here. After all this time.

She shouldn’t be completely shocked, she supposed. It was his family’s house, after all. For many years when her father was the ranch manager, the Sheridans had trekked here annually from the Bay Area several times a year for the Christmas season, as well as most summers.

His younger sister had been her very best friend in the world, until tragedy and pain and life circumstances had separated them.

She had wondered when she agreed to take the job if she would see Tate again. She hadn’t truly expected to. She had worked here for nearly a year and he hadn’t once come to his grandfather’s Wyoming vacation ranch.

How humiliating, that he would show up when she was in the middle of a snowball fight with her niece and nephew— who had no business being there in the first place!

“What are you doing here?” she burst out, then winced. She wanted to drag the words back. It was his family’s property. He had every right to be there.

“I might ask the same of you. Along with a few more obvious questions, I suppose. Who are you and why are you having a snowball fight in the middle of my property?”

“You don’t know who I am?”

Of course he wouldn’t, she realized. And while she thought of him often, especially over the past year while living at Angel’s View once more, he probably had not given her a moment’s thought.

“Should I?”

It was stupid to feel a little hurt. “

Annelise McCade. My dad was Scott McCade.”

He lifted his sunglasses, giving her an intense look. A moment later, she saw recognition flood his features.

“Little Annie McCade. Wow. You’re still here, after all this time?”

She frowned. He didn’t have to make it sound like she was a lump of mold growing in the back of the refrigerator. She had lived a full life in the nearly two decades since she had seen Tate in person.

She had moved away to California with her mother, struggling through the painful transition of being a new girl in a new school. She had graduated from college and found success in her chosen field. She had even been planning marriage a year ago, to a man she hardly even thought about anymore.

“Not really still here as much as here again. I’ve been away for a long time but returned a year ago. Wallace…your grandfather hired me to be the caretaker of Angel’s View.”

She saw pain darken his expression momentarily, a pain she certainly shared. Even after two months, she still expected her phone to ring and Wallace Sheridan to be on the other end of the line, calling for an update on the ranch he loved.

The rest of the world had lost a compelling business figure with a brilliant mind and a keen insight into human nature.

Annie had lost a friend.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” she said softly.

“Thank you.” His voice was gruff and he looked away, his gaze landing on the twins, who were watching their interaction with unusual solemnity.

“Are these yours?” He gestured to the children and Annie was aware of a complex mix of emotions, both protectiveness and guilt.

The children shouldn’t be here. She had never asked permission from anyone in the Sheridan family to have the twins move into the caretaker’s apartment with her.

She deeply regretted the omission now. While it was a feeble defense, she hadn’t really known whom to ask. No one in the Sheridan organization seemed to be paying the slightest attention to any of the goings-on at a horse ranch in western Wyoming that represented only a small portion of the vast family empire.

Annie knew she was in the wrong here. No matter what uproar might have been happening during Wallace’s illness and subsequent death, she should have applied to someone for permission to bring the twins to live with her here.

Instead, she had simply assumed it shouldn’t be a problem since it was only a temporary situation and the children would be back with their father after the first of the year with no one in the family knowing they had been here at all.

“Not mine. They are my niece and nephew. Wes’s children.”

Tate and Wes were similar in age, she remembered, and had been friends once upon a time, just as Annelise had been close to Tate’s younger sister Brianna. The McCades lived on the ranch year-round while the Sheridan children only visited a few times a year, but somehow they had all managed to have a warm, close bond and could always pick up where they left off when the Sheridans came back to the ranch.

She could only hope Tate would remember that bond and forgive her for overstepping and bringing the children here.

“Henry and Alice are staying with me for a few weeks because of a…family situation.”

“Our mommy died last year and our daddy is in the slammer,” Henry announced.

Annie winced, not quite sure where he had picked up that particular term. Not from her, certainly. She wouldn’t have used those words so bluntly but couldn’t deny they were accurate.

Tate looked nonplussed at the information. “Is that right?”

“It’s only temporary,” she told him quickly. “Wes had a little run-in with the law and was sentenced to serve thirty days in the county jail. The children are staying with me in the caretaker’s apartment through the holidays. I hope that’s okay.”

Tate didn’t seem to know how to respond. She had the impression it was very much not okay with him.

“We can talk about it later.”

Annie frowned, anxiety and nerves sending icy fingers down her spine. She didn’t like the sound of that.

What would she do if he told her she had to find somewhere else for the children to spend Christmas? She would have to quit. She didn’t want do that as she enjoyed working here. But what other choice would she have?

“Why don’t we, um, go inside,” she suggested. “We can talk more there.”

“We won, right?” Alice pressed. “We hit you like six times and you only hit us twice each.”

Her priority right now wasn’t really deciding who won a snowball fight. But then, she was not six years old. “You absolutely won.”

“Yay! That means we each get two cookies instead of only one!”

Annie had always planned to give them two cookies each, anyway. She was a sucker for these two. The twins knew this and took full advantage.

“Kids, why don’t you go change out of your snow stuff and hang out in your room for a few moments,” she said when they were inside the mudroom. “I’ll be there soon to get your cookies.”

The twins looked reluctant but they went straight to her apartment through her own private entrance, leaving her alone with Tate.

Excerpted from Sleigh Bells Ring by RaeAnne Thayne.
Copyright © 2021 by RaeAnne Thayne LLC.
Published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

*****

Author Info:

RaeAnne Thayne is the #1 Publishers Weekly, New York Times, and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than sixty books. Her books have been described as “poignant and sweet,” with “beautiful, honest storytelling that goes straight to the heart.” She finds inspiration from the beautiful northern Utah mountains, where she lives with her family.

Author Website

Facebook: @AuthorRaeAnneThayne

Instagram: @raeannethayne

Twitter: @raeannethayne

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*****

Spotlight – Path to Sunshine Cove

24 Wednesday Mar 2021

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Sneak Peek

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Raeanne Thayne, The Path to Sunshine Cove

Ooooh, this one just looks SO good!

*****

The Path to Sunshine Cove

by RaeAnne Thayne

ISBN: 9781335665430

Publication Date: March 30, 2020

Publisher: HQN Books

Blurb:

She knows what’s best for everyone but herself…

With a past like hers, Jessica Clayton feels safer in a life spent on the road. She’s made a career out of helping others downsize—because she’s learned the hard way that the less “stuff,” the better, a policy she applies equally to her relationships. But a new client is taking Jess back to Cape Sanctuary, a town she once called home…and that her little sister, Rachel, still does. The years apart haven’t made a dent in the guilt Jess still carries after a handgun took the lives of both their parents and changed everything between them.

While Jess couldn’t wait to put the miles between her and Cape Sanctuary, Rachel put down roots, content for the world—and her sister—to think she has a picture-perfect life. But with the demands of her youngest child’s disability, Rachel’s marriage has begun to fray at the seams. She needs her sister now more than ever, yet she’s learned from painful experience that Jessica doesn’t do family, and she shouldn’t count on her now.

Against her judgment, Jess finds herself becoming attached—to her sister and her family, even to her client’s interfering son, Nate—and it’s time to put everything on the line. Does she continue running from her painful past, or stay put and make room for the love and joy that come along with it?

*****

Excerpt:

Chapter One

If not for all of the emotional baggage cluttering up her Airstream, this wouldn’t be a bad place to park for a few days.

As Jess Clayton drove through the quiet streets of Cape Sanctuary on a beautiful May afternoon, she couldn’t help being charmed anew by the Northern California beach town vibes.

She had been here before, of course. Several times. Her sister lived just down that street there, in a large two-story cottage with gables, a bay window and a lush flower garden. Rachel loved it here. Every time Jess came to town, she was reminded why. What was not to love? Cape Sanctuary was a town defined by whimsical houses, overflowing gardens, wind chimes and Japanese fishing balls.

And, of course, the gorgeous coastline, marked by redwoods, rock formations, cliffs.

She drove past Juniper Way, her sister’s street, but didn’t turn down. Not yet. She would see Rachel, Cody and the kids soon, after she was settled.

They were the whole reason she was here, after all. She didn’t see her nieces and nephew enough, only on the rare holidays and birthdays that she could arrange a visit. When a prospective client reached out from the same town as Rachel and her family, Jess saw it as a golden opportunity to spend more time with the kids.

And her sister, of course.

She sighed as she made her way to her destination, Sunshine Cove, still a mile away, according to her navigation system.

Rachel was the reason for all that baggage she was towing along. Jess loved her younger sister dearly but their relationship was like a messy tangle of electric wires, some of them live and still sparking.

She would be in Cape Sanctuary for two weeks on this job. Maybe she would finally have the chance to sort things out with Rachel and achieve some kind of peace.

The road rose, climbing through a stand of redwoods and coastal pine, with houses tucked in here and there before the view to the ocean opened up again. In five hundred feet, your destination is on the right: 2135 Seaview Road.

She couldn’t argue with Siri on this one. That was a spectacular view. The Pacific glistened in the afternoon sunlight, with only a few feathery clouds above the horizon line. She turned at the orca-shaped mailbox Eleanor Whitaker had told her to seek. Through more coastal pine, she could see the house. She recognized it from the pictures her client had sent. One level, made of stone and cedar, the house looked as if it had grown out of the landscape fully formed.

She knew the house was more than five thousand square feet, built at the turn of the century by a wealthy ranching and logging family in the area. It featured seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms, all of which she would come to know well over the next two weeks.

From the picture Eleanor had sent, Jess knew Whitaker House was beautiful. Elegant. Comfortable. Warm.

The kind of place where Jess had once dreamed of living, free of shouting, chaos, pain.

She could see, tucked into the trees overlooking the ocean, a smaller house on the property that was almost a miniature of the big house, with the same cedar and stone exterior as well as windows that gleamed in the afternoon sun.

A big dark blue pickup truck was parked there but she couldn’t see anyone around.

Jess pulled her own rig over to the side of the driveway in case anyone needed to come in and out, then scouted around for a place she could unhitch.

From their phone call earlier that morning as she was driving, she knew Eleanor wouldn’t be here, that she had taken her teenage granddaughter into a nearby town to an orthodontist appointment and then to catch a movie they had both been wanting to see.

Make yourself at home and set up anywhere that works, Eleanor had said.

As she cased the property, she instantly found the spot a hundred yards from the house that would give her a perfect view of the water, almost as if it had been created exactly for her twenty-four-foot 1993 Airstream, affectionately nicknamed Vera by Jess’s business partner.

This job was meant to be. She had already bonded with Eleanor Whitaker over their weeks of email and phone correspondence. This view sealed the deal.

When she was done working each day, she could go to sleep to the restful sound of the ocean. She climbed back in her pickup and backed the trailer with the ease of long practice. Some people struggled with trailering but Jess didn’t. The seven years she had spent as a driver in the military still served her well.

When the Airstream was in a good spot, she hopped out and was reaching in the back of the pickup for the chocks when an angry male voice drifted across the manicured lawn to her.

“Hey. This is private property. You can’t park that here!”

She instinctively wrapped her hand around the chock. Angry male voices always brought out the warrior princess in her. She could blame both her childhood and those years in the army when she had to go toe to toe with people twice her weight and a foot taller.

The chock was heavy and could do real damage in the right hands.

Hers.

“I have permission to be here,” she said, her voice cool but polite.

He frowned. “Permission? That’s impossible.”

“I assure you, it’s not.”

“This is my mother’s property. She would have told me if she had given somebody permission to camp here.”

Ah. This must be Nathaniel Whitaker, Eleanor’s son. Her client had mentioned that he lived in another house on the property and would probably be in and out as Jess went about her work.

Hadn’t Eleanor told him Jess was coming?

She relaxed her grip on the chock but didn’t release it. “You must be Nathaniel. Eleanor has told me about you.”

Her words didn’t have an impact on his expression. If anything, his glower intensified, his frown now edged with confusion that she knew his name.

Despite his sour expression, she couldn’t help noticing he was an extraordinarily good-looking man. Eleanor hadn’t mentioned that her son had dark hair, stormy blue eyes, a square jawline. Or that his green T-shirt with a logo over the right breast pocket that read Whitaker Construction clung to his muscles.

Jess found it extremely inconvenient that Nathaniel Whitaker happened to hit every single one of her personal yum buttons.

“Who are you?” he demanded. “And how do you know my mother?”

Ah. This was tricky. Eleanor was her client. She must have had her own reasons for not telling her son Jess was showing up. Jess felt compelled to honor those reasons. Until she could talk to the woman, Jess didn’t feel right about giving more information to Nate than his own mother had. “My name is Jess Clayton. Your mother knows I planned to arrive today. I have her permission to set up anywhere. I thought this would work well.”

Beautifully, actually. The more time she looked around, the better she liked it. A twisting path down to the ocean started just a few yards away, leading down to what looked like a protected cove.

“Set up for what? Why are you here?”

“You really should ask your mother,” she said. It would be so much better if he could hear the explanation from Eleanor.

“I just tried to call her when I saw you pulling in. She’s not answering.”

“Probably in the middle of the movie. She told me she and Sophie were going to a matinee after the orthodontist.”

If she thought this further knowledge about his family would set Nate’s mind at ease, she was sadly mistaken. His gaze narrowed further. “How the hell do you know my daughter had an orthodontist appointment?”

“Your mom happened to mention it.”

“Funny, the things my mother told you. I talk to her several times a day, every day, and she hasn’t said a word to me about a strange woman setting up a trailer in the side yard. Tell me again what you’re doing here?”

She wanted to be finishing her trailer setup so she could unhitch and go into town for groceries. She would rather not be engaged in a confrontation with a strange man, no matter how hot, who didn’t need to know every detail of his mother’s life.

Why hadn’t Eleanor told him already? It’s not as if the woman could keep their efforts a secret for long.

Still, it was not up to Jess to spill the dirt.

“I’m afraid that’s between me and your mother. You really need to get the answer to that question from her.”

“Sorry, ma’am, but that’s not good enough. Right now, you’re trespassing. If you don’t move this out of here, I’m calling the police. The chief happens to be a good friend of mine.”

“Yes, I know.” Done with this discussion, Jess reached down to wedge the chock behind the passenger-side wheel. “You play poker with him every other Friday night. Your mother told me.”

“What else did she tell you?” He had moved beyond suspicion to outright hostility. She probably shouldn’t have said anything about the poker. She certainly wouldn’t want someone she didn’t know poking into her business. If he hadn’t been so blasted good-looking, she might have been able to handle this whole thing better.

She forced a smile, trying to take a different tack. “I assure you, Eleanor knows I’m coming, as I said. She told me to settle in and make myself comfortable until she gets home. You can try calling her again.”

Or you can accept that maybe I’m telling the truth and give me a break here. I’ve been driving for hours. I’m tired and hungry and I would really like to make a sandwich, which I can’t do with you standing there like a bouncer at a nightclub in a bad part of town.

“I’ve tried multiple times. She’s not answering. You’re probably right, her phone is probably on silent.”

“Look, when Eleanor and Sophie come back from the movie, she can tell you what’s going on. Until then, I would really like to finish setting up here.”

“No matter what I say?”

She didn’t want to challenge him but she was starving.

“This is your mother’s house and she invited me here,” she said simply. “It will be easy enough to prove that once Eleanor returns. If I’m lying for some unknown reason and just happened to make an extraordinarily lucky guess about your mom and a daughter named Sophie who had an orthodontist appointment today, you and the entire Cape Sanctuary police force can boot me out.”

He didn’t look at all appeased, his features still suspicious. She couldn’t really blame him. He was only trying to protect those he loved. She would probably do the same in his shoes.

“Would you like a sandwich?” she said, trying another tack. “I make a mean PB and J.”

For the first time, she saw a glimmer of surprise on his expression, as if he couldn’t quite believe she had the audacity to ask. “No, I wouldn’t like a sandwich.”

“Suit yourself. I’ve had a long day already and I’m ready for some food. And I need to see how Vera survived the drive.”

As she might have expected, his frown deepened. “Who is Vera?”

She patted the skin on the Airstream. “It was, um, a pleasure to meet you, Nathaniel.”

“Nate,” he muttered. “Nobody but my mother calls me Nathaniel.”

“Nate, then.”

She nodded and without waiting for him to argue, she slipped into the trailer and closed the door firmly behind her.

The curtains were still closed from the drive and she didn’t want to open them yet to the afternoon sunlight. Not when Nate Whitaker might still be lurking outside.

Instead, she sank onto the sofa that doubled as her office, dining room and guest space, astonished and dismayed to find her hands were shaking.

What was that about? She had a familiar itchiness between her shoulder blades and could feel a little crash as her adrenaline subsided.

Nate Whitaker wasn’t a threat to her. Yes, he might be angry right now but he wouldn’t hurt her. She already felt like his mother was an old and dear friend. Eleanor surely couldn’t have a son who was prone to random violence.

Instinct told her he wouldn’t physically hurt her, yet Jess still had the strangest feeling that Nate posed some kind of danger to her.

Ah well. She likely wouldn’t have much to do with the man. She was here to help Eleanor, not to fraternize with the woman’s gorgeous offspring.

She only had to make sure she didn’t lose sight of her twin objectives here in Cape Sanctuary—spending time with her sister’s family and helping her client—and she would be fine.

Excerpted from The Path to Sunshine Cove
by RaeAnne Thayne Copyright © RaeAnne Thayne.
Published by HQN Books.

*****

Author Info:

New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne finds inspiration in the beautiful northern Utah mountains where she lives with her family. Her books have won numerous honors, including six RITA Award nominations from Romance Writers of America and Career Achievement and Romance Pioneer awards from RT Book Reviews. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.raeannethayne.com.

Author Website

Twitter: @raeannethayne

Facebook: @AuthorRaeAnneThayne

Instagram: @raeannethayne

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*****

Spotlight – The Sea Glass Cottage

23 Monday Mar 2020

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Sneak Peek

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Raeanne Thayne, The Sea Glass Cottage

Who else is looking for a good book to escape into right about now?

*****

The Sea Glass Cottage

by RaeAnne Thayne

ISBN: 9781335045164

Publication Date: 3/17/2020

Publisher: HQN Books

Blurb:

From the New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne comes a brand-new novel for fans of Debbie Macomber and Susan Wiggs. RaeAnne Thayne tells the story of an emotional homecoming that brings hope and healing to three generations of women.

The life Olivia Harper always dreamed of isn’t so dreamy these days. The 16-hour work days are unfulfilling and so are things with her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when she hears that her estranged mother, Juliet, has been seriously injured in a car accident, Liv has no choice but to pack up her life and head home to beautiful Cape Sanctuary on the Northern California coast.

It’s just for a few months—that’s what Liv keeps telling herself. But the closer she gets to Cape Sanctuary, the painful memories start flooding back: Natalie, her vibrant, passionate older sister who downward-spiraled into addiction. The fights with her mother who enabled her sister at every turn. The overdose that took Natalie, leaving her now-teenaged daughter, Caitlin, an orphan.

As Liv tries to balance her own needs with those of her injured mother and an obstinate, resentful fifteen-year-old, it becomes clear that all three Harper women have been keeping heartbreaking secrets from one another. And as those secrets are revealed, Liv, Juliet, and Caitlin will see that it’s never too late—or too early—to heal family wounds and find forgiveness.

Buy Links:

Harlequin

*****

Excerpt:

Olivia

Olivia shoved her hands into her pockets against the damp Seattle afternoon. Nothing would take the chill from her bones, though. She knew that. Even five days of sick leave, huddling in her bed and mindlessly bingeing on cooking shows hadn’t done anything but make her crave cake.

She couldn’t hide away in her apartment forever. Eventually she was going to have to reenter life and go back to work, which was why she stood outside this coffee shop in a typical spring drizzle with her heart pounding and her stomach in knots.

This was stupid. The odds of anything like that happening to her again were ridiculously small. She couldn’t let one man battling mental illness and drug abuse control the rest of her life.

She could do this.

She reached out to pull the door open, but before she could make contact with the metal handle, her cell phone chimed from her pocket.

She knew instantly from the ringtone it was her best friend from high school, who still lived in Cape Sanctuary with her three children.

Talking to Melody was more important than testing her resolve by going into the Kozy Kitchen right now, she told herself. She answered the call, already heading back across the street to her own apartment.

“Mel,” she answered, her voice slightly breathless from the adrenaline still pumping through her and from the stairs she was racing up two at a time. “I’m so glad you called.”

Glad didn’t come close to covering the extent of her relief. She really hadn’t wanted to go into that coffee shop. Not yet. Why should she make herself? She had coffee at home and could have groceries delivered when she needed them.

“You know why I’m calling, then?” Melody asked, a strange note in her voice.

“I know it’s amazing to hear from you. You’ve been on my mind.”

She was not only a coward but a lousy friend. She hadn’t checked in with Melody in a few weeks, despite knowing her friend was going through a life upheaval far worse than witnessing an attack on someone else.

As she unlocked her apartment, the cutest rescue dog in the world, a tiny, fluffy cross between a Chihuahua and a miniature poodle, gyrated with joy at the sight of her.

Yet another reason she didn’t have to leave. If she needed love and attention, she only had to call her dog and Otis would come running.

She scooped him up and let him lick her face, already feeling some of her anxiety calm.

“I was thinking how great it would be if you and the boys could come up and stay with me for a few days when school gets out for the summer,” she said now to Melody. “We could take the boys to the Space Needle, maybe hop the ferry up to the San Juans and go whale watching. They would love it. What do you think?”

The words seemed to be spilling out of her, too fast. She was babbling, a weird combination of relief that she hadn’t had to face that coffee shop and guilt that she had been wrapped up so tightly with her own life that she hadn’t reached out to a friend in need.

“My apartment isn’t very big,” she went on without waiting for an answer. “But I have an extra bedroom and can pick up some air beds for the boys. They’ve got some really comfortable ones these days. I’ve got a friend who says she stayed on one at her sister’s house in Tacoma and slept better than she does on her regular mattress. I’ve still got my car, though I hardly drive it in the city, and the boys would love to meet Otis. Maybe we could even drive to Olympic National Park, if you wanted.”

“Liv. Stop.” Melody cut her off. “Though that all sounds amazing and I’m sure the boys would love it, we can talk about that later. You have no idea why I called, do you?”

“I… Why did you call?”

Melody was silent for a few seconds. “I’m afraid there’s been an accident,” she finally said.

The breath ran out of Olivia like somebody had popped one of those air mattresses with a bread knife.

“Oh no. Is it one of your boys?” Oh please, she prayed. Don’t let it be one of the boys.

Melody had been through enough over the past three months, since her jerkhole husband ran off with one of his high school students.

“No, honey. It’s not my family. It’s yours.”

Her words seemed to come from far away and it took a long time for them to pierce through.

No. Impossible.

Fear rushed back in, swamping her like a fast-moving tide. She sank blindly onto the sofa.

“Is it Caitlin?”

“It’s not your niece. Stop throwing out guesses and just let me tell you. It’s your mom. Before you freak out, let me just say, first of all, she’s okay, from what I understand. I don’t have all the details but I do know she’s in the hospital, but she’s okay. It could have been much worse.”

Her mom. Olivia tried to picture Juliet lying in a hospital bed and couldn’t quite do it. Juliet Harper didn’t have time to be in a hospital bed. She was always hurrying somewhere, either next door to Sea Glass Cottage to the garden center the Harper family had run in Cape Sanctuary for generations or down the hill to town to help a friend or to one of Caitlin’s school events.

“What happened?”

“She had a bad fall and suffered a concussion and I think some broken bones.”

Olivia’s stomach twisted. A concussion. Broken bones. Oh man. “Fell where? Off one of the cliffs near the garden center?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know all the details yet. This just happened this morning and it’s still early for the gossip to make all the rounds around town. I assumed you already knew. That Caitlin or someone would have called you. I was only checking in to see how I can help.”

This morning. She glanced at her watch. Her mother had been in an accident hours earlier and Olivia was just finding out about it now, in late afternoon.

Someone should have told her—if not Juliet herself, then, as Melody said, at least Caitlin.

Given their recent history, it wasn’t particularly surprising that her niece, raised by Olivia’s mother since she was a baby, hadn’t bothered to call. Olivia wasn’t Caitlin’s favorite person right now. These days, during Olivia’s regular video chats with her mother, Caitlin never popped in to say hi anymore. At fifteen, Caitlin was abrasive and moody and didn’t seem to like Olivia much, for reasons she didn’t quite understand.

“I’m sure someone tried to reach me but my phone has been having trouble,” she lied. Her phone never had trouble. She made sure it was always in working order, since so much of her freelance business depended on her clients being able to reach her and on her being able to Tweet or post something on the fly.

“I’m glad I checked in, then.”

“Same here. Thank you.”

Several bones broken and a long recovery. Oh dear. That would be tough on Juliet, especially this time of year when the garden center always saw peak business.

“Thank you for telling me. Is she in the hospital there in Cape Sanctuary or was she taken to one of the bigger cities?”

“I’m not sure. I can call around for you, if you want.”

“I’ll find out. You have enough to worry about.”

“Keep me posted. I’m worried about her. She’s a pretty great lady, that mom of yours.”

Olivia shifted, uncomfortable as she always was when others spoke about her mother to her. Everyone loved her, with good reason. Juliet was warm, gracious, kind to just about everyone in their beachside community of Cape Sanctuary.

Which made Olivia’s own awkward, tangled relationship with her mother even harder to comprehend.

“Will you be able to come home for a few days?”

Home. How could she go home when she couldn’t even walk into the coffee shop across the street?

“I don’t know. I’ll have to see what’s going on there.”

How could she possibly travel all the way to Northern California? A complicated mix of emotions seemed to lodge like a tangled ball of yarn in her chest whenever she thought about her hometown, which she loved and hated in equal measures.

The town held so much guilt and pain and sorrow. Her father was buried there and so was her sister. Each room in Sea Glass Cottage stirred like the swirl of dust motes with memories of happier times.

Olivia hadn’t been back in more than a year. She kept meaning to make a trip but something else always seemed to come up. She usually went for the holidays at least, but the previous year she’d backed out of even that after work obligations kept her in Seattle until Christmas Eve and a storm had made last-minute travel difficult. She had spent the holiday with friends instead of with her mother and Caitlin and had felt guilty that she had enjoyed it much more than the previous few when she had gone home.

She couldn’t avoid it now, though. A trip back to Cape Sanctuary was long overdue, especially if her mother needed her.

*****

Author Info:

New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne finds inspiration in the beautiful northern Utah mountains where she lives with her family. Her books have won numerous honors, including six RITA Award nominations from Romance Writers of America and Career Achievement and Romance Pioneer awards from RT Book Reviews. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.raeannethayne.com.

Author Website

Twitter: @RaeAnneThayne

Facebook: AuthorRaeAnneThayne

Instagram: @RaeAnneThayne

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/116118.RaeAnne_Thayne

*****

Spotlight – Main Street Romance

08 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Contest

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Addison Cole, Chris Keniston, Main Street Romance, Nancy Naigle, Raeanne Thayne

We’ve seen every single one of these authors before and I’m super excited that they are teaming up to bring us Main Street Romance. For those who like their love stories to be on the sweeter side (or those who just want to read about HEAs in whatever form they come in) will find just what they are looking for.

Check out all the details below and then head on over to the launch party to celebrate!!

*****

Main Street Romance

Love Stores for Everyone from Authors You Trust

Addison Cole | Chris Keniston | Nancy Naigle | RaeAnne Thayne

Launching November 6^th, 2017

http://mainstreetromance.com/

About Main Street Romance:

Main Street Romance is made up of four friends and bestselling authors who adore romance, and are committed to filling your bookshelves with sweet and clean love stories you’ll be excited to share with your best friend, Mom, Grandma, and your teenage daughter, too. No profanity, graphic sex, or violence.

Not only are they dedicated to writing sweet romance and growing their audience with new readers, but they will be building an entire community around the Main Street Romance brand, including giving readers short stories that take place in their very own Main Street Romance world, where new characters along with characters from their prior releases, will appear in stories that take place on Main Street, in Romance, Virginia.

Join them on the front porch for a cool glass of sweet tea, curl up in a cozy chair, and get ready to fall in love with your next favorite read.

Find Us Here:

Website – https://mainstreetromance.com

Newsletter – https://mainstreetromance.com/newsletter/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MainStreetRomance/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/MainStreetRom

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/mainstreetromance

*****

About the Main Street Authors:

Addison Cole is the sweet alter ego of New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Melissa Foster. She writes fun, flirty, and sweet romance with a dash of heat.

Chris Keniston is a USA Today bestselling author of more than twenty novels known to delight audiences with stories of falling in love, family values, and all around entertaining shenanigans.

Nancy Naigle is a USA Today bestselling author. She whips up small-town love stories with a dash of suspense and a whole lot of heart.

RaeAnne Thayne is a New York Times, Publishers Weekly and USA Today bestselling author of more than fifty books.

*****

Launch Party:

Join the authors to celebrate the launch of MAIN STREET ROMANCE and help build your next favorite sweet romance world!

https://www.facebook.com/MainStreetRomance/

Coming soon! An entire Main Street world set in Romance, Virginia, where you may see your favorite characters from each of our series, and meet new characters on their paths to love! A map of our Main Street world will be ready for you soon! Don’t miss out. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter!

*****

Giveaway:

Enter to win a Main Street Romance Prize Pack

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/521ac4c81362/

*****

Book Review – Riverbend Road

28 Thursday Jul 2016

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Book Review

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Book Review, Haven Point series, Raeanne Thayne, Riverbend Road

Riverbend Road

A Haven Point Novel

by RaeAnne Thayne

Return to Haven Point, where New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne proves there’s no sweeter place to fall in love…

Protecting the streets of Haven Point isn’t just a job for police officer Wyn Bailey, it’s a family tradition. But lately she’s found herself wanting more, especially from her boss—and overprotective brother’s best friend—sexy chief of police, Cade Emmett. The only problem is getting Cade to view her as more than just a little sister.

Cade’s hands-off approach with Wyn isn’t from lack of attraction. But his complicated past has forced him to conceal his desire. When Wyn is harmed in the line of duty, Cade realizes the depth of his feelings, but can he let his guard down long enough to embrace the love he secretly craves?

I read Snow Angel Cove, the first book in this series, and then somehow I missed the next couple. No surprise, right? Well, the good news is that it didn’t matter for this story. You can pretty much drive right in and enjoy.

While this is technically a romance, I’d like to say it has more of a woman’s fiction vibe because it is about so much more than the hero and heroine getting together. There is a lot of soul searching going on by both Cade and Wyn. And don’t expect a suspense feel, because even though they are cops there is very little in it for cases they are working. Although she does a great job of throwing in a little danger at the end just to keep things exciting 🙂

After she has a near death experience, Wyn does a lot of looking at her life and making big decisions about where she is & where she’s going. She’s content but not happy and vows to fix that. I enjoyed getting to know her and being part of that journey. She’s a fine officer and a good friend, but she’s just not in the right place for her any more. And it only has a little to do with the crush she has on her brother’s best friend.

Cade had to overcome a lot from his childhood. His family doesn’t have the best track record for staying out of trouble but thanks to the Baileys he was able to turn things around. Except he still sees himself as a no-good Emmett. Unfortunately almost losing Wyn has him thinking things that he shouldn’t and he’s fighting his feelings tooth & nail … of course, he is 🙂 I like that Thayne has his growth be about more than just his relationship with Wyn. He’s got some re-evaluating about his feelings for himself as well.

I do kinda feel like I would have liked a little more to the ending but I think that being a part of a series means that you get some of that closure in future stories as characters reappear in other books. We get a complete story here but I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what’s next in store for these two. And what happens for a few of the secondary characters as well. Which I guess means that makes this a winner, huh?

Book Review – A Cold Creek Christmas Story

13 Sunday Dec 2015

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A Cold Creek Christmas Story, Book Review, Cowboys of Cold Creek series, Raeanne Thayne

A Cold Creek Christmas Story

Cowboys of Cold Creek series

by RaeAnne Thayne

Sparkle In The Snow Leads To So Much More

Celeste Nicholas has always preferred to keep to herself in her hometown of Pine Gulch, Idaho…until she becomes an instant celebrity! When one of her children’s stories becomes a major success, she’s suddenly the talk of the town. Celeste should be gloriously happy…but something, someone, special is still missing from her life. Could the return of her childhood crush be the answer?

Flynn Delaney has moved back home for his daughter’s sake. Yet all the millionaire’s resources can’t help the little girl heal from the tragic loss of her mother. Shy librarian Celeste and her stories do hold some indefinable magic, though. Flynn came home looking for support—can he find that, and true love, in the one who got away?

This is a wonderfully sweet story about love and healing. Flynn’s daughter Olivia has survived something devastating and she’s still dealing with it. He’s back in Cold Creek, after years in California, to take care of his grandmother’s affairs and he’s hoping that the place that meant so much to him as a child can help his daughter heal. But it is meeting the author of her favorite story that has Olivia showing real enthusiasm.

Flynn’s love for his daughter and how he’s devastated by what she’s been through is so touching. He’s trying so hard to help her. But when it is obvious that Celeste is the key, he takes advantage of it … regardless of the attraction to the quiet librarian that he’s trying so hard to ignore. Celeste had a traumatic event of her own when she was a child, which gives her a special understanding of what Olivia is going thru. It takes dealing with the haunted little girl, and her father, to really face some of the scars she’s still holding onto.

I’ve read other Thayne stories, but this is my first in the Cowboys of Cold Creek series. It looks like this one has been going on for a while (this is the 14^th story) but I’m not sure how related they all are. Celeste’s sister Hope stars in Book 13, The Christmas Ranch, and while it isn’t necessary to have read it (I didn’t and it didn’t really bother me) I think there’s enough continuation that it probably would have made this one more enjoyable. So not required, but beneficial 🙂 I got along just fine and Thayne did a good job of relating the necessities.

A Cold Creek Christmas Story is super sweet and just about perfect for a holiday read. The characters are interesting and complex, the story is heartwarming and joyful, and it has that innocence that will make just about anyone feel good. I’ll definitely be looking for more in this series and by this author.

Buy on Amazon

Book Review – Snow Angel Cove

21 Friday Nov 2014

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Book Review, Raeanne Thayne, Snow Angel Cove

New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne welcomes you to Haven Point, a small town full of big surprises that are both merry and bright

Nothing short of a miracle can restore Eliza Hayward’s Christmas cheer. The job she pinned her dreams on has gone up in smoke—literally—and now she’s stuck in an unfamiliar, if breathtaking, small town. Precariously close to being destitute, Eliza needs a hero, but she’s not expecting one who almost runs her down with his car!

Rescuing Eliza is pure instinct for tech genius Aidan Caine. At first, putting the renovation of his lakeside guest lodge in Eliza’s hands assuages his guilt—until he sees how quickly he could fall for her. Having focused solely on his business for years, he never knew what his life was missing before Eliza, but now he’s willing to risk his heart on a yuletide romance that could lead to forever.

I love this idea! Thayne is doing a spin-off of her Hone’s Crossing series featuring one of the Caines (make sure you check out Willowleaf Lane, Christmas in Snowflake Canyon and Wild Iris Ridge). Snow Angel Cove is perfect because it is like a mini-reboot, perfect for new readers and with a ton of opportunities to develop new characters, but it allows you to still keep some of the familiar elements that returning readers love. AND add in that it is a Christmas story full of seasonal warmth and syrupy sweetness … what more could you ask for? !?

Just like his siblings, Aiden is a good man. He’s strong and considerate, with a deep sense of what’s important (even if he forgets here and there), and wants to do the right thing as much as he can. He’s been burned a few times so he’s made it a point to keep his world as small as possible but he takes care of those important to him. Eliza has known a lot of hardship in her life but it hasn’t stopped her from becoming a kind and caring person. She’s a dedicated mother and loves those in her sphere deeply. The two are definitely a strong, solid match and we’re right there with them as they develop feelings for each other, moving steadily toward a HEA together.

The majority of the book focuses on the time leading up to Aiden’s family coming to visit so we don’t get a ton of time with some of the characters that were in the previous series. We do get some insight from Aiden into his family which I think will be a real treat for those who have read the previous stories. And as with some of the other books by Thayne, there are fantastic secondary characters introduced to help play up the primary couple and be potential leads in following books. We’re definitely given just enough to make us crave the next book.

If you are looking for a sweet holiday romance Snow Angel Cove is a can’t miss. And Thayne is such a whiz at giving her readers sentimental reads full of complex and addictive characters, focusing on people and their connection to each other, that you’ll be putting the rest of her books on your letter to Santa. I hope you’ve been good this year!

Book Review – Wild Iris Ridge

25 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Book Review, Contest

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Book Review, Hope's Crossing series, Raeanne Thayne, Wild Iris Ridge

Finally, today I get to share Wild Iris Ridge with everyone. If you haven’t read any of Thayne’s books you are missing out …

*****

Wild Iris Ridge

by RaeAnne Thayne

Release: July 2014

Imprint: Harlequin HQN

ISBN: 978-0-373-77859-1

Pages: 352

Blurb:

A big-city, high-powered advertising executive and a small-town firefighter learn that no matter where you started or what you’ve lost, if you open your heart, you can find joy and love again. WILD IRIS RIDGE is the latest book inUSA TODAY bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne’s charming Hope’s Crossing series.

Lucy Drake and Brendan Caine have only one thing in common.And it’s likely to tear them apart. Because it was Brendan’s late wife, Jessie—and Lucy’s best friend—who’d brought them together in the first place. And since Jesse’s passing, Brendan’s been distracted by his two little ones…and the memory of an explosive kiss with Lucy years before his marriage. Still, he’ll steer clear of her. She’s always been trouble with a capital T.

Lucy couldn’t wait to shed her small-town roots for the big city. But now that she’s back in Hope’s Crossing to take care of the Queen Anne home her late aunt has left her, she figures seeing Brendan Caine again is no big deal. After all, she’d managed to resist the handsome fire chief once before, but clearly the embers of their attraction are still smoldering…

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | IndieBound | The Book Depository

*****

Author Info:

USA TODAY bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne loves words. This led her to a fifteen-year career in journalismas a newspaper reporter and editor. But through it all, she dreamed of writing the kind of stories she loved best, romance, and has since published more than 40 titles. RaeAnne finds inspiration in the rugged northern Utah mountains, where she lives with her hero of a husband and their children.

She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website, RaeAnneThayne.com or on Facebook

*****

Review:

I started the Hope’s Crossing series with book 5, Willowleaf Lane, and I definitely think I missed out by not having read the first four. Willowleaf Lane, Christmas in Snowflake Canyon, and now Wild Iris Ridge have to be some of my favorite stories – the characters are so real, the plots are touching, and the writing is so smooth. I sit down and before I know it hours have passed, and I’m always a little sad when I come to the end.

Although logically it doesn’t make a lot of sense, I understand the emotional reaction that Lucy has to Brendan. Her family history added to what happened after their very brief romantic encounter definitely makes it difficult for her to deal with him in anything but an emotional way. Mix in her current crisis and she’s a bit of a mess.

Brendan is finally starting to dig himself out of the hole left when his wife died suddenly. He’s amazingly strong, and has a great support system, and his family is much better off because of it. They easily could have slid into disaster but he’s done a great job of keeping everything together … only to have Lucy shake it all up again.

I enjoyed seeing Lucy find a path that works for her now, develop a stronger relationship with her sister, and discover the love of Hope’s Crossing again. It’s such a fantastic little town and the characters are so enjoyable. And while it is great seeing how everyone fits together, Brendan and Lucy spend a good portion of it apart (most of the time on purpose as they avoid each other and their feelings). My only complaint is that I would have liked to have seen a little more interaction directly between the two. They have the history but I think we needed to see just a little bit more of the two of them together now, especially with some of their dirty laundry aired and the chance at moving forward in a more positive way. Just a few more interactions between the two would have made me happy.

A small town full of warmth and heart, characters that you would love to call friends, touching family drama and a sweet second chance romance makes Wild Iris Ridge the perfect read for romance lovers everywhere.

(Although this is the last to be set in Hope’s Crossing, I read somewhere that Thayne is going to move to a new town but the first story will include Brendan’s brother Aiden, whose story I am so looking forward to. I’m super excited to get the chance to meet new characters to love.)

*****

Giveaway: