“Thayne is a master at creating richly dimensional and kind characters from different generations who find themselves facing difficult challenges.”–Booklist With the emotional pull of Debbie Macomber, Barbara Delinsky and Susan Wiggs, RaeAnne Thayne brings readers an uplifting, brand new story told with her trademark charm and heart. She knows what’s best for everyone but herself… … 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?
For more RaeAnne Thayne, don’t miss Summer at the Cape! A poignant and uplifting novel about forgiveness, family and all the complications–and joy–that come with it. Order your copy today!
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A heartwarming and captivating read! RaeAnne Thayne pulls you in from the very first chapters. You won’t want to put it down! One of her best works! Loved it! A must read! This is a honest review of her book I received through a giveaway.
Good book about the complications of family life and relationships told from the viewpoints of three people. I enjoyed the realism of their struggles with their pasts, the effects of those pasts on the present, and the desire to change the future.
Jess and Rachel are sisters whose traumatic childhoods affected them both. As children, they were very close, but the effects of their parents’ deaths drove a wedge between them. Though they see each other occasionally, their meetings are always strained. Neither one knows how to fix it.
Jess is independent, self-contained, and very much a loner. Her business, Transitions, involves going to a client’s home, helping them clear things out, then moving on to the next job. She doesn’t spend enough time with anyone to form a relationship, and that suits her fine. She tells herself she is too busy for a man in her life. In reality, her parents’ marriage put her entirely off the idea of love. Her father was a controlling bully, and her mother believed he could do no wrong. Jess misses the close relationship she had with Rachel and hopes she can use this time in Cape Sanctuary to mend fences.
Rachel settled down in Cape Sanctuary, marrying her high school sweetheart, Cody. They have three children, the youngest recently diagnosed with autism. Rachel is very active on social media, where she has a large following, but the perfect life she portrays online isn’t so perfect in real life. Her quest for perfection has put a strain on her marriage and driven her close to a nervous breakdown. Rachel wants her old relationship with Jess back but has no confidence that it will actually happen.
Nate is the son of Jess’s newest client, Eleanor, and the single father of thirteen-year-old Sophie. He is very protective of his mother, who is still grieving his father’s death, and is suspicious of Jess when she arrives. He has his hands full with his construction business and Sophie’s newly acquired teenage attitude and has put any romantic relationships on the back burner for the foreseeable future.
I enjoyed seeing the various characters establish or re-establish connections with those they love. There are many past hurts, fears, and desires that need to be faced before our characters can move on to the happiness they each long for. Rachel struck me as the one who is most overwhelmed. The effect of her childhood on her is the need for everything to be perfect. Her highly popular social media account portrays a family far from reality, and she struggles to reconcile the two. In real life, she deals with a husband who works long hours, a two-year-old newly diagnosed as autistic, and a refusal to believe that it is okay to ask for help. That attitude puts a strain on her marriage, and she seems unable to change. Jess’s arrival is just one more thing for her to deal with. I admit there were times I wanted to shake her. Her husband was great, but he couldn’t do anything right in her eyes. Though tentative in her attempts at first, I liked how Jess saw Rachel’s struggles and tried to help. Though things were a little better, it took an explosive confrontation between the two to knock down the walls that kept them apart and finally start the healing process. Admitting she needs help also went a long way toward helping Rachel and Cody reconnect. I loved Jess’s suggestion at the end and how Rachel ran with it.
I liked Jess. It is evident from the start that she loves her job and helping people streamline their lives. Though she usually keeps a professional distance between herself and her clients, it’s clear that her relationship with Eleanor is different from the start. I loved how Eleanor refused to be business-only and sucked Jess right into the family. Jess was somewhat unnerved by the emotions that working with Eleanor stirred up, as she wasn’t accustomed to caring that way for her clients. I loved her kindness and patience as they worked their way through Eleanor’s treasures and memories of her husband, Jack. At the end, a crisis with Eleanor makes Jess realize that she’s risked more with this family than anyone else in many years.
Then there’s Nate. Once he got past his suspicions about Jess, he couldn’t deny the effect she had on him. I loved watching them spend time together, discovering how easy it is to talk to each other. Sparks of attraction are there also, but with Jess’s stay being temporary, they are reluctant to pursue it. Well, Jess is reluctant. The feelings he stirs in her scare her, as she has visions of turning into her mother. I ached for them both when Jess finishes the job because Nate wants her to stay, and Jess wants to, also, but doesn’t trust herself. I loved the advice she got and what she did with it. The epilogue was terrific and showed that anything was possible with love.
#netgalley
This story was so good that I finished it in two days. I even read during the day, which I rarely manage to do. I loved everything about it. I loved that Jess was a woman who traveled around by herself living in her Airstream and helping others clean out their clutter. I loved the older woman that she was helping out (she was really sweet). Nate was a great character. He was a hunk and a single Dad that was really attracted to Jess and took every opportunity to kiss her, but also backed off when Jess said she didn’t want a relationship.
There were lots of different relationships in this book. Jess and her sister, Rachel, had issues that they really struggled with. Ms. Thayne brought in the relationship of Rachel and her husband and also the problems Nate was having with his daughter. Much to Jess’ dismay, she developed a relationship with all of them–pretty tough for someone who doesn’t want any emotional ties to anyone.
Ms. Thayne did an outstanding job on this novel. Her molding of the characters and their qualities is superb. I loved them all and was completely submerged in their world!
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.
This is maybe the third book I’ve read by this author. It has all the elements I’ve come to expect from her books. A good story, wonderful characters and perfect amount of romance. I really enjoyed this book!
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy
RaeAnne Thayne hits a home run with The Path to Sunshine Cove.
I was hooked from the first page until the last and loved how the characters developed as the story progressed.
If you are a fan of romance, strong willed women, and amazing views, you’ll love this book!
RaeAnne Thayne paints pictures with her words and each stroke of The Path to Sunshine Cover is a masterpiece!
4 1/2 STARS!
RaeAnne Thayne always makes us feel like we are right there in the middle of the family! In her upcoming release THE PATH TO SUNSHINE COVE, she delves into the strained connection between two adult sisters who were torn apart by tragedy as teens and who are stumbling into a reconnection just when things seem to be falling down around one of their heads. There were a couple of items from the past that weren’t fleshed out and addressed fully, but overall it was a phenomenal story with wonderful characters, intense storylines and so many feel good moments.
Jess and Rachel are both strong, determined women who went about finding their happiness in totally different ways. Jess feels the hurt of the past with a different bite than Rachel does, and Rachel feels like Jess’s way of coping is a dig at her. Watching them work to reconnect is heartwarming.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a bit of family drama mixed with a whole lot of heart and a side of romance or two.
Life is messy. Relationships are messy. Family life is complicated. This book was fantastic and covers all of these things in such a truthful, honest way. Jess and Rachel are sisters who went through a traumatic childhood and were split up when their parents died. It left scars. They each handled it differently. Jess is a loner who doesn’t form lasting relationships, even her chosen profession moves her from place to place. Rachel is settled with a loving husband and children but she strives for perfection in everything and it’s driving her to the brink of a breakdown. They used to be so close but now they hardly see each other. Now, Jess is finally in the same city at Rachel due to a temporary job and things are going to come to a head – they just don’t know it! Meanwhile, the job Jess is on is going to change her life – romantically, personally and professionally. I loved every character in this book. The sisters were great! Nate, the love interest, was also wonderful, along with his daughter! Rachel’s kids and husband, Cody, added so much to the story. Nate’s mom was truly a gift. This is a definite reread!!!
It’s not often that I read a book and love ALL the characters but I did In The Path To Sunshine Cove. Jessica Clayton is a great character – she is carrying much hurt from her past with her every single day. She even lives her life ‘on the road’, so to speak, so that she never has to stay in one place and deal with her issues. A BIG issue for her is her sister, Rachel. On the surface, these two are so very different but…are they really? Jessica thinks Rachel has it all: a wonderful husband, a great family, a perfect life. But Rachel thinks having a smidge of the freedom that Jessica does would be wonderful. There were times **I** wanted to kidnap her husband as he really was a great guy. Ms. Thayne deals with some real-life family issues for Rachel but IMHO, it is done with love and care. Read the story; the author weaves a great tale.
And then there is Nate Whitaker, his daughter Sophie, and his mother Eleanor. Nate has his own issues with every day life and he is just trying to survive his daughter’s teenage years. If you have ever read a story with a teen or have raised one, then some of these issues will make you smile. Mostly, though, the smiles will be because it isn’t YOU who has to deal. I really felt for the guy! And his mother is a hoot, too, and plays a big part of Jess’s life as well as her son Nate’s and her granddaughter’s.
Jessica and Nate really find each other at the perfect time in their lives. Of course, THEY don’t think so but read how they just fit into each other’s every day and you will understand how I just fell in love with them.
It’s such a great story – I was lost in it from the very start. Really enjoyed it, from Jess’s vintage airstream to the sisters’ (sometimes struggling) bond to the wonderful ‘boys’ (as in Nate and Cody; such warm, loving characters) to the kids (Sophie, Grace, Ava, and Silas). Highly recommend.
Author RaeAnne Thayne has done it again, written a book that’s pages turn so easily as the characters come to life and the story touches my heart and brings all my emotions to the surface, compassion overwhelmingly fills my soul.
Oh this is one that gets my recommendation, and I will be watching for her next book.
I was given an advance reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my review.