This is the first book I've read by RaeAnne Thayne and she has captured the realities of small town life perfectly. This Harlequin Romance touches on old loves, new loves, friendship, and family.

Loved this book so much!! Anything RaeAnne Thayne writes instantly becomes my favorite. She gives me a "Book Hangover" every time!

Butterfly Bayou
This was the first book I have ever read by Lexi Blake and it won’t be the last. This looks like a great start to a wonderful new series. Right now there are 2 books listed on Amazon, this one and another but after I read this I am hoping for more.
The story starts out with Lila Daley looking for a fresh start. She chooses to move to Papillon, Louisiana and she barely gets into town when she has a run in with the town sheriff, Armie LaVigne. He gives her a ticket so she is not inclined to like him very much. However, as you might expect, that changes. I love the dynamic between these two. Right away they became a believable couple. There was one part with Armie where I thought he was being too rigid but I won’t go in to detail and spoil it for you.
Butterfly Bayou has an interesting cast of secondary characters. There are good and bad people as you might have in a small town. This lends to the plot lines. The main thread is the relationship between Lila and Armie but there is another story that is a darker tale of domestic abuse. Ms. Blake did a good job with this material with a moving tale that didn’t take away from the overall lightheartedness of the book. It gave some balance.
A wonderful book, I can’t wait for the next one!

This was a feel good romance – about mending family rifts, discovering very well hidden secrets and making life changing decisions. I love the scenery that RaeAnne paints and always want to be in the books, seeing what the characters are seeing! For a light-hearted Summer read – this book is the perfect choice.

RaeAnne Thayne's books are all like a Halmark movie, and every once in a while, that is exactly the kind of escape you need to read! This one had its fair share of love, medical, family and friendship drama. While there was a lot of the plot that was predictable, I enjoyed every moment of reading it!

I will honestly admit, i have previously been critical of some of RaeAnne Thaynes's novels. This work, however, was very appealing. The book included three "generations" of men and women; teenagers, millennials, and almost seniors. I found myself instantly caring and empathizing with each pair. There was teenage angst, history of love. and a trying relationship between a widow and widower.
Do yourself a favour and spend some time in Sanctuary Bay. It is a delightful read.

I've been avoiding writing this review, mostly because I just don't know what to say about this novel.

Listen. I love inter-generational stories. Give me all the stories about daughters, mothers, and grandmothers, and all the tension and secrets and identity crises between them. (I just realized the trend for these stories is usually an all-female trio, when a male, non-binary, or mixed cast of characters would be really interesting.) Preferably, make the characters a bit selfish, unlikeable, or clueless about the other generations' issues. I will devour these stories.

But I could not, for the life of me, get into this story. The writing felt a bit amateur-ish and I could not connect with the characters. That's not a statement of whether the characters are likeable--they just sounded silly to me, with problems I could not care about.

A pass for me.

I've read a few books by Thayne, and I've found them to be enjoyable. There is a romance angle to this book, but (thankfully) it's not overwhelming. I enjoyed the multiple POVs. Characters are well-crafted and relatable. Key themes are loss and love, and there are some emotional moments. Overall, it's a quick, enjoyable read.

RaeAnne Thayne took me through the emotional journey right along with the characters in this book. What appeared to me to be a book about "going home", WAS that, but so much more...this is a book about hidden emotions, trials, healing, forgiveness & love. The 3 main characters of this book, were relatable & likable, but each complicated in their own ways.
I enjoyed watching when a thread was pulled, how it affected each of the the 3 characters, how much more information was revealed & how it was all resolved in the end.
RaeAnne Thayne made me smile, laugh, cry, get angry, show frustration and in the end smile again.

Cape Sanctuary Series Book 2

Travel back to the beachside community of Cape Sanctuary.

Meet a new family, and friends who share troubles, have secrets, and challenges.

You will become one of them
rooting for them and hoping for good conclusions.
You will have surprises...
I could not stop reading. Reading the whole book in a day!

I have reviewed this title for the New York Journal of Books site where it will be posted the evening before the release date.


"The Sea Glass Cottage" by RaeAnne Thayne
HQN
March 17, 2020
10-1335045163
Contemporary Women’s Fiction
384 pages



Olivia Harper lives and works in Seattle, putting in grueling hours at her job as well as on her start-up website business, Harper Media. One day when she is in a local coffee shop, the waitress gets accosted. Frightened, Olivia hides under the booth, unable to help. This incident leaves her with an unbearable case of anxiety, and since the occurrence, she fears leaving her apartment. Not only fearful, she is ashamed for not having the courage to intervene. Between the stress of this event, her demanding job and her recent breakup with her ex-fiancé, who works at the same company, she wants to crawl into bed and stay there.

Then she gets a call from Melody, her best friend from back home in Cape Sanctuary, CA. Olivia's mother, Juliet has had a serious fall and is in the hospital, with a concussion, broken ribs and a shattered hip.

Though Olivia and Juliet have been somewhat estranged since Olivia's beloved father perished in a fire, she cannot ignore her mother or Harper Hill Home and Garden, the business her father built, which Juliet took over after his death. She is also worried about her 15-year-old niece, Caitlin, who is being raised by Juliet after Olivia’s older sister Natalie succumbed to an overdose.

Olivia, distressed that her vibrant, mid-fifties mom is laid up, knows how independent and busy she is with the nursery and Caitlin. This is the bone of contention between them. After Olivia's father passed away, and shortly after Natalie announced her pregnancy as an unmarried mother planning to keep her child, Juliet put all her time and energy into her business and her oldest daughter leaving Olivia, as a teen, feeling abandoned. Then Natalie died when Caitlin was an infant, meaning more responsibilities for Juliet and less time for Olivia.

Armed with her tiny pooch, Otis, Olivia makes the 12-hour drive home, dreading her reception and the hostility she is suddenly facing from Caitlin. However, she knows it's imperative she goes, and though things are strained, she loves her mother and wants to help.

Arriving at the hospital, Olivia realizes how much Juliet is respected:

"Everyone loved her mom. It was hard to avoid that realization, now that she was back in town. Juliet was something of a heroine around town, a widow who had lost her husband to a tragic accident and a daughter to addiction but still managed to face her trials with a smile and a generous spirit.

"Her mom was amazing. Olivia agreed. She wished she could be half the woman Juliet was. Her mother would never have let one traumatic incident in a coffee shop completely paralyze her. If her mother had been there and had seen that unprovoked attack, she wouldn't have cowered under a table. She would have been like the other customer who ultimately had come to the rescue. Resolute. Fearless. Powerful.

"The complete opposite of her daughter."

As Olivia settles in for a temporary stay, she reconnects with Melody and bumps into her brother Cooper, who is now the Fire Chief. Cooper and Natalie grew up together as best friends and though Olivia was barely in her teens, she always had a crush on the handsome older boy. She now realizes that flame still kindles. Cooper had dealt with an unhappy childhood caring for his alcoholic mother and younger sister, and Olivia is surprised he returned to Cape Sanctuary, where he vowed to leave when old enough and never look back.

Olivia is overwhelmed, not knowing how to deal with her feelings for Cooper, her niece's ambivalence, helping at the nursery, caring for Juliet and keeping up with Harper Media. She longs for a real mother-daughter relationship, yet she senses a distance between her and Juliet, and that her mother is not being forthright with her about things.

Meanwhile, Juliet, disillusioned by her condition causes a bit of self-pity. She has never had to depend on anyone, and now she's in a place where she relies on assistance. And, who better to help than her dear friend, Henry Cragun who lost his wife—and Juliet's best friend—to cancer several years ago. Juliet does not want Henry to see her as an indisposed old lady, though he's there whenever necessary and then some. Juliet has fallen in love with Henry, but a relationship can never work between them for she holds a secret she has not even disclosed to her own daughter. So much to her dismay and Henry’s, she pushes him away.

Each character—Olivia, Juliet, Caitlin, Cooper—offer their distinct perspective on the roles they play in this complex and emotional tale. Dealing with three generations of women—each suffering with their own trials and tribulations has the plot fully involved in the heart-wrenching details of the lives of all concerned. The mother-daughter connection has always brought angst to those involved, whether dealing with hurt feelings, jealousy, or misunderstandings and is evident and easily relatable in this moving story. Between the colorful description of the location as well as the concerns of many characters, this issue of the Cape Sanctuary series draws the reader in from the first page to the gratifying conclusion.

The Sea Glass Cottage is a beautiful small town story full of family, friendships, heartaches, healing and love.
I found the characters to be loveable and realistic. I laughed with them and even cried with them.
I highly recommend this wonderful story.
I recieved an ARC and this is my honest opinion

I would most definitely recommend reading this book. This is a wonderful story that is worth the read.

Thayne does it again. This is an extremely satisfying, multi-layered romance that truly deserves a sequel.

The Sea Glass Cottage by RaeAnne Thayne is a wonderful standalone story revolving around a family, with a bit of romance. This is the first time I have read Thayne, and after reading this wonderful story, it will not be my last.

The Sea Glass Cottage has three different POV’s, revolving around 3 generations of the Harper family; Olivia, Juliet and Caitlin. The story begins with Olivia, who receives a call from a friend that her mother has fallen and is in the hospital. Though she left home 12 years ago, Olivia Harper decides it’s time to go home to Cape Sanctuary, California and help her mother, who will be laid up for a while; and takes a leave from her job. Her mother, Juliet, doesn’t want to burden her daughter, but knows she has no choice, as she has a few broken bones; she also is keeping a secret from everyone, that though she is in remission, she has MS. Caitlin, Juliet’s granddaughter and Olivia’s niece, is 15 years old, and devoted to her grandmother, but nasty to Olivia. Each of them has their own issues that affect their behavior with each other, which were caused by the death of both Juliet’s husband, and daughter, Natalie.

Olivia is determined to take care of her mother, feeling guilty of having left long ago, as well as working hard to keep the business flowing. She meets Cooper, the new Fire Chief, and brother to her best friend; she has always had a slight crush on him in her teenage years. Cooper tried to save her father during the fire he lost his life in, and he was also close friends to her sister, Natalie. Juliet, while in recovery, is fussed over by her friend and neighbor, Henry, who cares about her; she knows she has feelings for him, but tries to brush it off because of the age difference (he is younger by about 8 years) and her MS disease, which is a secret. Caitlin spent a lot of time with her friend, Jake, as he helped her investigate who could be the father she did not know; they used DNA to find him. A surprise here. At first, I have to admit, I did not like Caitlin, especially her nastiness with Olivia. But in time, she did get better. This story revolves around all three women, as it was an emotional roller coaster of secrets, family, love, forgiving and moving forward.

What follows is a heartwarming, emotional and sweet story with some wonderful characters created by Thayne; such as the three leading ladies, Cooper, Melody, Henry, Jake, and the animals. This was so very well written by RaeAnne Thayne, as it kept my attention from start to finish. The Sea Glass Cottage was a wonderful story that you should read.

Another standalone book by RaeAnne Thayne and I historically like her stand alone books the most. Told through multiple perspectives, but mostly through a mother daughter duo who have been reunited by a health crisis and both must decide where they want their lives to go next. Olivia Harper has lived far from her mother for awhile and there are many reasons for this separation. Juliet Harper, her mother, fell off a ladder at work and Olivia feels the draw home to help take care of her and maybe push the pause button on her current life and rhythms and reevaluate everything.

I always love a story that allows multiple characters to tell their side of the story. I think you get much deeper and full story when characters are given a chance to tell their side of things.

With family relationships at the center of this story there wasn't a focus on romance and I liked this change. There was of course a bit of romance in the story, but it wasn't the only thing in the plot and that felt refreshing. I love the focus on mothers and daughters and all the complicated things that go into those relationships. I have a great relationship with my mom and I could chuckle at moments where even the best of mothers and daughters can clash!

I adored this book and would recommend it completely. I think it would be a great book to read during a summer vacation, it was a quick and easy read and I wouldn't have minded reading it in a relaxed beach setting!

The Sea Glass Cottage is where Olivia Harper grew up and its where her mother and teen aged niece live still. When Olivia’s mother Juliet winds up in the hospital with a broken hip she comes home to help with the family business. What she finds is a niece who suddenly resents her, a mother who has a few secrets, and the new fire chief who makes her feel emotionally off-balance. But she can handle it all because she’s only there for a few weeks and then will go back to her life and job in Seattle. Olivia’s mom and niece have worries of their own and navigate the feelings and actions that may or may not give the desired results. This is a story about strong, proud people learning to ask for and accept help, learning that “the greatest risk carries the greatest reward”. No spoiler here but I can say I enjoyed how RaeAnne Thayne brought her characters through their drama. Recommended to fans of the author and women’s fiction. 4.5 stars

My first book by this author and it was really good! All the characters were likeable and the town sounded like a place you might want to live. It was light and romantic and I enjoyed it! Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin for the early copy

This is a stand-alone novel that will keep you turning page after page, not wanting to stop. Olivia is working at a job she dislikes, in addition to working a second job to start up her own social media marketing company. Unfortunately, Olivia is a witness to a violent crime that has left her with severe anxiety. Not long after this event she receives a phone call from her best friend back in her hometown. Olivia’s mother has fallen and sustained some injuries requiring her to be hospitalized. She is going to need help with the family business and the teenaged granddaughter she is raising while she recuperates. All three women in the story have secrets they are keeping from one another. The three storylines are wonderfully interwoven. Sometimes you want to sit each one down for a heart to heart and sometimes you want to cheer for the strength they show. Communication is the key to a healthy relationship. Hopefully they will each learn and practice it.
Ms. Thayne creates such wonderfully human and flawed characters. I always am anxious for the next book to come out.

The Sea Glass Cottage is another heartwarming read from RaeAnne Thayne. A grandmother, daughter, and granddaughter are all dealing in their own way with the loss of someone they love. As fate brings them back together, they learn to lean on each other and trust the ones they love with the secrets they've been keeping. A great inspirational story that I really enjoyed reading.