Tuesday, June 20, 2017

#BookReview - Serenity Harbor by Rayanne Thayne @raeannethayne

Title:  Serenity Harbor
Author:  RaeAnne Thayne
Genre:  Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction
Release Date:  June 27, 2017

About the Book:

In the town of Haven Point, love can be just a wish—and one magical kiss—away… 
Computer-tech millionaire Bowie Callahan is about the last person that schoolteacher Katrina Bailey wants to work for. As far as she can see, he's arrogant, entitled and not up to the task of caring for his young half brother, Milo. But Kat is, especially if it brings her closer to her goal of adopting an orphaned little girl. And as her kindness and patience work wonders with Milo, she realizes there's more to sexy, wary Bo than she'd ever realized. 

Bo never imagined he'd be tasked with caring for a sibling he didn't know existed. Then again, he never pictured himself impulsively kissing vibrant, compassionate Katrina in the moonlight. Now he's ready to make her dream of family come true…and hoping there's room in it for him, too…

Available for pre-order.  Release date is June 27, 2017
Buy Links: Amazon 
My Review:

I have to say that when I first started reading SERENITY HARBOR I almost felt like I was reading the second book in a series.  Was I?  Oh dang!  It was Book #6!  I didn't see where this was a series when I requested it.  My mistake.  There were a lot of characters and a bit of background had to be introduced for each one.  The author managed to acquaint the reader to each one with a minimum of infodump material though.  And although I had not read any of the previous books in this series, I actually caught on and was able to enjoy the book.

As for the story, I loved it!  Both Bowie, the hunky computer genius, and Kat, the teacher-turned-nanny, had their own insecurities.  Together, their compassion toward Milo and Gabi, brought them together in a heartwarming story that brought me to tears on more than one occasion.

Katrina had just returned from living in South America, coming home for the sole purpose of attending her sister's wedding.  Although she had no intention of getting involved with another man after the fiasco she had dealt with from Carl, she couldn't help coming to the aid of handsome Bowie as he struggled in the store with his little brother Milo trying to deal with a meltdown.  Katrina recognized the signs that this young child had autism and her experience as a teacher helped calm the situation.  Bowie was so impressed and grateful, he offered Kat an outragious amount of money if she would become Milo's nanny until the autism specialist he hired could arrive a few weeks later.  At first Kat rejected Bowie's offer, but later decided the money would help her reach her goal of adopting little Gabi.  Gabi was a little girl with Down's Syndrome living in an orphanage in a small village in South America who had stolen Kat's heart.

I loved how Rayanne Thayne brought out the problems and solutions of dealing with a child with autism and the varying degrees of autism.  That little boy melted my heart.  And the love that grew between Katrina and Bowie gave me tingles!

There were a lot of characters in this book.  The author fully developed the main characters to the point where I really felt like I knew them and loved them (although there were times when I wanted to slap the back of Kat's head to get her to tell Bowie how she really felt).  The rest of the characters, however, were way off in the background somewhere, but I believe that was because they were more fully developed in previous books in this series.

I would probably give this four and a half wine glasses, but I'll round it up to five.

Disclosure:  A complimentary ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts, opinions and ratings are my own.

My Rating:

About the Author:
New York Times and USA Today 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 a Career Achievement Award from RT Book Reviews magazine. 

I'm not one of those people who knew from birth she was destined to become a writer. I always loved to read and throughout my childhood I could usually be found with a book in my hands. To the disgust of my friends, I even enjoyed creative writing assignments that made them all groan. But I had other dreams besides writing. I wanted to be an actress or a teacher or a lawyer.

Life took a different turn for me, though, when my mother made me take a journalism elective in high school (thanks, Mom!). I knew the first day that this was where I belonged.

After I graduated from college in journalism, I took a job at the local daily newspaper and I reveled in the challenge and the diversity of it. One day I could be interviewing the latest country music star, the next day I was writing about local motorcycle gangs or interviewing an award-winning scientist.

Through it all -- through the natural progression of my career from reporter to editor -- I wrote stories in my head. Not just any stories, either, but romances, the kind of books I have devoured since junior high school, with tales about real people going through the trials and tribulations of life until they find deep and lasting love.

I had no idea how to put these people on paper, but knew I had to try -- their stories were too compelling for me to ignore. I sold my first book in 1995 and now, more than 30 books later, I've come to love everything about writing, from the click of the computer keys under my fingers to the "that's-it!" feeling I get when a story is flowing.

I write full-time now (well, as full-time as I can manage juggling my kids!) amid the raw beauty of the northern Utah mountains.

Even though I might not have dreamed of being a writer when I was younger, now I simply can't imagine my life any other way.
I love to hear from readers. You can reach me at my email address, rthayne@xmission.com or through her website at www.raeannethayne.com.


0 comments:

Post a Comment

 

The Novel Lady Published @ 2014 by Ipietoon