Title: The Path to Sunshine Cove by RaeAnne Thayne
Cape Sanctuary Series Book Two
Publisher: HQN Books
Genre: Contemporary, Women’s Fiction, Romance
Length: 336 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
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…
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?
Review:
The Path to Sunshine Cove by RaeAnne Thayne is a heartwarming novel of healing and love. Although this newest release is the second installment in the Cape Sanctuary series, it can be read as a standalone.
Jessica “Jess” Clayton travels around the country helping people de-clutter their homes. She loves her job and enjoys her nomadic life-style. Due to her dysfunctional childhood, she maintains an emotional distance from most people. Jess does not do relationships nor is she looking for romance. Despite her tendency to hold people at arm’s length, she is compassionate and caring. Her newest job takes her to Cape Sanctuary where she is helping recently widowed Eleanor Whittaker decide which items in her large home to keep and which to get rid of.
Eleanor’s son Nate is not exactly welcoming at first, but he soon warms up to Jess once he witnesses how much his mother likes her. Nate is also pleasantly surprised at how much his thirteen-year-old daughter Sophie enjoys Jess’s company. Neither of them expects the sparks to fly between them, but with Jess leaving in a couple of weeks, will they give in to their intense attraction?
The main reason Jess accepted the job in Cape Sanctuary is to visit her younger sister Rachel McBride and her family. While the sisters are not estranged, they do not see each other very often. When they were teenagers, they went into foster care. While Jess remained in a group home, Rachel spent the remainder of her teenage years with a family in Cape Sanctuary. She and her husband Cody are childhood sweethearts with three young children. Rachel remains home with the kids but she is a successful influencer on social media. She is struggling with their son’s recent autism diagnosis. Rachel resents Cody’s long hours from home but she cannot bring herself to admit that she is part of the problem. She has high hopes she and Jess can regain their once close relationship.
The Path to Sunshine Cove is an emotional yet sweet novel. The coastal setting is a beautiful backdrop for this family-centric story. Jess and Rachel continue to carry the scars from their traumatic childhood but their reactions are quite different. Their visit proves to be cathartic as they confront their respective issues. Jess is also fighting her growing feelings for Nate but will she be able to leave the people she loves behind?
Old and new fans are sure to love this latest addition to RaeAnne Thayne’s delightful Cape Sanctuary series.
