For this blog tour, we’re looking at a book that is all about second chances and the hope they can bring. For this blog tour, we’re looking at Summer At The Cape by RaeAnne Thayne.
Second Chances. Sometimes… sometimes life *does* give you a second chance. A chance to re-evaluate what you thought you knew, and perhaps a chance to reconnect with those you had massive misunderstandings with previously. And Summer At The Cape? Well… it is all about those second chances… and the ones that will never happen. Beautifully written and heart felt, this is one that will pull your heartstrings in so many directions. The *one* negative, for me, was that the epilogue felt tacked on. I personally would have been perfectly fine without it – the story didn’t actually need it, and the things it adds are for me superfluous tropes that added nothing and somewhat detracted even. But hey, read the story for yourself and see what you think of the epilogue. đ Very much recommended.
After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book description, author bio, and social and buy links.
2
VIOLETWILD, FRENZIED BARKING RANG OUT WHEN Violet Porter let herself into the back door of her motherâs comfortable kitchen at Moongate Farm.
Rosemary was nowhere in sight. Instead, a cranky-faced schnauzerâtoy poodle mix planted himself in front of the door, telling her in no uncertain terms that she was an intruder who wasnât welcome here.
âHi, Baxter,â she said, mouth stretched thin in what she knew was an insincere smile. âHow are you, buddy?â
Lilyâs 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 wasnât 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 wasnât 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 Lilyâs death, he had become down-right hostile.
âStop that. Whatâs gotten into you? I could hear you clear back in my bedroom.â
Her motherâs 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.
âOh! Violet! You scared me! What are you doing here?â
âYou invited me. Remember? Youâve known for months I was coming to help you out during my summer break.â
âYou were coming tomorrow. Not today!â
Okay. That wasnât 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. Wasnât anybody happy to see her?
âI finished cleaning out my classroom and calculating final grades this morning. Since all my things were already packed and loaded into my car, I couldnât see any reason to wait until the morning to drive up. Is there a problem?â
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.
âNo. Itâs onlyâŚthis is, er, a bit of a complication. Iâm expecting dinner guests any moment.â
âThat must be why it smells so good in here.â
It smelled like roasting vegetables mixed with garlic and cheese. Violetâs stomach rumbled loud enough she was certain her mother had to hear, but Rosemary didnât seem to notice, looking at the clock again.
Why was she so nervous? Who was coming? If she didnât 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 didnât date much, though sheâd had a few relationships since her divorce from Violetâs 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 hadnât mentioned anyone else.
Then again, just as Violet didnât tell her mother everything that went on in her life in Sacramento, Rosemary likely had secrets of her own here in Cape Sanctuary.
âNo problem,â she said, trying for a cheerful tone. âYou donât have to worry about feeding me. If I get hungry later, Iâll make a sandwich or something. Iâll get out of your way.â
âYouâre not in the way,â Rosemary protested. âItâs just, wellâŚâ She didnât 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 manâs deep voice say something on the other side of the door and then a childâs laughter in response.
Something about that voice rang a chord. She frowned, suddenly unsettled. âMom. Who are you expecting?â
âJust someâŚsome friends from town,â Rosemary said vaguely. She heard the manâs voice again and her disquiet turned into full-fledged dismay.
No. Rosemary wouldnât have. Would she?
âMom. Whoâs here?â Her voice sounded shrill and she was quite sure Rosemary could pick up on it.
âI didnât know you were coming tonight,â her mom said defensively. âYou told me you were coming tomorrow, so IâŚI invited Alexandro and his daughter for dinner. Heâs 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. Iâve been meaning to have him and his daughter over for dinner but the time got away from me, until here we are. Iâm sorry. You werenât supposed to be here until tomorrow and I didnât think it would be a problem.â
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 Lilyâs 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.
âIâm sorry,â Rosemary said again, her hand on the doorknob. âItâs fine, Mom. Donât worry about it. Donât leave them standing outside. Iâll just say hello and then head over to the bunk-house to settle in. You wonât even know Iâm here. It will be fine.â
She didnât 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 metâŚ
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.
âMiss Lily?â 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.
âHi there,â she said calmly, doing her best to ignore Alexâs intense gaze for now. âYou must be Ariana. Iâm Violet. Lily was my twin sister.â
âYou look just like her,â the girl said breathlessly. Her gaze narrowed. âExcept I think maybe your hair is a little shorter than hers was. And she had a tattoo of flowers on her wrist and you donât.â
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 didnât 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 Lilyâs death, she had thought more seriously about it, but the loss of her sister was always with her. She didnât need a mark on her skin to remind her Lily wasnât here.
She forced a smile for the girl. âRight. No tattoo. Thatâs one sure way of telling us apart.â
Plus, she was alive and Lily wasnât. But she wasnât 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 couldnât blame this child for a cruel act of nature.
Or for her parentage.
SUMMER AT THE CAPE
Author: RaeAnne Thayne
ISBN: 9781335936356
Publication Date: April 5, 2022
Publisher: HQN
Book Summary:
Book Summary:
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.
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 upâwhile 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 homeâher 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 Violetâthe 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.
Author Bio:
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.
Social Links:
Author Website
Twitter: @raeannethayne
Facebook: RaeAnne Thayne
Instagram: raeannethayne
Goodreads
Buy Links:
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