Monday, October 1, 2018

Review - Season of Wonder by RaeAnne Thayne - Author Q&A

Well it's October the unofficial start of holiday releases and one of my all time favorite authors of fab Christmas tales is RaeAnne Thayne. This year its set in her bucolic town of Haven Point Idaho and stars a Veterinarian and her two fatherless daughters looking for a new start and the town deputy looking for love.


ISBN-13: 9781335947932
Publisher: Harlequin
Release Date: 9-25-2018
Length: 320pp
Haven Point #9
Source: Little Bird Publicity for review
Buy It: Amazon/B&N/Kobo/IndieBound/Audible


ADD TO: GOODREADS

Overview:
It’s a long way from New York to Idaho…but could they have found a home at last?

Dani Capelli has never truly belonged anywhere. And from her earliest days as a foster child in Queens, she would have been lost if it weren’t for her love of animals. Until high school, when she fell hard for the wrong boy, and found herself pregnant—and married—by graduation. Two daughters later, Dani realized her mistake and filed for divorce, and with the help of scholarships and loans—and a lot of macaroni and cheese dinners—she enrolled in vet school. Things were finally looking up…until her ex-husband became her latehusband, in the most notorious way possible.
Now Dani and her daughters need an out-of-town pass more than ever. So when the retiring Haven Point veterinarian offers her a chance to settle in the small Idaho town and take over his practice, she jumps at it. But adjusting to the charming mountain community isn’t easy; thirteen-year-old Silver begins acting out while six-year-old Mia is growing too attached to Haven Point and everything in it, especially their next-door-neighbor, Deputy Sheriff Ruben Morales. And Dani can’t blame her. Ruben is everything she’s secretly wanted—and everything she can’t bear to risk loving…and losing.
As the holidays draw near, their shared concern for Dani’s daughters brings them closer together, giving Ruben the chance to show this big-city woman just how magical Christmas in Haven Point can be...and that the promise of a home at last is very real in the most wondrous season of the year…

Author Q&A
Provided by Little Bird Publicity


1. Readers will be thrilled to see that you are back with another Haven Point novel—and just in time for the holiday season! Can you tell us a little about this book and what readers can expect from it?


A: SEASON OF WONDER is about taking risks and finding the courage to embrace new possibilities.  When a veterinarian and single mom from Queens moves her two daughters to Haven Point, the unique family struggles to find a place in the small Idaho town. The book features a feisty heroine, a hero I adored writing, an angsty teenager and her adorable sister. There’s no better place to spend the  holidays than Haven Point!

2. Many of your Haven Point novels feature children, and SEASON OF WONDER is no exception. Dani’s troubled teenage daughter, Silver, rang particularly true—did you encounter any challenges in writing her character and making her sound like a real, flesh-and-blood teenager?


A:  I do love to write about children. There is an authenticity about children. They have no problem speaking their mind or displaying their emotions, something that seems to become harder as we enter adulthood. How a character in my stories interacts with children can reveal a great deal about them and I use that often to reveal who they are.

I have three children, two still at home, and being their mom and helping them grow into decent people is my most important job. I started my first novel when I was on maternity leave with our daughter from my job as a newspaper editor, twenty-eight years ago this summer. Raising my children has always gone hand-in-hand with my writing career.

When it comes to writing children, I look to my own children and their friends for inspiration. It’s a constant source of content!

3. Which character in this book was the most fun for you to write?


A: I really adored Ruben. I loved him in SNOWFALL ON HAVEN POINT, though he was only a secondary character. He’s a good-hearted man who hasn’t quite found The One yet, which is my favorite kind of hero. But I have to say that Mia, Dani’s youngest daughter, really stole my heart in this one. She has such an earnest love of life and finds joy in everything around her, something to which I aspire.

4. SEASON OF WONDER is a wonderful book for cozy winter reading, with a great mix of romance and buried secrets. What, for you, are the key ingredients for a great holiday romance?


A: In every good holiday romance, as in life, you need a few essential ingredients. For both a great story and a great holiday, you need family, cherished friends, delicious food and nights spent cuddling by the fire with loved ones. I adore any holiday romance that reinforces what I consider the core message of the holidays: hope, joy and making room in your heart to care for others.

My Review:

Season of Wonder
RaeAnne Thayne

You can always count on RaeAnne Thayne to deliver a heartwarming holiday tale and Season of Wonder is another prime example. Mix charming, flawed characters, small town pleasantries and pettiness, a slow burning romance, adorable dogs and two needy kids and you’ll get a done to perfection Christmas story.
Dani trying to juggle being a single mom and her brand new Vet practice plus trying to hide a past she’s ashamed of in a nosey small town makes for an engaging page turning read. But the stand-outs in this seasonal story have to be Dani’s daughters 13 year old Silver, troubled but with a heart of gold and 6 year old Mia who’s simply adorable. Plus the four legged costars and the simmering attraction between Dani and the hunky deputy it’s a win win!
So if you’re looking for a sweet and spicy holiday read heavy on the sweet and light on the spicy put Season of Wonder on your wish list.

SUMMARY:
Dani Capelli fresh out of Vet School needed a fresh new beginning far away from her tragic past and when the Haven Point Idaho town Vet offered her an internship with the possibility of taking over his practice she couldn’t move herself and her two daughters fast enough. But not all is good in paradise, when her troubled teen strikes out by breaking the law she wonders if she should run again. Especially when a gorgeous small town cop that she has no business lusting after offers to help get her daughter back on the right track.
Haven Point deputy Ruben Morales always thought he’d be settled by now with 2.5 kids and a sweet agreeable wife. Trouble is his heart keeps pointing him in the direction of the recently transplanted prickly, standoffish new town Vet, the one that comes with two daughters and a past full of secrets. He’s all for breaking the ice but this ice queen has other ideas.

Connect with RaeAnne - Website - Facebook - Twitter
Meet RaeAnne:
New York Times 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 Career Achievement and Romance Pioneer awards from RT Book Reviews. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.raeannethayne.com.





6 comments:

  1. I know so many people love this author. I really need to pick up one of her books.

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  2. I like that cover. It looks like it could be around here

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  3. Heavy on the sweet, light on the spicy, all perfectly true! I enjoyed it, and liked Silver the best. Always like a bit of teenage angst - although at a distance of course!

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  4. This sounds delightful. I am getting in the mood for holiday reads.

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