Life is full of choices, some good, some difficult, some work out and others just don’t. There are times, though, that life makes its own choices. Sounds odd but true. For the Porter family, some of life’s choices left them bereft and sad. Now many years later the Porters are finally facing the ramifications of those life choices.

Twin sisters Violet and Lily stayed with their mother Rosemary when their parents divorced. Older sister Cami went with their dad Ted to Los Angeles. An odd arrangement for sure but the parents had agreed that this would benefit the girls. Surely this had to be a strange decision. And fast forward to the present we all see that it caused many problems.

Now back in Cape Sanctuary, Violet, Cami and Rosemary are working as a team to keep one of Lily’s dreams alive. Lily had drowned in an accident saving two young girls. But developing a glampground was a reality that Lily was proud of. Unfortunately, her death now put much of the work and responsibility on her mother Rosemary's shoulders. The three Porter women joined forces to see that the current sold-out season was a success.

There were several other distractions and issues that demanded their attention. Not the least was the uncertain lease of the land where the glampcamp was built. But these women were strong, caring, smart and unflagging in their desire to see Lily’s dream continue.

Jon is utterly surprised and sad to see the condition his father is in. Jon is also dismayed that the Porter women have taken advantage of his father’s rather obvious diminished capacity. Back from a historical excavation Jon appreciates and agrees with his father’s stance on protecting their land. One of his favorite sayings is that our culture and society will be preserved not only by the things we create but by the things we refuse to destroy. So naturally, Jon feels that the Wild Hearts luxury camp goes against all he works at protecting.

Lots of relationships to handle in this small town. Some old, some thought discarded and others brand new. The community was central to the lives of these people and the way they offer help and care is absolutely amazing. That’s what RaeAnne Thayne develops so adroitly in SUMMER AT THE CAPE. Her character development is second to none. And her description of the beauty and responsibility for an area like Cape Sanctuary has you yearning for a chance to visit. All relationships have challenges. It is in these challenges we face making choices. Sometimes it means taking a step back to see what we really want. In SUMMER AT THE CAPE, RaeAnne Thayne helps her characters make better choices. SUMMER AT THE CAPE is a great choice for reading on the beach this summer.

Book Summary

Author Note

A Q&A with Bestselling Author RaeAnne Thayne

How would you describe your writing process?

The creative process still feels magical to me, even after seventy books. When I finish a book and read through it again a few weeks or months later during the editing process, I’ve always amazed that I’ve somehow managed to take a random idea (or two or three) and out of that have created a cohesive story. Certainly my process includes plenty of hard work, mostly forcing myself to sit at my desk and face that daunting blank page, even at times when I would rather be doing absolutely anything else. But there is also an undeniable element of serendipity, with things coming out on the page I often have no recollection of writing in the frenzy to finish a book.

I am very much a plotter, spending several weeks before I start actually writing a book coming up with compelling characters, setting, plot points. I outline extensively until I basically have a scene-by-scene breakdown of the main story and the subplots and how I will fit them together. That’s the fun part for me, then comes the challenging part, actually writing those scenes. I usually write a very rough first draft and then spend a long time on the second draft, massaging those ragged early words into a story. I call the third draft my polish draft, where I fine-tune the prose and the characters. Finishing a book and writing The End is the very best feeling in the world!

What authors have inspired your own writing?

Like most writers, I was always an avid reader, going back to second or third grade when I would read Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey Twins. When I was in junior high school, I discovered the romantic suspense novels of Madeline Brent, Elizabeth Peters and Victoria Holt and fell in love with romance novels. One of my favorites in those early days was The Enchanted Land from the fabulous Jude Devereaux. I read it over and over!

A few years ago at a library conference, I had the honor of meeting Jude and participating on a panel with her. It was an amazing moment that my thirteen-year-old self never could have imagined! I am still an avid reader and am discovering new favorites all the time.

Summer at the Cape is a romance novel, but it also deals with the drama of loss and grief. How do you balance the two?

All of us have to deal with difficult things on this journey through life. The loss of a child, a sibling, a parent, a spouse. Grief and pain are inevitable for each one of us. A common theme through all my books, though, is that even when my characters have to struggle though hard things, joy is still waiting for those who are willing to open their hearts to possibilities.

The relationship between Cami and Violet (and Lily too) was affected by the divorce of their parents. How did you visualize that sibling relationship when you were writing the novel?

I’ve always been fascinated by the unique relationship between twins and also how that closeness can sometimes make other siblings feel excluded. That was magnified in the Porter sisters after the divorce, when Cami stayed with her father because she had been accepted into a prestigious prep school in Los Angeles while the twins both went with their mother to live a more Bohemian lifestyle on the northern California Coast. As a result, the sisters felt like virtual strangers to each other. I wanted to explore how Violet could figure out who she was without her twin but also show how the non-twin Cami had always yearned for a closer relationship with her sisters. Their shared grief at losing Lily was really the catalyst to bring Cami and Vi closer together.

What character did you find the most challenging to write?

In this book, that was probably Jon Rafferty. He is an archeologist, an explorer who loves trying to figure out the mysteries of older civilizations, at the same time he doesn’t really have a great understanding of the one in which he’s living. Jon has his reasons to be protective of his father but that certainly sets up a conflict with Cami and her family, who are trying to run a glampground on Rafferty family land.

Cape Sanctuary reads like one more character in the novel, the atmosphere of the place really does come through. How did you visualize the setting when you had the idea for Summer at the Cape?

I love the ruggedly gorgeous coastline of central and northern California, into Oregon and Washington. Two of my all-time favorite beach communities are Cannon Beach, Oregon and Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. When I was trying to come up with a fictional community for my loosely connected Cape Sanctuary series (linked only by geography), I decided to combine the things I loved about both areas to come up with Cape Sanctuary, filled with stunning scenery and whimsical houses. I only wish it were a real place!

What future projects can you reveal? Is there another novel in the works?

I recently wrapped up my Christmas book for 2022, ALL IS BRIGHT, which will be out in October. This one was blast to write since I am returning to a previous series, Hope’s Crossing. I haven’t written a book there since 2013 but I had a few characters whose stories I knew I had to eventually write. It was so fun visiting old friends in that series and catching up with their lives! I’m now hard at work on the next Cape Sanctuary book, which will be out in spring of 2023.