REDEMPTION BAY by RaeAnne Thayne

 

Publisher:    HQN

Published:   June 30, 2015

ISBN:     978-0373785063

Genre:    Contemporary Romance

Format:  Paperback

Obtained via:  Publisher via Publicist

Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina Gina@loveromancesandmorereviews.com

FIVE HEARTS

McKenzie – Kenzie – Shaw didn’t set out to become the mayor of her hometown, Haven Point.  But when she was nominated she accepted – not because she wanted to be mayor but because she loves her town.  And she’ll do just about anything to keep her friends and fellow townsfolk safe and stable.  With great spirit she attends each civic function and now with the combination annual boat festival and 4^th of July celebration looming she’s got more than usual on her plate.  While Haven Point has struggled financially since the Kilpatrick Boat Yard closed some 5 years before, the festival will bring in some much needed money.

When Ben Kilpatrick—of the Kilpatrick Boat Yard—left town he never intended to look back.  Haven Point had nothing—absolutely nothing—for him.  Not long ago he sold not just the boat yard, but Snow Angel Cove, the house he grew up in, and all his other holdings to his long-time friend and co-owner, Geek God, Aidan Caine.  While Aidan wasn’t initially too keen on Haven Point, not long ago he came to look over his new holdings and fell in love.  And along with his new family the town also captured his heart.  Now he plans to do something to save his new home.  To that end he has sent Ben home to assess just what can be done including opening up a branch of Caine Tech.  Ben’s plan is to get in, get out and never look back.  But when Ben meets McKenzie suddenly his well-structured world takes a turn he never expected.

McKenzie blames Ben for all the town’s ills.  Ben blames Haven Point for all the pain in his life.  Can they see their way clear to the love that is right in front of them?

I’d never heard of RaeAnne Thayne before REDEMPTION BAY showed up in my mail box despite her being multi-published for quite some time.  Because I’m one of those readers who has to read a series in order from start to finish I picked up a copy of SNOW ANGEL COVE and it didn’t take me long to start wondering how I’d missed this fabulous author.  With her words she paints amazing verbal pictures of the town of Haven Point.  You know just what the lake looks like—the myriad shades of blue as the light hits it and the day wears on.  You can smell the pine trees and know what it is like to walk the streets of Haven Point as if you are really there. 

Best of all are her characters—Aidan, Eliza and Maddie in SNOW ANGEL COVE completely captured my heart.  Even more so are Kenzie and Ben in REDEMPTION BAY.  They both have had things happen in their pasts—painful events that anyone can relate to.  Both have, in their own way, hidden from those things, moving on with their lives but not their hearts.  Thayne takes those traumas, gently shows them to the reader and through her characters heals those painful memories.  It isn’t jarring or gratuitous.  It is done with true compassion.

Once I started reading REDEMPTION BAY I had a hard time putting it down.  Part of me wanted to reach into the pages and heal Ben’s lifelong pain myself while another part couldn’t wait till he opened up his heart to McKenzie.  I found myself looking for reasons to stand on line (always free reading time), or taking lunch away from my co-workers (who I really enjoy having a meal with) just to read this truly fabulous book.

If, like me, you haven’t discovered RaeAnne Thayne, you don’t know what you are missing.  I cannot wait for book 3 of this series—EVERGREEN SPRINGS.  In the meantime I’ll be picking up her backlist and indulging myself with some really great reads.

This is an objective review and an endorsement of this book.