Serenity Harbor

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Title: Serenity Harbor
Author: RaeAnne Thayne
Publication date: 06/27/2017
Publisher: Harlequin
Kindle Unlimited: No
Cliffhanger: No
Rating: 4 out of 5

Amazon blurb
In the town of Haven Point, love can be just a wish—and one magical kiss—away…
Computer-tech millionaire Bowie Callahan is about the last person that schoolteacher Katrina Bailey wants to work for. As far as she can see, he's arrogant, entitled and not up to the task of caring for his young half brother, Milo. But Kat is, especially if it brings her closer to her goal of adopting an orphaned little girl. And as her kindness and patience work wonders with Milo, she realizes there's more to sexy, wary Bo than she'd ever realized.

Bo never imagined he'd be tasked with caring for a sibling he didn't know existed. Then again, he never pictured himself impulsively kissing vibrant, compassionate Katrina in the moonlight. Now he's ready to make her dream of family come true…and hoping there's room in it for him, too…

My Review
I have a confession to make. Despite the fact that I’ve been reading romance novels for decades and RaeAnne Thayne has written roughly a gazillion novels, I’ve never read her work before Serenity Harbor. Maybe because I’m queen of the Unpopular Opinion crew, I saw all those 4 and 5 star reviews and assumed there was no way I’d enjoy any of her stuff. I dunno. But regardless, if all her work is this good, I’ve clearly been missing out.

I will also admit that I haven’t read many “clean” romances. (Minor spoiler alert: for those looking for a hot and steamy read, you’ll want to skip this one. There’s no sex at all, not even sex of the “closed door” variety.) But that doesn’t mean that the main characters lacked intimacy. Quite the contrary, in fact. I would say that in this case, the fact that the characters took the time to get to know and love each other before sex was even discussed made their connection all the more special.

Bowie and Kat were great characters, but in all honesty, I found that I was much more interested in the story of Milo, Bowie’s autistic brother. His growth throughout the story was heartwarming. You can tell that the subject of autism in children is  clearly one that is close to the author’s heart. She wouldn’t be able to write about it in such a raw, emotional way if it wasn’t. (And if Milo ever gets his own story in the future, I’m ALL IN. I’ll one-click the crap out of that one.)   

All in all, I would recommend this story to anyone who wants to read about good, hardworking, kind-hearted people who manage to fall in love without falling into bed first, in the midst of all sorts of realistic, relatable family dynamics and low-angst drama.

Full disclosure: we received an ARC in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.
    
Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
Crushes it! No rehab needed. This one is clean and sober.  

Other reading suggestions
I would start with the RaeAnne Thayne backlist, which is extensive.
For other clean reads, try Kristan Higgins. Too Good to be True is my personal favorite.

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