Nancy Thayer has 26 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 17 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.2★ across 21 ratings. The most-rated is Girls of Summer.
Girls of Summer
Summary
One life-changing summer on Nantucket brings about exhilarating revelations for a single mother and her two grown children in this sensational novel from New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer. Lisa Hawley is perfectly satisfied living on her own. Having fully recovered from a brutal divorce nearly two decades earlier, she has successfully raised her kids, Juliet and Theo, seeing them off to college and beyond. As the owner of a popular boutique on Nantucket, she’s built a fulfilling life for herself on the island where she grew up. With her beloved house in desperate need of repair, Lisa calls on Mack Whitney, a friendly - and very handsome - local contractor and fellow single parent, to do the work. The two begin to grow close, and Lisa is stunned to realize that she might be willing to open up again after all...despite the fact that Mack is ten years her junior. Juliet and Theo worry that Mack will only break their mother’s heart - and they can’t bear to see her hurt again. Both stuck in ruts of their own, they each hope that a summer on Nantucket will provide them with the clarity they’ve been searching for. When handsome entrepreneur Ryder Hastings moves to the island to expand his environmental nonprofit, Juliet, an MIT-educated web designer, feels an immediate attraction, one her rocky love life history pushes her to deny at first. Meanwhile, free spirit Theo finds his California bliss comes to a brutal halt when a surfing injury forces him back to the East Coast. Upon his return, he has eyes only for Mack’s daughter, Beth, to whom he is bound by an unspeakable tragedy from high school. Can they overcome their past? As the season unfolds, a storm threatens to shatter the peace of the golden island, forcing Lisa, Juliet, and Theo to decide whether their summer romances are destined for something more profound. Nancy Thayer dazzles again in this delightful tale of family, a reminder that sometimes, finding our way back home can bring us unexpected gifts.
©2020 Nancy Thayer (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Let It Snow
Summary
A Nantucket shopkeeper discovers that Christmas is the perfect occasion to make unexpected friendships, to warm the coldest of hearts - and maybe even to find love. Christina Antonioni is preparing for the holidays at her Nantucket toy shop, unpacking last-minute shipments and decorating for her loyal Christmas shoppers. But when her Scrooge of a landlord, Oscar Bittlesman, raises her rent, it seems nearly impossible for Christina to continue business on the wharf. Even so, Christina firmly believes there may be a warm heart underneath Oscar's steely exterior. When she bonds with Wink, his sweet, young granddaughter who frequents the shop, it becomes clear that perhaps he isn't so cold after all. And with the help of Wink's uncle, who happens to be a charming (and extremely wealthy) bachelor, this may be the best Christmas any of them could have ever imagined. Nancy Thayer's enchanting Nantucket setting provides the perfect backdrop for this holiday love story.
©2019 Nancy Thayer (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights.
Surfside Sisters
Summary
A Nantucket woman returns home to find that reunions aren’t always simple, in this heartwarming novel from the New York Times bestselling author of A Nantucket Wedding and Secrets in Summer.
“Nancy Thayer is the queen of beach books.” --The Star-Ledger
Keely Green always dreamed of leaving the beautiful shores of Nantucket to become a writer. Now she’s a bestselling novelist living in New York City, attending glamorous cocktail parties, mingling with the literary elite, and dating a charming pediatric surgeon. But a moment of clarity strikes when Keely’s boyfriend suddenly wants to settle down and her editor rejects her latest novel. With her personal and professional lives in shambles, Keely longs for the island way of life.
Growing up, Keely and her best friend, Isabelle, were inseparable. Nothing could come between them - except, as it turned out, Keely’s high school boyfriend, Tommy. Returning home means facing Isabelle’s bitter betrayal and seeing for herself the family Tommy and Isabelle have created, the life that should have been Keely’s.
But when Keely’s mother falls into a deep depression, Keely knows what she must do, even though she is reluctant to face her estranged friend. And encountering Isabelle’s older brother, Sebastian - Keely’s longtime crush - only complicates things.
In one incredible summer, Keely must confront the mistakes of the past if she has any chance of finding true happiness in the place she will always call home. Nancy Thayer shines yet again in this uplifting tale of forgiveness and self-discovery.
©2019 by Nancy Thayer. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Summer Breeze
Summary
New York Times best-selling author Nancy Thayer never fails to imbue her novels with warmth and wisdom. In Summer Breeze,the author of Beachcombers and Heat Wave tells the wonderfully moving story of three women who forge a unique bond one sun-drenched summer on New England's Dragonfly Lake. Morgan O'Keefe feels trapped in a gilded cage. True, the thirty-year-old mother agreed to put her science career on hold to raise her young son while her husband pursued his high-powered job. But though Morgan loves many things about staying home with her child, she misses the thrill of working with her colleagues in the lab. She's restless and in dire need of a change. Fed up with New York City's hectic pace, Natalie Reynolds takes up her aunt's offer to move to the Berkshires and house-sit her fabulous lakeside house for a year. Passionate about applying brush to canvas, Natalie is poised to become the artist she has forever longed to be. But life on Dragonfly Lake is never without surprises, and for a novice swimmer like Natalie, the most welcome surprise proves to be the arms of a handsome neighbor pulling her up from the water for a gulp of air. When her mother breaks her leg, Bella Barnaby quits her job in Austin and returns home to help out her large, boisterous family. Among her new duties: manning the counter at the family business, Barnaby's Barn, an outdated shop sorely in need of a makeover. While attractive architect Aaron has designs on her, Bella harbors long held secret dreams of her own. Summer on Dragonfly Lake is ripe for romance, temptation, and self-discovery as the lives of these three women unexpectedly intertwine. Summer Breeze illustrates how the best of friends can offer comfort, infuriate, or even - sometimes - open one's eyes to the astonishing possibilities of life lived in a different way. This captivating novel displays a prestigiously gifted writer at the height of her storytelling powers.
©2012 Nancy Thayer (P)2012 Random House Audio
A Nantucket Wedding
Summary
Wedding bells are ringing, a family is reunited, and new romances are blooming - for better or for worse - in a standalone novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Island House and Secrets in Summer.
A few years after losing her beloved husband, Alison is doing something she never thought she would do again: getting married. While placing the finishing touches on her summer nuptials, Alison is anxious to introduce her fiancé, David, to her grown daughters: Felicity, a worried married mother of two, and Jane, also married but focused on her career. The sisters have a somewhat distant relationship and Alison hopes that the wedding and the weeks leading up to the ceremony will give the siblings a chance to reconnect, as well as meet and get to know David’s grown children.
As the summer progresses, it is anything but smooth sailing. Felicity stumbles upon a terrible secret that could shatter her carefully cultivated world. Jane finds herself under the spell of her soon-to-be stepbrother, Ethan, who is as charming as he is mysterious. And even Allison is surprised (and slightly alarmed) by her new blended family. Revelations, intrigue, resentments - as the Big Day approaches, will the promise of bliss be a bust?
Against the gorgeous backdrop of the sunswept island of Nantucket, Nancy Thayer sets the stage for a walk down the aisle no one will ever forget.
©2018 Nancy Thayer (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Secrets in Summer
Summary
"The queen of beach books" (The Star-Ledger) returns to the shores of Nantucket in a novel about one memorable summer when flirtations flourish, family dramas play out, and scandalous secrets surface.
Memorial Day weekend means that seasonal visitors have descended on the glamorous island of Nantucket. For year-round resident Darcy Cotterill, it means late-night stargazing in the backyard of the beautiful house she grew up in and inherited from her beloved grandmother. It's also Darcy's chance to hit the beach and meet her new summertime neighbors. But the last person the thirty-year-old librarian expects to see staying next door is her ex-husband, Boyz, along with his wife, Autumn, and stepdaughter, Willow.
Darcy must also navigate the highs and lows of a new romantic relationship with local carpenter Nash Forester even as she becomes smitten with handsome vacationer Clive Rush, a musicologist in town to write a book and visit family. And she finds herself pulled into the concerns of Boyz, Autumn, a charming elderly neighbor, and an at-risk teen.
As the season nears its end, Darcy must decide her next move: retreating to the comforts of her steady and secure island life, or risking it all for a chance at true happiness.
©2017 Nancy Thayer (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Family Secrets
Summary
A long-ago love story threatens to change the lives of three generations of women in New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer’s stunning novel - now available for the first time in audio!
Though Diane Randall’s jewelry business is a great success, her marriage is not, and she finds herself growing lonely as her children near adulthood. Meanwhile, her eighteen-year-old daughter Julia is falling dangerously in love, and Diane’s mother, Jean, is relishing her newfound freedom as a single woman in Europe. Distracted by their individual concerns, the three women are ill-prepared for the crisis that suddenly appears on Diane’s doorstep in the form of a handsome FBI agent asking about an explosive secret that’s laid buried for decades.
At the start of World War II, Jean was a young woman in love who made a fateful mistake, one that may now tear apart her family. Diane finds herself drawn into an illicit affair that threatens to erupt into scandal, while Julia’s own dramatic antics endanger her life. Meanwhile, Jean is desperate to keep hidden painful memories she’s guarded for so long. These three extraordinary women find that only by facing down secrets and lies can they face the future.
Praise for the novels of Nancy Thayer
“The queen of beach books.” —The Star-Ledger
“Thayer has a deep and masterly understanding of love and friendship, of where the two complement and where they collide.” —Elin Hilderbrand
“Thayer’s gift for reaching the emotional core of her characters [is] captivating.” —Houston Chronicle
“One of my favorite writers.” —Susan Wiggs
“Thayer portrays beautifully the small moments, inside stories and shared histories that build families.” —The Miami Herald
“Thayer’s sense of place is powerful, and her words are hung together the way my grandmother used to tat lace.” —Dorothea Benton Frank
©1993, 2014 Nancy Thayer (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
My Dearest Friend
Summary
Now available for the first time in audio, this luminescent novel by New York Times best-selling author Nancy Thayer enthralls with a story of difficult choices, complicated loves, and hard-won triumphs.
At the age of 46, Daphne Miller is a first-time homeowner, a divorced college administrator whose daughter has moved in with her father. On a dirt road in the green mountains of southern Vermont, Daphne has at last found a home of her own. It may be tiny, but the rustic cottage is hers, and she’s determined to make it perfect.
Just down the lane, Jack Hamilton and his young family move in. The newly appointed English professor, Jack has long dreamed of teaching at his prestigious alma mater, but his wife Carey Ann is terribly unhappy in rural New England. As Daphne takes Carey Ann under her wing, Jack suppresses his growing attraction for his new neighbor and the two become friends. But for Daphne, this increasingly complex friendship brings back the painful memories of a previous betrayal. Now at an unexpected crossroads, Daphne must let go of the woman she has become - and reach out for the woman she longs to be.
Praise for the novels of Nancy Thayer:
“The queen of beach books.” (The Star-Ledger)
“Thayer has a deep and masterly understanding of love and friendship, of where the two complement and where they collide.” (Elin Hilderbrand)
“Thayer’s gift for reaching the emotional core of her characters [is] captivating.” (Houston Chronicle)
“One of my favorite writers.” (Susan Wiggs)
“Thayer portrays beautifully the small moments, inside stories and shared histories that build families.” (The Miami Herald)
“Thayer’s sense of place is powerful, and her words are hung together the way my grandmother used to tat lace.” (Dorothea Benton Frank)
©1989 Nancy Thayer (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Introduction © 2014 by Nancy Thayer.
An Act of Love
Summary
A happy family is forced to confront a shocking secret with the power to pull them apart in this riveting novel from New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer. Now available for the first time in audio! In their modest farmhouse in rural New England, Owen and Linda McFarland feel that they’ve found a little slice of heaven. Both previously divorced, they now have a second chance at a happy home with his son, Bruce, and her daughter, Emily. While the transition wasn’t easy, Linda and Owen hope the newly blended family has put their troubles behind them. But they are mistaken. Bruce, seventeen, and Emily, fifteen, are enrolled together in an elite Massachusetts boarding school when bright, extroverted Emily attempts suicide, shocking the entire family. In recovery at the hospital, she makes a horrifying accusation that threatens to destroy the idyllic life Linda and Owen have worked so hard to build. With illusions laid bare, loyalties are tested and a family must learn to start anew. Praise for the novels of Nancy Thayer “The queen of beach books.” (The Star-Ledger) “Thayer has a deep and masterly understanding of love and friendship, of where the two complement and where they collide.” (Elin Hilderbrand) “Thayer’s gift for reaching the emotional core of her characters [is] captivating.” (Houston Chronicle) “One of my favorite writers.” (Susan Wiggs) “Thayer portrays beautifully the small moments, inside stories and shared histories that build families.” (The Miami Herald) “Thayer’s sense of place is powerful, and her words are hung together the way my grandmother used to tat lace.” (Dorothea Benton Frank)
©1997 Nancy Thayer (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Introduction © 2014 by Nancy Thayer.
The Hot Flash Club
Summary
From the best-selling author of Between Husbands and Friends and An Act of Love comes a wise, wonderful, and delightfully witty coming-of-age novel about four intrepid women who discover themselves as they were truly meant to be: passionate, alive, and ready to face the best years of their lives. Meet Faye, Marilyn, Alice, and Shirley. Four women with skills, smarts, and secrets - all feeling over the hill and out of the race. But in a moment of delicious serendipity, they meet and realize they share more than raging hormones and lost dreams. Now, as the Hot Flash Club, where the topics of motherhood, sex, and men are discussed with double servings of chocolate cake, they vow to help each other...and themselves. Faye, the artist. A determinedly cheerful widow and connoisseur of control-top pantyhose, she's struggling with creative block and an empty, lonely house. Now she's got a tricky problem to bring to the club's table: How can they catch her perfect son-in-law cheating on her only daughter, Laura? Shirley, the healer. Though her yoga-slender body belies her years, decades of dating losers and the strain of being broke make her feel her age. Shirley has a secret dream: a wellness spa that nurtures body and soul. But first she needs to believe in herself, in her abilities, and in her friends at the club. Marilyn, the brain. A paleontologist who has spent so many years looking at dried-up fossils, she's almost become one herself. Worried that her brilliant but nerdy son is about to marry the very wrong woman, she gets some help from the HFC, who transform her from a caterpillar to a butterfly, with amazing results. Alice, the executive. Black and regal, she soared to the top of the corporate ladder. Now her shoes are murder on her arthritic back, and the younger jackals are circling in for the kill. But as the inspiration behind the HFC, she's about to discover something extraordinary: contentment. For Faye, Shirley, Marilyn, and Alice, the time has come to use it or lose it - be it their bodies, their brains, their spirits, and their sense of fun. Together they realize that they can have it all, perhaps for the first time in their lives. And though what sags may never rise again, feeling sexy has no expiration date - and best of all, with a little help from her friends, a woman can always start over...and never, ever give up what matters most.
©2003 Nancy Thayer (P)2017 Random House Audio
Summer House
Summary
After years of wandering from whim to whim, 30-year-old Charlotte Wheelwright seems to have at last found her niche. The free spirit enjoys running an organic gardening business on the island of Nantucket, thanks in large part to her spry grandmother Nona, who donated a portion of her land on the family's seaside compound to get Charlotte started. Though Charlotte's skill with plants is bringing her success, cultivating something deeper with people---particulary her handsome neighbor Coop---might be more of a challenge. Nona's generosity to Charlotte, secretly her favorite grandchild, doesn't sit well with the rest of the Wheelwright clan, however, as they worry that Charlotte may be positioning herself to inherit the entire estate. With summer upon them, everyone is making their annual pilgrimage to the homestead---some with hopes of thwarting Charlotte's dreams, others in anticipation of Nona's latest pronouncements at the annual family meeting, and still others with surprising news of their own. Charlotte's mother, Helen, a Wheelwright by marriage, brings a heavy heart. She once set aside her own ambitions to fit in with the Wheelwrights, but now she must confront a betrayal that threatens both her sense of place and her sense of self. As summer progresses, these three women---Charlotte, Nona, and Helen---come to terms with the decisons they have made. Revisiting the lives and loves that have crossed their paths and the possibilities of the the roads not taken, they may just discover that what they've always sought out was right in front of them all along.
©2009 Nancy Thayer (P)2011 Tantor
The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again
Summary
The fabulous women from The Hot Flash Club are back in top form, welcoming the stressed-out and pampering-deprived through their discreet spa doors - as Nancy Thayer returns with a witty, sexy, and heartwarming novel. The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again also introduces four new women, ready for massages and seaweed wraps, each struggling to reconcile her secret dreams, biggest fears, and deepest feelings as topsy-turvy events shake up her life. After 18 years of trying to make peace with her husband’s cold-as-ice mother, Polly vows to be the perfect mother-in-law: loving, accepting, and determined to keep her mouth shut. Then her son marries Amy, a Birkenstocked gal whose organic farm and family ooze a rather creepy serenity. Ever the optimist, Polly puts her best foot forward...so why does it end up in her mouth? A shy and brilliant professor-to-be, Beth has lived a sheltered life. Then she meets Sonny, a rugged, sexy carpenter who sweeps her off her feet. The problem? Beth may not survive his loud, affectionate, athletic family - especially when the very beautiful and earthy woman everybody wanted Sonny to marry is still hanging around the family dinner table. Heiress to one of New England’s oldest paper companies, Carolyn is the driving force behind the brand. Now, at 37, the workaholic executive is finally pregnant with her first child, and high blood pressure is forcing her to do something totally alien: relax. But how can she let down her guard when her 70-something father has gone and eloped with a young bank clerk named Heather, whose rather plain looks and unassuming nature still manage to fill Carolyn with suspicion. A free-spirited photographer, Julia has married a man she loves, but he’s come packed with baggage. Tim is a widower with a young daughter, and Julia has bravely stepped up to the plate, doing her best to provide maternal support. But as if being pinned down by the child’s slightly manipulative ways and (dare Julia say it) spoiled behavior wasn’t enough, there’s Tim’s ex-mother-in-law, whose meddling is getting nastier by the week. For Polly, Beth, Carolyn, and Julia, the time has come to stand up for what matters - for their passions, their hearts, and themselves. As they maneuver through family drama and embrace unexpected change, they come to find that life is much easier (and a lot more fun) when you’ve got friends, wine, and chocolate along for the ride.
©2004 Nancy Thayer (P)2004 Books on Tape, Inc.
Morning
Summary
In this touching novel by New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer, a young woman’s search for fulfillment on Nantucket leads her to a mysterious manuscript and a life-changing friendship. Now available for the first time in audio! When Sara marries Steve Kendall, she leaves Boston behind and the newlyweds move to his native Nantucket. Though Sara loves the gorgeous island, she is less than thrilled with her husband’s friends, a tight-knit group that leaves her feeling left out. Trying unsuccessfully to have a baby, Sara’s only solace comes from her work as a freelance editor. When she stumbles upon several provocative pages mixed in with one of her manuscripts, she becomes determined to track down the reclusive author. Fanny Anderson has been writing romance novels for years, hiding away in her huge Cambridge house. After Sara insists on meeting Fanny, the two begin a fruitful collaboration and a profound friendship. As their work progresses, however, a secret from Fanny’s past is revealed - inspiring Sara to try and make both their dreams come true. Praise for the novels of Nancy Thayer “The queen of beach books.” —The Star-Ledger “Thayer has a deep and masterly understanding of love and friendship, of where the two complement and where they collide.” —Elin Hilderbrand “Thayer’s gift for reaching the emotional core of her characters [is] captivating.” —Houston Chronicle “One of my favorite writers.” —Susan Wiggs “Thayer portrays beautifully the small moments, inside stories and shared histories that build families.” —The Miami Herald “Thayer’s sense of place is powerful, and her words are hung together the way my grandmother used to tat lace.” —Dorothea Benton Frank
©2014 Nancy Thayer (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Introduction © 2014 by Nancy Thayer.
Beachcombers
Summary
Abbie Fox hasn't seen her father or two younger sisters in almost two years, during which time she has jetted around the world and experienced life, if not love. But now Lily, the baby of the family, is sending Abbie urgent emails begging her to return home to Nantucket. Their middle sister, Emma, has taken to her bed, emotionally devastated after the loss of her high-powered stockbroker's job and a shockingly unexpected break-up with her fiance. Also, Lily is deeply worried that Marina, the beautiful, enigmatic woman who is renting their guest house, has set her sights on the sisters' widowed father, Jim. The Fox girls closed ranks years ago after the haunting, untimely death of their mother, but seeing their dad move on with his life forces each of them to take stock. Over the course of the summer, the sisters' lives grow as turbulent as the unpredictable currents encircling Nantucket. When Abbie encounters an incredibly appealing married man, she breaks her own rules in the name of love, fearing all the while that she’ll regret it. Meanwhile, type-A Emma learns a new definition of success, and strong-minded Lily must reconcile her dreams with reality. Even Marina, who has come to Nantucket to forget heartbreak and betrayal, faces an astonishing turn of events that will find her torn between fate and freedom. At summer's end, these unforgettable women will face profound choices and undergo personal transformations that will surprise even themselves.
©2010 Nancy Thayer (P)2010 Tantor
The Island House
Summary
The charms of Nantucket tempt a woman to leave her established life in Kansas City - but with a piece of her heart, and a love interest, in each world, she discovers she must look within to choose the right path.
Every summer since college, twenty-nine-year-old Jenny has traded the familiarity of the Midwest for the allure of Nantucket. Now an established university professor in Kansas City, she finds herself caught between two lifestyles and two very different men. She chooses Nantucket and the glamorous life she associates with it, unaware that the summer will take an unexpected turn, and she will have to let her heart decide what it truly wants.
©2016 Nancy Thayer (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.
Nell
Summary
Now available for the first time in audio, this beloved novel by New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer tells the uplifting story of a single mom seeking independence and struggling to find her way. Nell St. John is not living the life she imagined for herself - not by a long shot. She was once a glamorous young actress married to influential director, Marlow St. John. Together, the A-list couple was the toast of the town. But then Marlow’s star fades and tensions at home skyrocket. Marlow takes up with another woman and abandons Nell, leaving her to pay the bills and raise their two boisterous young children. A string of attractive suitors is not the answer to her lack of fulfillment, but what is? When she’s offered a job at a posh clothing boutique on Nantucket, Nell uproots her young family and moves to the island. Soon, her college age ex-stepdaughter Clary, who has her own romantic troubles, moves in with her, and Clary and Nell fall in love with island life and its gentler pace. Nell also captures the attention of an eccentric man about town. And in that carefree, romantic summer of tender passion, she looks within and discovers much more than she ever dreamed possible. Praise for the novels of Nancy Thayer “The queen of beach books.”—The Star-Ledger “Thayer has a deep and masterly understanding of love and friendship, of where the two complement and where they collide.”—Elin Hilderbrand “Thayer’s gift for reaching the emotional core of her characters [is] captivating.”—Houston Chronicle “One of my favorite writers.”—Susan Wiggs “Thayer portrays beautifully the small moments, inside stories and shared histories that build families.”—The Miami Herald “Thayer’s sense of place is powerful, and her words are hung together the way my grandmother used to tat lace.”—Dorothea Benton Frank
©1985 Nancy Thayer (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
Custody
Summary
A secret in a woman’s past returns to change her life forever in this riveting novel from New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer. Now available for the first time in audio! Ambitious, brilliant, and engaged to a wonderful guy, Kelly MacLeod feels like her dreams are coming true when she lands a prestigious appointment as a judge in the Massachusetts Family Court. A passionate advocate on behalf of children of divorce, she can at long last put her fierce intellect to good use in the courtroom. But a chance meeting with a charismatic man forever changes Kelly’s life. Randall Madison is a successful doctor locked in a custody battle with his soon-to-be ex-wife. The two are soon swept into a passionate affair. But then Kelly realizes that a secret ties her inextricably to Randall’s case, and she finds herself torn between her moral judgment and her deepest desires. Praise for the novels of Nancy Thayer “The queen of beach books.” (The Star-Ledger) “Thayer has a deep and masterly understanding of love and friendship, of where the two complement and where they collide.” (Elin Hilderbrand) “Thayer’s gift for reaching the emotional core of her characters [is] captivating.” (Houston Chronicle) “One of my favorite writers.” (Susan Wiggs) “Thayer portrays beautifully the small moments, inside stories and shared histories that build families.” (The Miami Herald) “Thayer’s sense of place is powerful, and her words are hung together the way my grandmother used to tat lace.” (Dorothea Benton Frank)
©2001 Nancy Thayer (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Introduction © 2014 by Nancy Thayer.
Island Girls
Summary
New York Times best-selling author Nancy Thayer returns to her beloved Nantucket in a highly emotional, wholly entertaining tale of three sisters forced to confront the past over one event-filled summer on the island. Charming ladies’ man Rory Randall dies with one last trick up his sleeve: His will includes a calculating clause mandating a summer-long reunion for his daughters, all from different marriages - that is, if they hope to inherit his posh Nantucket house. Relations among the three sisters are sour thanks to long-festering jealousies, resentments, and misunderstandings. Arden, a successful television host in Boston, hasn’t been back to the island since her teenage years, when accusations of serious misbehavior led to her banishment. College professor Meg hopes to use her summer to finish a literary biography and avoid an amorous colleague. And secretive Jenny, an IT specialist, faces troubling questions about her identity while longing for her sisters’ acceptance. To their surprise, the three young women find their newfound sisterhood easier to trust than the men who show up to complicate their lives. And if that weren’t problematic enough, their mothers descend on the island. When yet another visitor drops by the house with shocking news, the past comes screaming back with a vengeance. Having all the women from his life under his seaside roof - and overseeing the subsequent drama of that perfect storm - Rory Randall might just be enjoying a hearty laugh from above. Nancy Thayer’s novel insightfully illustrates how the push and pull of family altercations make us whole. It’s how the Randall sisters come to forgive, and learn to open their hearts to love.
©2013 Nancy Thayer (P)2013 Random House
The Hot Flash Club Chills Out
Summary
Since opening up their day spa, The Haven, the wonderful women of the Hot Flash Club have been busy indulging the beleaguered, nerve-frazzled throngs. Now, in Nancy Thayer's hilarious new Hot Flash novel, it's the friends' turn to grab some soothing, and much-deserved, R&R. When a long time Haven client asks the gals to housesit her Nantucket hideaway for the summer, they're beyond thrilled; the cozy island enclave is the perfect place to shop, swim, chill, and plan Marilyn's upcoming wedding to Ian, her Scottish fiance. And Marilyn desperately needs the break, since Ian's grown son has crashed at the couple's place with no departure date in sight. Soon after they arrive, the other hot flashers surrender to their own summer flings: Shirley entertains a steamy dalliance with a scruffy, sexy local fisherman that could lead to something deeper; Faye finds her dream house, but restoring it could be a costly nightmare; craft-maven Polly is enthralled by the island's bounty, from shell art to lightship baskets; and even hardboiled Alice swoons with romantic adventure, or is it seasickness? But this lovefest among the sand and ocean breezes is not without its consequences. Each woman must determine for herself what she is willing to give up in order to hold onto what she has found. And all of them fear that Shirley is on the brink of making a huge mistake, one that threatens their harmony and their business. But these concerns may be eclipsed by the mystery surrounding the disappearance of family heirlooms at the house where they are staying, and rumors that the place harbors spirits other than Grey Goose and Tanqueray. Nancy Thayer continues her hugely successful Hot Flash series with this wickedly funny, delightfully bawdy tale. These irresistible women spring to life: along with their passions, their sorrows, their joys, and, most importantly, their friendship.
©2006 Nancy Thayer (P)2006 Books on Tape.
Three Women at the Water's Edge
Summary
Now available for the first time in audio, this classic novel by New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer deftly and movingly explores the ebb and flow of love, fulfillment, and change for a mother and her two grown daughters. Margaret Wallace is a woman transformed. After thirty years of marriage and living in a small Iowa town, Margaret has divorced and relocated to Vancouver. While once she was the quintessential housewife and community caregiver, she now relishes the delicious freedom of being beholden to no one but herself. Her days are spent as she chooses, her mind continually occupied and expanding. But her sudden, dramatic change mystifies her two daughters, who need her now more than ever. Margaret’s elder daughter, Daisy, with two kids and another on the way, is content to be absorbed in the daily domestic tasks and maternal love that her children need. So when her husband demands a divorce, Daisy is devastated and adrift, stunned to find herself a single parent. Daisy’s younger sister, Dale, is freshly back from Europe, living and teaching in coastal Maine. She has suddenly, passionately fallen in love - but is terrified that the budding romance could end just as suddenly as her mother’s and sister’s have. As these three women face dramatic changes, their own relationships with each other will be challenged and reborn as they navigate uncharted waters.
©1981, 2014 Nancy Thayer (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.