This was much deeper than your average light, feel-good summer read. 15 Summers Later was a moving & emotional story which revolved not only around romance & friendships, but the relationship between 2 sisters and all they endured and overcame individually and together during childhood & adulthood.

Their stories flowed and came together perfectly, while we got to see from 3 different perspectives- Madi’s, Ava’s & Luke’s. And don’t even get me started on the Luke!! Literally a dream guy. The chemistry between him & Madi was tangible from the very beginning. It was very much a slow burn romance but heartwarming all the same.

There were so many different themes in this book but it didn’t come across as overwhelming. From romance, to loss, familial relationships, second chances, trauma & healing. I reallly enjoyed this one and encourage everyone to keep an eye out for it on June 18th!!

Thank you to NetGalley & Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC.

📚ARC Review: 15 Summers Later by RaeAnne Thayne📚

Out 6/18/24

Thanks so much to @raeannethayne @Netgalley @htpbooks and @ htp_hive for the digital advanced readers’ copy of this one 💖.

✨What it is about:
Ava and Madi, two sisters who experience a very traumatic childhood together, attempt to remedy the rifts in their lives and reconcile their futures, facing all the demons of their past head on, together.✨

💭My thoughts:
This was a captivating story about sisters, that was fast paced, and expertly written. I love the way nothing felt forced, and each of the sister’s stories were seamlessly incorporated into one solid plot that delivered a beautiful, heartfelt, and touching ending. I enjoyed each sister’s storyline both individually and together. Their journey to healing the different parts of their lives was inspiring. Both sister’s love stories, though very different, felt real, and added another level of complexity to the story which I really enjoyed. This was a great feel good, summer read that you should definitely keep an eye out for.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
☀️ Small towns
☀️ Sister dynamics
☀️ Friends to lovers
☀️ Triumph over adversity
☀️ Multiple points of view

⚠️ CW: Child abuse, death, miscarriage.

3.5 ⭐️

This book may look like a light summer read, but it is so much deeper than that! While there was romance, the bigger story is about two sisters overcoming major traumas and finding their way back to one another! I really enjoyed the suspenseful parts of the plot and the strong character development!

"15 Summers Later" by RaeAnne Thayne presents itself as a beach read, enticing readers with promises of sun-soaked escapism. However, within its pages lies a narrative far weightier than the gentle waves and sandy shores the cover suggests. Beneath the surface of this seemingly light-hearted tale lies a complex web of familial intricacies, woven with threads of betrayal, love, and redemption.
While "15 Summers Later " may have been marketed as a beach read, it offers readers a poignant exploration of the complexities of family relationships. So, while it may not be the light-hearted romp one expects, it is a compelling and thought-provoking journey .

15 Summers Later by one of my must read authors, RaeAnne Thayne, is the story of Madison Howell, a veterinary tech who is in the process of setting up an animal rescue shelter in her adopted hometown of Emerald Creek, Utah. Madison & her sister Ava moved in with her grandmother, Leona, when they were teenagers after escaping a doomsday cult in the mountains that their widowed father had relocated the three of them to. Madison had crippling injuries from a gunshot wound to the head during their escape, and has some physical evidence that she is self conscious about. When her sister publishes a book about their ordeal, she is very angry, since she has worked so hard to overcome her physical limitations and forget their past and lives every day with the results of some of the violence that they endured. The book is all anyone can talk about in their small town. Can Madison forgive her sister for stirring up the old stories and can she resist the attraction she feels toward, Luke Gentry, the veterinarian she works with? The book is told from Madison, Luke and Ava's perspectives, and I enjoyed it very much. Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for sending me an advance reader's ebook to review.

A beautiful story of love, trauma, and healing, 15 Summers Later may make you cry, laugh, or maybe even both!

When Ava Howell comes home to visit, her and her sister Madison are at odds. While Madison was building her no kill animal shelter, Ava's book about her and Madison's heartbreaking, traumatic experience was published. Madison did not want her experience out there for everyone to read.

15 Summers Later takes us on a journey as Madison and Ava try to heal their relationship. Meanwhile, Madison falls in love with her friend and town veterinarian Luke, and Ava is working on her relationship with her husband.
Truly a touching story of sisterhood and love, 15 Summers Later is worth a read(or few)!

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Canary Street Press for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

☆☆☆☆/5

Pub date: June 18th, 2024

A good solid story about sisterhood and the strength of love. I loved this heartwarming read with such an interesting premise. The quotes from the memoir at the beginning of the chapter made me want to read it. Madison and Ava went through such trauma and it to see them heal, continue to heal, with good men by their side made this a good read!

RaeAnne Thayne has a hit with this book. Madi and Ava, sisters, that have lived a very horrible experience years ago, at the hands of a radical coalition that had recruited their father. Speed ahead to present day and sister Ava writes a tell all book that hits top sales that sends Madi into a tale spin.
Heartbreaking and heartwarming read. Wrongs are righted, wounds are healed. Wonderful read. I was given an advanced reader copy of this very well written book by NetGalley and I am freely sharing my review.

Based on the title alone, I know, shame on me, I thought this would be a light, beachy-read. It was anything but that.

Instead it was a story about family, born & found. It was about unimaginable pain & terror. It was about forgiveness. It was about love.

I thought it was so well written and gripping at times. I liked the different points of view as well.

I would recommend this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you @netgalley and Harlequin Trade Company for the arc, in exchange for my honest review.

15 Summers Later is an endearing story about two sisters, Ava and Madi, who survive a traumatic childhood. Ava ends up running from her hometown and building a happy life with a wonderful husband. She writes a memoir about her childhood, which causes problems in her marriage and destroys her relationship with her sister. We follow Ava and Madi’s journey through reconciliation, including the heartwarming, selfless reason why Ava wrote the memoir. There is a love story (or two) weaved throughout the story.

While I enjoyed 15 Summers Later and would recommend it to others, I was disappointed there wasn’t more suspense. The author laid the ground work for suspense but didn’t carry through, and it felt like a missed opportunity. For example, Madi visited a farmer with close ties to the cult, and the farmer obviously felt anger towards Madi and her sister, but nothing came from the run-in. Also, Ava and Madi visited the area of where the cult’s crimes took place. I hoped the sisters would run into trouble, adding depth to the storyline. The author, RaeAnne Thayne, didn’t intend for 15 Summers Later to be a suspenseful story, so as Taylor Swift would say, I’m the problem (not the author).

Please don’t let my one issue deter you from reading 15 Summers Later - it is such a layered story of heartbreak, healing, and forgiveness.

This is an easy read. Nothing profound, and the writing is flat. The characters are flat. The emotions are flat. The story is good. But I enjoyed navigating the sisters' present while learning about their complicated past.

Thank you to Harlequin Publishing and NetGalley for the early ARC of this book.
Don't judge this book by its cover. This book is complex. It is the journey of two sisters who find their way back to each other after unspeakable trauma bonds them together forever.
The book takes place 15 years after the Howell sisters were rescued from a cult camped deep in the mountains. After losing their mother, their father had fell down a slippery slope of conspiracy theories and ended up falling in with the wrong people. His daughters were beaten, starved, and forced to marry before they were old enough to vote.

Not only do they survive the ordeal, but both of them seemingly are able to thrive in their adult lives. It isn't until Ava writes a best selling memoir detailing their experience, that their relationship starts to unravel. Not wanting to relive the experience, Madison feels blindsided and hurt by her sister.
As both women are forced together by proximity, they must learn to communicate with each other, trust each other, and forgive.
There are multiple POV's which only add depth and perspective to the story. The author does a beautiful job of using small excerpts of Ava's book before each chapter. It was a creative way to tell the girls stories without releshing in the gory details.
Madison and Ava both have their own love stories weaving throughout the story and it only made the story that much more intriguing and complete.


The author shows how each sister finds their voice and strength in the midst of great tragedy. They find family, love, and hope. This was a great, unexpected read.

"15 Summers Later" by RaeAnne Thayne is a heartwarming story about two sisters, Ava and Madison, who are trying to reconcile their past and move forward in life. Ava, who seemed to have it all, is back in her hometown of Emerald Creek, Idaho, after her husband leaves her due to a secret from her past. Madison, on the other hand, is happy with her life as she runs a no-kill shelter for animals and is in love with the town veterinarian, Dr. Luke Gentry.

However, their past comes back to haunt them, and they must confront their demons together to remedy the rifts in their lives. The book is a beautiful portrayal of sisterhood, forgiveness, and second chances. The story is well-written, and the characters are relatable and likable. The author skillfully weaves in the themes of love, loss, and redemption throughout the book, making it an emotional and engaging read.

Overall, "15 Summers Later" is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a good family drama with a touch of romance. RaeAnne Thayne has done an excellent job of telling a story that is both heart-wrenching and heartwarming, leaving readers with a sense of hope and optimism."

This was a great read!!! It took me a while to get into, but once I did, I couldn’t put it down. A refreshing story full of love and forgiveness!

I truly couldn’t put this book down. It’s a wonderful story about resilience and family bonding. The author did an amazing job embedding details of Ghost Lake. The short blurbs before each chapter move you to the core. I actually wished I could read Ghost Lake to experience the beautifully written story about the tragedy the sisters went through. And it’s imaginable. The experiences in Ghost Lake bring a reality of the current times to light…The conspiracy theories, the quiet marriage struggles that the girls desperation. I would definitely recommend this book! Thank you again NetGalley!!!! This one did not disappoint.

The family dynamics are not only believable but well-written bringing to the forefront the need for understanding, compassion, and forgiveness between sisters. I enjoyed the book from the very first chapter as RaeAnne writes the chapter headings from the heart of the sisters’ shared horrors fifteen years before the story takes place, and then proceeds in current time to offer readers a glimpse into the intricacies of sibling drama and family loyalty and love. You will not be able to put this story down!! Loved it

I just reviewed 15 Summers Later by RaeAnne Thayne. #15SummersLater #NetGalley. Just going to start off by saying, I am a fan of RaeAnne Thayne and this book did not disappoint. From the first word to the last word, I was fully engaged with the story. The characters were very likeable and the plot was enjoyable.

Oh my goodness! Can I give this a 10?? Wow! This story is going on my favorite list! It has it all!! Romance, loss, relationship problems, family issues and second issues. Thiss emotional story is about two sisters and their trauma as children and how it affects their future lives. RaeAnne Thayne does am excellent job in writing all the details of these two sisters story. I highly recommend you add this to your list to read. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this early copy.

Great “pack in your beach bag” read. It’s got some family drama, a little romance and lots of adorable rescue animals. I did get a little bored at spots so I think it could’ve used some more editing to park the story down but I still loved it and have already recommended it to a few other readers.

2 sisters that endured extreme trauma growing up navigate their lives 15 years later after one sister publishes a book about that trauma.

Based on the cover, you would think this is a beachy read, but I did not get that vibe at all. It is a lot of drama and overcoming trauma. I had trouble feeling the chemistry between both main couples. And it was a very slow burn.

The BEST part about this book is that one of the sisters runs an animal rescue and there is lots of talk about the animals and puppies. I could have read those parts all day. It was more the love story that didn’t connect for me.

I also enjoyed the passages before each chapter that were from the book about their childhood trauma.

Overall, I would say this is good but lacks a “wow” factor.