Review: Sugar Pine Trail

Sugar Pine Trail by RaeAnne Thayne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Earlier this year I read Serenity Harbor, the sixth book in the Haven Point series. Instantly, I found myself madly in love with RaeAnne Thayne’s storytelling and I wanted more. I wanted to go back and read the prior Haven Point books, I wanted to read the next Haven Point book, and I wanted to dive into the other books the author has written. Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long before I was able to dive into Sugar Pine Trail, the seventh book in the Haven Point series.

If the truth is to be known, I enjoyed Sugar Pine Trail even more than I enjoyed Serenity Harbor. I feared such would not be the case – I’m not the biggest fan of seasonal romance stories, plus Serenity Harbor had set the bar extremely high – and yet I was quickly shown a wonderful story through Sugar Pine Trail.

From the first page I was pulled into the story, into the lives of our characters. It starts on a high and the book only gets better. There are so many experiences throughout, so many emotions to work through, leaving you unable to put the book down for any extended period of time. I tried to blame my night of no sleep on my injured back, but that was just an excuse I used to spend the night reading Sugar Pine Trails. It was impossible to put down, and I’m positive my neighbours heard my sounds of distress when my Kindle ran out of batter at the sixty-eight percent mark.

Honestly, I was addicted.

It’s hard to pinpoint what part of the story I loved the most. One minute I will claim it was the emotion, the next I will claim it was the characters, and a few moments later I will change my mind to reference sweet scenes. It really is a combination of these things – and others – that make the book so good, one of those stories where the individual elements are great but the collective makes for an even stronger read.

As I’ve said, this book is deeply emotional. I was laughing out loud. I was on the edge of my seat with worry. I was crying ugly tears at the events. I felt everything. We really do go through such a wide range of emotions in this one, each emotion hitting you hard at the most perfect of moments. It was wonderful, making for a very real read.

A large part of why things felt so real, for why the story hits you so hard, is due to the characters. The cast is wonderful. I fell head over heels for our main characters, as they worked so well together. I also fell madly in love with our other characters. In Serenity Harbor I found RaeAnne Thayne writes a wonderful child character, and the same is true here. The realness of the children characters adds so much to the story, gripping you so deeply. Honestly, I loved this.

As for the events that played out – well, damn. There were so many wonderful scenes. I could list them out, but to do so would ruin the events. Just know you’ll be on a rollercoaster of events, and that you’ll love all that plays out. It really does pull you through so much.

Overall, this was a wonderful second RaeAnne Thayne read; a solid four-point-five star read that works perfectly fine as a standalone should anyone want to pick it up without first reading the prior books. I cannot wait to go and read even more of the author’s work, something I know will certainly be happening in the future. I’m a fan now, and I’ll be need another fix soon.

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