Jennifer Vido: What inspired your new holiday release, CHRISTMAS AT THE SHELTER INN?
RaeAnne Thayne: From 2014 to 2019 I wrote a long-running series, HAVEN POINT, set on fictional Lake Haven in Idaho, loosely based on McCall, Idaho. The series featured eleven titles, starting with SNOW ANGEL COVE and ending with SUMMER AT LAKE HAVEN.
As I was creating Haven Point, for various plot-related reasons I needed a neighboring larger town, so I came up with the town of Shelter Springs, which was only referred to in passing. When I was thinking about where to set a new holiday-only trilogy, Shelter Springs immediately came to mind. The Lake Haven area feels so real to me and creating a spinoff series to Haven Point really offered me the best of both words. I had the fun of coming up with an entirely new community and cast of characters while staying in a setting I know and love.
Jen: What brings Natalie Shepherd back to Shelter Springs?
RaeAnne: Natalie is a digital nomad who has created the perfect life for herself, house- and pet- sitting for others around the world while freelance editing and writing. She always tries to stay away from Shelter Springs around the holidays, as her losses feel too raw that time of year. But when her pregnant sister is placed on bed rest and needs help with her two young daughters only a few weeks before Christmas, she reaches out and begs Natalie to come back home.
Jen: What’s running through Nat’s mind when she bumps into her late brother’s best friend, Griffin Taylor?
RaeAnne: First, overwhelming relief! She’s in a bind, her rental car stuck in a snowbank, when Griffin comes along to help pull her out. Next, she is surprised to encounter him, as she hadn’t heard he had returned to Shelter Springs to open his medical practice. Griffin has as many hard memories here as Natalie does. Maybe even more. Yet he has chosen to bring his skills as a family physician to the same small town where much of the population despises his family for his father’s mistakes. Finally, Natalie is flustered to remember she always had a bit of a crush on Griffin. She hasn’t seen him in years, not since her brother’s funeral, and had forgotten how gorgeous he was…and the years since have only made him more appealing.
Jen: What makes Shelter Springs so special at Christmastime?
RaeAnne: Several years ago, some of the community members of Shelter Springs realized their neighboring town of Haven Point was outdoing them in the holiday cheer department so they decided to do something about it. They poured energy and time into the town’s Giving Festival, fashioning it after a European Christmas market that runs for ten days in December, with a large portion of profits donated to a different local charity each year. The Shelter Springs market features music performances, food trucks and small craft kiosks, a one-stop shop for bringing holiday spirit to even the most Grinchiest of Grinches.
Jen: Which character was the most fun to write and why?
RaeAnne: I loved all the senior citizens who now call the Shelter Inn home, since Natalie’s sister McKenna and her aunt Liz transformed their family’s hotel to a senior retirement community several years earlier. They are spicy and funny and filled with holiday joy, inflatable decorations and all.
Jen: What are your family’s favorite Christmas traditions?
RaeAnne: My three kids are older (my youngest is 20 and I don’t have any grandkids) so many of our traditions, like reading a different holiday book each night in December, have fallen by the wayside. My children still love getting together on Christmas Eve and playing games and my Christmas morning breakfast is legendary. I have to prepare the same thing each year or they would revolt, a make-ahead praline caramel French Toast and a make-ahead farmer’s breakfast casserole. Throughout the holiday season, I still love driving around and looking at Christmas lights and we all enjoy watching our favorite Christmas movies together.
Jen: What’s on your TBR stack?
RaeAnne: So many things! I really love audiobooks as I can enjoy them while walking my dog (and co-writer!) Millie, a little Havanese/Poodle/Bichon mix. I have the audiobook of the latest Thursday Murder Club book by Richard Osman to look forward to as well as Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, read by Meryl Streep. On my Kindle, I’ve been re-reading the fantastic Pennyroyal Green series by Julie Ann Long, one of my favorites, as well as re-reading JD Robb’s IN DEATH series in order. I think I’m up to #30 of the IN DEATH books. I’m an eclectic reader and like everything from cozy mysteries to suspense to fantasy to autobiographies, though my happy place is still historical romance.
Jen: How can readers stay connected with you?
RaeAnne: They can reach me through my website, as well as most of the social media sites. I am most active on my Author RaeAnne Thayne page on Facebook, as well as Instagram.
Jen: Sneak peek! What’s your current work in progress?
RaeAnne: I’m currently putting the finishing touches to a book that straddles the women’s fiction/romance line. 15 SUMMERS LATER features two sisters who were placed in a horrible position as teenagers when their father became embroiled with an unsavory group living deep in the Idaho Mountains. Now, fifteen years later, one of those sisters has written an autobiography about that time that becomes a runaway hit, much to the dismay of the other sister, who would prefer to focus on anything but that dark period in their lives. And of course there are a couple of romances included as I can’t write a book without the characters learning to open their hearts to love. In a few weeks I’ll be starting the next Shelter Springs book. I can’t wait as I absolutely love writing a Christmas book when it’s actually the holiday season!
Jen: What a special treat to chat with you about Christmas at The Shelter Inn! Best of luck with your heartfelt holiday read!
RaeAnne: Thank you so much for having me. It’s been a true delight!
CHRISTMAS AT THE SHELTER INN by RaeAnne Thayne
Come home to Shelter Springs this Christmas, where hearts are warm and hopes are bright…
Growing up at the Shelter Inn hotel, Natalie Shepherd envied guests who could come and go as they pleased. So when it was time to finally leave for college and put the lush green mountains around Shelter Springs—along with the cloud of loss that seemed to follow her family—behind her, she swore she’d never come back. But now her sister McKenna needs a favor. On pregnancy bed rest at doctor’s orders, McKenna needs a helping hand with her two young daughters and someone to take over the inn during the hectic holiday season, and Nat can’t refuse. And just when things can’t get worse, she runs into her late brother’s best friend, Griffin Taylor…
Griff has mixed feelings about Natalie’s return. She’s just as beautiful and full of life as he remembered, but there’s a secret he’s carried for years about her brother—and the guilt is eating away at him. Still, Christmas in this small town is filled with treasured traditions and new adventures that hold the promise of something sweet and lasting. From matchmaking seniors to rambunctious nieces, it seems everyone is hoping Nat and Griff will put loss behind them and find a happy new beginning…
Romance Holiday [Canary Street Press, On Sale: October 10, 2023, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781335005137 / eISBN: 9780369743398]
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About RaeAnne Thayne
Stories of Hope, Healing, & Heart
RaeAnne Thayne will do anything to tell a story. In 15 years as a newspaper reporter and editor, she rode along with a motorcycle gang, took a trip in a hot air balloon and even gave a hunky country music star her home phone number (it was for an interview — honest!).
When she wasn’t working as a journalist, though, RaeAnne worked on her real love — writing romance novels. She dreamed of publishing a book long before she ever thought it was possible. In fact, college friends used to spend hours when they should have been studying, trying to help her come up with a good pseudonym (none of which she actually ended up using, since she writes under her own name!).
After graduating from college, she took a job as a reporter at a daily newspaper, then moved to news editor. It wasn’t until she was home on maternity leave after the birth of her first child in 1990 that RaeAnne seriously tried her hand at fiction writing. She sold her first book in 1995 and quit her editor job two years later to write full-time.
She is a two-time recipient of the Heart of Romance Reader’s Choice award and has been a finalist for the RITA and for the National Reader’s Choice award.
Hope’s Crossing | Cowboys of Cold Creek | Haven Point | Women of Brambleberry House | Cape Sanctuary
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About Jennifer Vido
Jennifer Vido writes sweet romances set in the Lowcountry filled with southern charm and hospitality. In between chapters, she interviews authors for her bi-weekly Jen’s Jewels column on FreshFiction.com. Most mornings, she teaches an arthritis-friendly water exercise class for seniors before heading to the office to serve as the executive director of a legal non-profit. A New Jersey native, she currently lives in Maryland with her husband and two rescue dogs and is the proud parent of two sons who miss her home-cooked meals. To learn more, please visit her website.
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