We're so glad to have Kristy Woodson Harvey back at CLC today to celebrate the publication of her latest novel, Summer State of Mind! This story sounds really intriguing and perfect for fans of Virgin River and Sweet Magnolias. We enjoyed chatting with Kristy and hope you will love her answers to our questions as much as we do. Thanks to Angela Melamud PR, we have one copy for a lucky reader!
Kristy Woodson Harvey is a New York Times, USA TODAY, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of fourteen novels, including Beach House Rules and the Peachtree Bluff series. Several of her books are in development for film and television, including A Happier Life (MGM/Amazon) and The Summer of Songbirds (Hulu).
Her work has earned honors such as Good Morning America’s Buzz Pick and Southern Living’s Most Anticipated Reads, and she is a Lucy Bramlette Patterson Award winner and Southern Book Prize finalist. She co-hosts the podcast Friends & Fiction and co-founded Design Chic.
Kristy lives on the North Carolina coast with her family and is always working on her next novel.
After the worst day in her professional life, burnt-out NICU nurse Daisy Stevens runs to Cape Carolina, North Carolina, looking for a new life—and possibly new romance. On her first day at her “simpler” job, high school baseball coach Mason Thaysden discovers an abandoned baby, sending ripples through the entire tight-knit town of Cape Carolina.
Mason is still struggling to reconcile the scars of the injury that kept him out of the big leagues, stuck in his hometown, and searching for a way out. This newcomer and the child they’ve saved together might be just the motivation he needs to stay put. Sparks fly as Mason acquaints Daisy with Cape Carolina, introducing her to his friends and family, including his batty Aunt Tilley, who is looking for relief from long-buried family secrets and her own fresh start.
But as Daisy becomes increasingly attached to this abandoned child, and begins facing her own demons in the process, a startling discovery is made that threatens to rip the entire town of Cape Carolina apart, placing Daisy, Mason, and Tilley in the center of the storm. In a novel that proves that “Kristy Woodson Harvey is (the) go-to for elevated beach reads” (People), they will each learn that with love, understanding—and a community theater production of Hello, Dolly!—sometimes life conspires to bring us just exactly where we belong. (Courtesy of Amazon.)
"Kristy Woodson Harvey has written the book that every contemporary romance reader will savor this summer. With wonderfully memorable characters and surprises around every corner, Summer State of Mind is a celebration of family, community, and the kind of magical, messy, complicated love that makes life real and worth living."
- Marie Bostwick, New York Times bestselling author of The Book Club for Troublesome Women
- Marie Bostwick, New York Times bestselling author of The Book Club for Troublesome Women
"Kristy Woodson Harvey has perfected the art of the beach read. Summer State of Mind delivers pure summer escape through deliciously tangled family secrets and rich emotion. A story of found family, belonging, and second chances that will last long after the summer sun sets."
- Meagan Church, New York Times bestselling author of The Mad Wife
What is a favorite compliment you have received on your writing?
When my debut novel was about to release, I was a wreck, of course. And an early reader wrote me to tell me that she had had a baby before she was married and given it up for adoption. Her husband knew, but her children did not. And Dear Carolina gave her the confidence to tell them, reach out to her adopted daughter, and gave them this whole new layer of family. I will never forget how gobsmacked I was by that. And I thought, Okay. If this whole thing is a flop, I was meant to write that story so that family could have a happy ending. That was enough. But I have such generous readers and, this might sound silly, but I keep a “kind emails” folder on my computer, and if I’m feeling down about the whole writing thing, I go read them!
When my debut novel was about to release, I was a wreck, of course. And an early reader wrote me to tell me that she had had a baby before she was married and given it up for adoption. Her husband knew, but her children did not. And Dear Carolina gave her the confidence to tell them, reach out to her adopted daughter, and gave them this whole new layer of family. I will never forget how gobsmacked I was by that. And I thought, Okay. If this whole thing is a flop, I was meant to write that story so that family could have a happy ending. That was enough. But I have such generous readers and, this might sound silly, but I keep a “kind emails” folder on my computer, and if I’m feeling down about the whole writing thing, I go read them!
What is something you've learned from writing your previous novels that you applied to Summer State of Mind?
I think I’m answering the opposite of your question here, but it sort of applies in a roundabout way! Generally, I write books about a protagonist whose life has recently fallen apart or does so on the first page or two of the book. And then we spend 375-ish pages watching them take a circuitous path to getting it back together. In this book, we watch Daisy fall apart and come back together a couple different times in real time. Something about that rang really true for me with her story!
If Summer State of Mind were made into a movie, which songs would be on the soundtrack?
Most of the Hello, Dolly soundtrack, but especially “Just Leave Everything to Me” and “It Only Takes a Moment.” Then, most definitely Ben Rector’s “Thank God for the Summertime,” The Highwomen’s “Crowded Table,” and “Summer Love” by One Direction!
What is your favorite summertime activity?
I am a summer girl through and through and there is nothing I love more than taking the boat over to one of the islands around our house – Cape Lookout is my favorite – with lots of friends and family and packing a big cooler of food and sitting around and talking and laughing. It’s so special!
If your life was a TV series, which celebrity would you want to narrate it?
This is very difficult because it’s a real toss up between Reese Witherspoon and Matthew McConaughey. So it really comes down to whether a man or woman is narrating!
If we were to visit you, what places would you take us to see?
Well, first, we would sit on my front porch and have coffee (from Historic Grounds!) and wave at the neighbors. Then we’d do the double decker bus tour around town at Beaufort Historic Site and a little morning shopping to hit up my favorite spots like Beaufort Linen Co and Island Proper. We’d grab lunch at Beaufort Grocery and go out on the boat and do some island hopping so you could see the wild horses and the dolphins and all the beautiful scenery. Then we’d come back and take a sunset sail on the Lookout Catamaran followed by either a dressier dinner at Blue Moon or a more casual one on the deck of Front Street Grill at Stillwater. Then we’d have to have a night cap at Back Street Pub – the oldest in Beaufort – and listen to a little live music. We’d stargaze a little on the widow’s walk when we got back home. It would be a really great day!
Thank you so, so much for having me – and for all your support for so many years. I’m so grateful!
Thanks to Kristy for visiting with us and to Angela Melamud PR for sharing her book with our readers.
How to win: Use KingSumo to enter the giveaway. If you have trouble using KingSumo on our blog, enter the giveaway here. If you are still having issues, please contact us.
Giveaway ends May 10th at midnight EST.
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