From the publisher:
“Queen of the beach read,” (Cosmopolitan) New York Times bestselling author Kristy Woodson Harvey returns with a heartfelt escape to coastal Carolina.
https://bookshop.org/a/123058/9781668074886
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.
Harvey returns to the charming small town of Cape Carolina (Under the Southern Sky) with a tender, emotionally layered story about love, loss, and what it truly means to be a family.
Daisy, a burned-out NICU nurse, is searching for a quieter life after years in a high-pressure hospital job. She hopes Cape Carolina will offer a fresh start—but on her very first day, everything changes. Mason, the local high school baseball coach trying to outgrow his bad-boy reputation, discovers an abandoned newborn behind the school gym and rushes her to the hospital. Daisy is instantly drawn to the baby—and to the man who found her. Their growing attraction is further complicated by family secrets, especially those involving Mason’s eccentric Aunt Tilly, whose kindness comes with a long-buried confession.
When Daisy is given the chance to foster the baby girl, her attachment runs deep. As she becomes convinced the child is meant to be hers, Mason begins to worry that Daisy’s judgment is skewed.
VERDICT With small-town North Carolina charm, memorable characters, and thoughtful exploration of motherhood, grief, and redemption, this heartwarming novel is a moving story of second chances and unexpected love.
©Library Journal, 2026
3/2026 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
SUMMER STATE OF MIND by Kristy Woodson Harvey. Gallery Books (May 5, 2026). ISBN: 978-1668074886. 384p.
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