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The Lost Book of First Loves by RaeAnne Thayne Published by Harlequin on June 3, 2025
Genres: Fiction / Family Life / General, Fiction / Family Life / Siblings, Fiction / Friendship, Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Romance / General, Fiction / Small Town & Rural, Fiction / Women
Pages: 352
Format: ARC, eBook, Paperback
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From New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne comes a brand-new story about two women, a family secret and a lost manuscript that changes everything…
Raised by her literary icon father Carson Wells, Alison Wells always felt loved, even though her mother died when she was a teen. But when she takes a DNA test on a whim and discovers she has a sister she never knew about, it’s clear there are things her father didn't tell her before he died. Determined to meet Juniper—her half sister—and unravel the truth of what happened all those years ago, Ali finds herself taking a job as Juniper’s intern. She’ll eventually figure out a way to tell Juniper the truth of their relationship. But she never could have imagined what would happen next…
Juniper Connolly has always been incredibly healthy…until she wakes up in the hospital after experiencing cardiac arrest, with her new—and recently fired—intern to thank for saving her life. It’s clear June needs to de-stress her life a little, so when Ali offers her the use of her family’s cabin in a small Wyoming town, June has no reason not to go. But when she arrives, her life will never be the same.
Under the wide-open spaces of the Wyoming summer sun, Ali and June will untangle the secrets and lies their lives were built on to discover who they really are and what family really means. But even more than that, they'll build a real relationship with one another and finally become sisters.
RaeAnne Thayne has another hit on her hands with The Lost Book of First Loves. ~ Amanda – Simply Love Books
The Lost Book of First Loves is a story of two women finding family, identity and love. Juniper/June Connolly is about to fire her intern Alison Wells when she suffers a heart attack and is saved by Alison. Alison took the intern job to be closer to June once she found out that June was her half-sister. Knowing she needed time to recover, Alison invites June back to her ranch in Wyoming and hopes she will be able to tell her the truth about them being sisters. Both are struggling with who they are, and what the future holds for them.
The author’s first chapter drew me in and held my attention for the entirety of the book. I could feel the struggles that both Alison and June were going through. June always thought of herself as fit and healthy and the cardiac event has really thrown her for a loop. Now she is tentative and struggles whether or not she can be a wife or mother. Alison has this big secret and is waiting for the right time to talk to June, but has her own issues with her best friend Xavier and does she really want to take the bar exam. She also hesitates with what to do next and is afraid to make a wrong move. Both women are struggling with where they belong and how about feeling some normalcy again.
What I loved about the story was the soft slow build of new friendships with the possibility of romance for both June and Alison. Alison and her best friend Xavier are both in town at the same time and want to capitalize on it by spending time together and going on that camping trip they always wanted to do. But she senses something different about Xavier and doesn’t know how to handle a change in their friendship status. Luckily, she realizes in time that her feelings have changed and she wants more. June forms a friendship with neighbor Beck but know there can be no future for them with her heart condition. Plus, she works in CA and he lives and works in Wyoming. Love has a way of working things out for both these women and really made the story satisfying.
The people that could shed so much light onto their situation are both gone so they can only presume what they knew or didn’t know. Alison’s father had an affair with June’s married mother. Carson Wells was a bestselling author and both June and her mother loved his stories. When June is given a chance to read his personal journals, before she knows he’s her father, she jumps at the chance to get inside the writer’s thoughts and insights. Realizing there was a missing story he’s written, she takes on that quest, not knowing what it would mean to her later on. They both can speculate about whether he knew that June existed and whether or not June’s mother figured it was her husband’s baby, one will never know. I like the fact that this is open-ended and that you would think well of the parent and hope they would have done the right thing.
The author has another hit on her hands with The Lost Book of First Loves. It delves into both women’s lives and you follow their journey into finding direction for their future and their willingness to take chances with their heart and for family.