About the book, Rainy Day Sisters 
- Series: A Hartley-by-the-Sea Novel (Book 1)
- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: NAL (August 4, 2015)
The USA Today bestselling author presents a heartfelt novel about two sisters struggling toward new lives and loves.
Welcome to Hartley-by-the-Sea in England’s beautiful Lake District, where two sisters who meet as strangers find small miracles tucked into the corners of every day….
When Lucy Bagshaw’s life in Boston falls apart, thanks to a scathing editorial written by her famous artist mother, she accepts her half sister Juliet’s invitation to stay with her in a charming seaside village in northern England. Lucy is expecting quaint cottages and cream teas, but instead finds that her sister is an aloof host, the weather is wet, windy, and cold, and her new boss, Alex Kincaid, is a disapproving widower who only hired her as a favor to Juliet.
Despite the invitation she offered, Juliet is startled by the way Lucy catapults into her orderly life. As Juliet faces her own struggles with both her distant mother and her desire for a child, her sister’s irrepressible optimism begins to take hold. With the help of quirky villagers, these hesitant rainy day sisters begin to forge a new understanding…and find in each other the love of family that makes all the difference.
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About the author, Kate Hewitt 
Kate Hewitt is the bestselling author of over 40 novels of romance and women’s fiction, including The Emigrants Trilogy set in Scotland and North America, the Hartley-by-the-Sea series set in the Lake District, and Tales From Goswell written as Katharine Swartz.
She lives in England’s Lake District with her husband and five children. You can read about her experience as an ex-pat living in a tiny village on her blog, www.acumbrianlife.blogspot.co.uk.
Connect with Kate
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My Thoughts 
Rainy Day Sisters showed up in my mailbox a couple of weeks ago, sent by the publisher. At first, I was confused: had I signed up to do a tour of this novel? But no, it was just the publicist picking bloggers she thought might read/review. Well, this publicist chose wisely, because it’s exactly the kind of book I would pick to devour over afternoon coffee. It’s the kind of book I’d have been attracted to on the ‘new in trade paperback’ table at Barnes and Noble, if I ever went to physical bookstores anymore. (I MISS spending rainy weekends browsing through bookstores, finally ending up in the cafe, sharing a table with my husband as we each sink into a new read…sorry, I digress.)
In any case, this novel was full of delight. Lucy shows up on the doorstep of her sister’s – well, basically it’s a B&B – invited, but lost in the world. She’s an artist whose career was just tanked by her own mother, and her sister, Juliet, has invited her to come get a fresh start in her quaint English village.
At first, I was annoyed by both sisters – Lucy seemed to choose to be helpless and Juliet was far too prickly, but as I got to know the characters better, I realized they were much more than those initial impressions. Lucy is creative, plucky, outgoing and optimistic. Juliet is methodical, more introverted, almost compulsively organized. Together, they make a formidable pair as they work from being relative strangers to becoming true sisters, and also experience love, friendship, and belonging in the village itself.
Author Hewitt has a knack for dialogue, description and characterization, and I felt a really strong sense of place. The plot was well-paced and the story enjoyable. I would happily read more of her work, and even more happily spend a week or so in Hartley-by-the-Sea.
Goes well with hot tea, warm scones, and clotted cream, obviously.