Never Too Late

The Searchers #3

by RaeAnne Thayne

Never Too Late by RaeAnne Thayne released on Apr 26, 2005 is available now for purchase.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense, Contemporary, Category Romance, Fiction

248 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 2005

About the author

I'm not one of those people who knew from birth she was destined to become a writer. I always loved to read and throughout my childhood I could usually be found with a book in my hands. To the disgust of my friends, I even enjoyed creative writing assignments that made them all groan. But I had other dreams besides writing. I wanted to be an actress or a teacher or a lawyer.

Life took a different turn for me, though, when my mother made me take a journalism elective in high school (thanks, Mom!). I knew the first day that this was where I belonged.

After I graduated from college in journalism, I took a job at the local daily newspaper and I reveled in the challenge and the diversity of it. One day I could be interviewing the latest country music star, the next day I was writing about local motorcycle gangs or interviewing an award-winning scientist.

Through it all -- through the natural progression of my career from reporter to editor -- I wrote stories in my head. Not just any stories, either, but romances, the kind of books I have devoured since junior high school, with tales about real people going through the trials and tribulations of life until they find deep and lasting love.

I had no idea how to put these people on paper, but knew I had to try -- their stories were too compelling for me to ignore. I sold my first book in 1995 and now, more than 30 books later, I've come to love everything about writing, from the click of the computer keys under my fingers to the "that's-it!" feeling I get when a story is flowing.

I write full-time now (well, as full-time as I can manage juggling my kids!) amid the raw beauty of the northern Utah mountains.

Even though I might not have dreamed of being a writer when I was younger, now I simply can't imagine my life any other way.

I love to hear from readers. You can reach me at my email address, raeannethayne@gmail.com

Reviews

[Saly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the last book in the series and is about two familiar characters. Kate discovered in the last book that she was the daughter of the McKinnons, kidnapped almost two decades ago and she finds it difficult to adjust to this recovery. Her family doesn't feel like her's and she finds herself confused about her identity and angry with the woman who stole her and made her live a crappy life, plus there are also the Spencers, her foster parents who were parents to her. So, she is confused.

Then, there is the hero Hunter, who spent three years on death row, deserted by his fellow cops and exonerated because his sister never gave up. He feels angry, bitter and adrift. The woman he was dating cheated on him and what hurt more than her death was the discovery that the baby she was carrying was not his. Both of these hurting people team up to help Kate find out the truth about her kidnapping.

Kate has always had a crush on Hunter but then he started dating his hateful, dead ex. Hunter also is attracted to her, but he has nothing to offer, he is filled with anger. Both of them embark on a road trip where they grow closer and discover love and forgiveness.

A good end to the series.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic conclusion to the series. At the end of the last book, Nothing to Lose, Wyatt and Gage McKinnon discovered that the best friend of Wyatt's fiancée, Taylor, was actually their missing baby sister. Kate had been kidnapped from their yard when she was three years old, and her family had never given up hope that they would find her. Also at the end of that book, Taylor and Wyatt had proved that her brother, Hunter, had been wrongly imprisoned for murders that he didn't commit. At the beginning of this book, both Kate and Hunter are struggling with the turns their lives have taken.

Kate has a tough time connecting with her new-found family. They have so much love bursting out for her that it's overwhelming. They've always felt she was out there somewhere, so that love has continued to exist and grow while they were apart. But for Kate, this is all new for her. Her early life with the woman who kidnapped her was full of things no child should ever experience. Then she was taken away and put into foster care, where she spent several unpleasant years before landing with a couple who knew how to help her. She doesn't know how to deal with the family or her place in it, and that makes her feel guilty. To top it all off, she's also has to deal with her long-standing crush on her best friend's brother.

Hunter has some issues of his own going on. After being accused and convicted of a crime he didn't commit, he spent three years on death row before new evidence proved his innocence. His time in prison changed him, causing him to build a wall around his feelings to protect himself. Thanks to his treatment at the hands of his fellow officers, he had lost his faith in the justice system and the law enforcement community. He's full of anger and bitterness. Since his release, he has had to learn how to handle his freedom and try to decide what to do with the rest of his life. Plus he has to deal with his attraction to Kate. Not only is she his little sister's best friend, but he believes that his time in prison makes it impossible.

I loved the development of Kate and Hunter's relationship. They had known each other for years but had kept their feelings to themselves. I loved the scene at Wyatt and Taylor's wedding, where both Hunter and Kate try to escape from the emotional overload and find themselves confiding in each other. Hunter's sensitivity to what Kate is going through leads him to offer his assistance in finding the woman who had kidnapped her, which at the same time will give him a reason to break out of his funk. He's not pleased when Kate insists on going with him, as he knows the strain it will put on his resistance. Kate second-guesses herself, too, because of her feelings for him, but her need to know outweighs her qualms. Their journey together was full of ups and downs. There were some really intense moments in the car when the sparks between them nearly set fire to the pages. There were other times when they were able to talk about the issues that haunted them, all of which drew them closer together. There were also times when one or the other would panic about their feelings and drawback or do something to push the other away. There were also several incidents along the way that added excitement and stress to an already eventful trip. Most of the time it involved Kate's big heart causing her to step into some situation, from delivering a baby to rescuing an old blind man from being robbed. Each time, Hunter is there to support her, even as he tries to protect himself. I really enjoyed the way that they were able to help each other work through the issues that were troubling them. I loved Hunter's big moment at the end. It was so sweet and romantic to see him tell Kate what he sees in her as she is in the middle of a huge meltdown and the effect it has on her belief in herself. The confession of his feelings was the icing on the cake. The epilogue was a terrific wrap-up of the series.

The suspense of the story was minimal. The premise was Kate and Hunter's search for the woman who kidnapped her so that Kate could find out why she did it. There ended up not being much needed in the way of searching, thanks to help from Kate's new-found brother Gabe, the FBI agent. There was an unexpected twist in what they found out, which made Kate's quest more difficult.

[Judy Churchill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very poignant novel chronicling the life of a young woman who was kidnapped at age three, lived a rough life till a loving foster family cared for her from age 12. There is more!

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This particular story was recently rereleased from Harlequin, so I the recently rereleased version one.

I have to say that from the moment that this story began, I was immediately sucked in, and I credit that to the writing. It was written in a way that it was very easily to get into the storyline and the characters. The flow of it was very easy and felt very natural from beginning to end. There was not stutter step in the writing whatsoever and it just made it really easy to read it in one sitting without getting bored for even a single second. It kept me on my toes with all the goings on, and I really appreciated that.

This was a very compelling story from the very beginning. It really had a very interesting storyline going on from the get go, which was set up probably from the book previous to this one that I haven’t read, but I pretty much got the gist of it from what was written. There were just so many emotional issues and stirrings that it really was hard not to be intrigued from the beginning and see where the story was going. It was definitely a complicated love story with both Hunter and Kate dealing with things on top of their growing attraction and feelings for each other. And again it was very interesting and intriguing.

In Kate’s case, she had learned in the previous book that she had in fact been kidnapped at three years old and taken away from her loving family consisting of a mom, dad and two older brothers. So, Kate had to deal with all these new people in her life that automatically felt love towards Kate while Kate was uncertain about how to deal with this loving family and what her part in it. And it made it uncomfortable because she didn’t know how to deal with this information and feeling guilty that she couldn’t show love towards her new family. But on top of all that she had to reconcile, her feelings of her childhood and how she grew up, which wasn’t pretty. She had major issues from having that horrible childhood and she was still coming to terms with that as well. Plus she was dealing with her feelings for Hunter that she had for many, many years, which she remained hidden because he was her best friends brother. So, complicated. Complicated.

On Hunter side, he also had some major issues going on too. Mainly the one where he was wrongful accused of a crime that he didn’t commit and was sentenced to death row because of that crime. He remained in prison for over three years until finally new evidence was revealed to show his innocence. So, he had to deal with having his freedom again. He built a wall around himself because he had to in order to protect himself in prison. He lost his faith in the justice system, and just lost faith in himself as well. He just felt like he didn’t know what he was doing. Plus he had to deal with the growing feelings he had towards Kate and believing he couldn’t cross that line not only because of his time in prison but because that Kate was his sister’s best friend.

I loved the fact that is was a best friend’s brother type of story because just added so much layer and complication to the story especially on Hunter’s part. But what was really great about that was the fact that Hunter and Kate already had a history to them with this underlying love and attraction building for years and years until it finally exploded with its intensity on this journey for them. I loved that they had feelings for each other, but I wish they kind of communicated earlier about their feelings because they both had the same feelings towards each other, but they thought the other couldn’t feel that way about each other because of certain reasons, mainly ones surrounding their issues. Also with the whole best friend’s brother trope that was on display had a little feel of the forbidden fruit as well, which was fun to see play out as they went back and forth and had all this tension between them. There was just so much goodness there because of that.

I really enjoyed seeing the development of their relationship play out from page one to the last one. I saw the emotions between them go deeper and deeper as the story progressed, which just made the story more and more intense as the story went. It was a real nice pace to them falling in love, and just see that closeness develop between them, which was really amazing.

Another thing I really loved was the fact that this was kind of a road trip book, which I have never read before. It was a road trip to find answers for Kate with Hunter accompanying her. There were some really intense moments when they were driving in the car together. There were some sizzling moments when the sexual tension was wafting off the pages between the two. There were moments where they bridged the gap by talking about their issues and getting to the place where they had a trust and closeness built between them, which was amazing. There was angst too because they both had feelings to each other and having to deal with that, and if that was not enough on their little adventure there were some incidents along the way. Suspenseful moments that kept me on my toes and was really an adrenaline rush, which I really enjoyed and loved. During these incidents, the common thread, was Hunter and Kate being their together and helping each other along the way, which helped develop trust between them. These incidents deepened their relationship as well was just a very intriguing part of their adventure. I loved that and just added so much flavor to the story.

Hunter and Kate had some really good moments together along the way. Some where really passionate and sensual as they came together after all the proximity they had during their road trip, but they had some really deep and emotional moments too especially when talking about their pasts. It was beautiful to see them open up to each other and get closer and closer. My favorite part was just to see the intimacy develop between the two of them. That was the heart and soul of this book, which I loved. I do wish that the slower love scene was shown instead of just summarized because it would have been another sweet, tender and beautiful moment between them. I did appreciate the first time scene between them shown because I wasn’t expecting that, but when it was shown then I expected the slower scene one to be shown as well.

I really did love this story. It was more spectacular than I was ever expecting. It had so many layers to the story that it made it a really intense and emotional on so many different levels. I loved that. I loved this was a best friend’s brother scenario, which just added so much intensity and tension between them that built over the course of the years. It just gave them an established relationship that was in the beginnings stages of a deep love. I loved the flow of the story that had the perfect balance of romance and suspense to it. It was very easy to be sucked in and keep me on the edge of my seat especially when certain incidents happened. I loved the love story between Hunter and Kate. I loved Hunter. I loved Kate. I loved that this they each had to deal with complicated issues within themselves before they got to get their happily ever after. I loved seeing the tenderness between them. I loved the intimacy. I loved the intrigue. There was just so much about this story to love that I could probably go on and on about it. My little tiny issue was that I wish a couple more the love scenes were shown, but that’s just me because I just wanted to see that connection and intimacy between them in that moment because that’s when they seemed to bask in their love instead of turning away from it, which after all the build up and anticipation between them I was ready for it, however with that not being there it didn’t detract from the story I just wish it was in there. I will definitely being reading this story over and over again in the future.

I also have to look at RaeAnne Thayne’s rerelease from Harlequin and see what else she has to offer. Hopefully the first two books in the series because I really want to read them because they sound very interesting and intriguing featuring Kate’s brothers.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish I had liked this one better .. good premise .. but overwrought best describes the writing here.
Will prob read the rest n the series. 3.5 stars
Rounding up as I like this author.

[Lorrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm about halfway through this book and I'm already having mixed feelings about it.

Firstly, what is with Kate's fixation on Hunter's dead ex-girlfriend? Well, I guess it is kind of important because he was wrongfully convicted of killing her, but geez... it was Dru Ferrin this and Dru Ferrin that... well, I suppose it's more of an author's fixation, but still. Get over it. And further to this, why the fuck are you referring to her by her full name ALL THE DAMN TIME. We don't need to read her last name every fucking time she's mentioned. If you liked the name Ferrin so much, just call her than and drop the Dru. (And, I'm sorry, but who ISN'T thinking Despicable Me every time you see the name?)

Second, I'm at a place in the book where I don't know up from down (apparently even the author is confused). In the span of 2 pages, we're in the hotel, then Mariah is there with the baby, then the next sentence they're driving, then they're in the hospital with the baby, then they're in the diner, then the hotel again? Holy fuck nuggets Batman, I gave up trying to figure out what was going on and skipped to the next chapter. And it wasn't just a case of someone thinking or dreaming or reliving/rehashing past events. There was genuine confusion happening, as if the typesetter mixed up whole paragraphs of shit -- it looked like they pulled a paragraph out of a hat, then another, and then another, to hell with continuity.

There is so much repetition in this book. Every time something is described there's little variation. It's almost as if a rewrite happened and 5000 more words needed to be added to the manuscript, so duplications were inserted. Sometimes the same damn thing is said on two and three consecutive pages (and that's saying A LOT considering in reading this on my PHONE).. This is especially apparent when it comes to scents. Everything is vanilla sugar this, vanilla sugar that. What the fuck does vanilla sugar smell like that's so different than just plain vanilla? And who the fuck wants to smell like a cookie anyhow?

[Louise Pledge · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hard review for me. In the first place, I kept feeling like I was missing something, like there had been a previous book(s) that led up to this. The more I read, the more troubled I became. I searched on Amazonis, indeed (should have checked here, rather than Amazon). I even sent a question to that effect that was never answered. So I put the book down for awhile.

Later, I happened to pick it up, trying to decide whether to finish or give the book away, so I did read to the end. There were other things that bothered me (like the graphic sex). I know that Ms Thayne is from Utah (have even known some of her family members) so assumed she was LDS. This is not the kind of book that's written by a Mormon author, however.

[Anne Wondra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Borrowed this from Overdrive digital library--twice, on purpose. A road trip story--in a vehicle and metaphorically--of two people who each had a significant life-and-self-re-defining experience two months earlier. Traveling together, out of their environment, on a cross-country road trip to find answers and re-story themselves. Yes, a good read. Also read "Nowhere to Hide" and "Lost in Cottonwood Canyon" in this Searchers series. I love happy endings.

[Sherry M. White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weird.

ßtrange case of kidnapping and custody and birth names. Interesting travela ross the united states. Good romance sfory where each
I dividual has to cope with an ùnusualpast.

[Laura Aase · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting plot! Kate is on a mission to find the woman who kidnapped her as a child with the goal of finding out why and to try to connect her past/ foster pArents and newly discovered birth parents in a way that works. Fast read and enjoyable!

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I have binge read too many RaeAnne Thayne books. I enjoy reading about various McKinnon family members in this series but the plots are all so similar they are running together. I would give it a 3.5 I liked the book but can't say I actually loved it

[Mary Carlisle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as 1 & 2

I had feeling going into this 3rd book in the series that it might not be as good. Sorry to say I was right. This book did give closure to the series but it was a little dry or slow. The writer spent a lot of time on useless fillers.

[Jill Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great culmination of the 1st 2 books!

Loved these characters! Two lost souls searching for "what happens next?" Enjoy this journey to discover the love these two have for each other. 📚🎉❤️🌻

[I like what I like · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Improbable but warm as characters showed vulnerability and emotional growth as they developed their love for each other - with tough/hard backdrop of drugs, sexual assault, imprisonment
Satisfying conclusion to the three book series

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never disappointed

Love happy endings. Always a mood lifter with RaeAnne Thane. Great stand alone but I'm going to have to see if there is any more in this series, I want more.

[Janet Mccutcheon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my first books to read and wasn't disappointed. It has real life problems and up and downs. The characters are real and unforgettable.

[Bernie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Home in Cottonwood Canyon review

Home in Cottonwood Canyon is the third lovely romantic suspense book in The Searchers series written by author RaeAnne Thayne.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a nice, easy summer read. Sweet story.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great finish to the Searchers trilogy. Plenty of questions, suspense, adventures, finding answers, discovering love.

[Linda]

Enjoyable plot, good characters.

[Michelle Brogden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the story of Kate and Hunter both finding their way to each other and the peace from their pasts.

[Denise Gobble · Rating 4 out of 5]

A summer type of read.

[Maureen Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderfully satisfying

[Jackalyn]

Very good.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this story!

A story of a man and woman, they were instantly attracted to one another, but he was already seeing someone and then it changed his life forever, because of the determination of his sister and her now husband. He is searching for the next part of his life, and that doesn’t include his sisters best friend!

She’s searching for get past so she can look forward to her future. But along the way, she discovers disputed the life she had, she’s looking forward to getting to know her real family she was taken from! She may still not know why or understand, but is she willing to take a chance with her best friends brother in order to be able to create a future she wants to live; rather than the life she was handed.

Previous books in the searchers series are important to completely understand the plot lines!!

Funny thing . . This really all could happen in real life and that makes it even more special of a read!

[Charline Bonham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hunter Bradshaw has just been released from prison after being wrongly convicted. The 3 yrs have left him afraid to trust anyone. Kate Spencer doesn't even know her name. It could be Kate or Charlotte McKinnon. She wants to know why she was kidnapped when she was 3 yrs old. Hunter set our to help her in her search but how does he heal himself? Ms Thayne tells a good story and I will look forward to reading her other books.

[Emily Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Medical resident Kate Spencer has recently found out that she was kidnapped as a small child. Reunited with her birth family, she has a burning need to ask the woman she thought was her mother why she had been kidnapped. Her best friend's brother, Hunter, tells her that he will track down the woman for Kate to try to get answers. Kate surprises both of them by saying that she would travel with him.

[Chris Brandstatter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This was an amazing storey from start to fi nish

[Kevin B Majors · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

Perfect end to 3 book series. Like her newest books best but haven't found any yet I didn't like enough to read when I should be doing other things

[S Miller]

Used - Very Good (Light shelf wear)