Summer State of Mind
“Queen of the beach read,” (Cosmopolitan) New York Times bestselling author Kristy Woodson Harvey returns with a heartfelt escape to coastal Carolina.
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.
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.
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Community Reviews
Published on Peeking Between the Pages (https://peekingbetweenthepages.com/2026/05/summer-state-of-mind-by-kristy-woodson-harvey.html)
I just love escaping into the pages of one of Kristy Woodson Harvey’s books. They are like comfort reads for me. Summer State of Mind was a great visit to Cape Carolina to meet some lovely people.
Daisy, a NICU nurse, heads to Cape Carolina after experiencing a very traumatic day at her job. She’s still working as a NICU nurse, just at a slower pace or so she had hoped. However on her first day in comes Mason, the high school baseball coach, with a baby that had been left in a dumpster. Things like this don’t happen in Cape Carolina so everyone is abuzz. Daisy is immediately drawn to this baby girl to the point of wanting to foster her. As Daisy grows closer to the baby and to Mason, life changing discoveries come to light that could very well shatter the community.
This story is full of such great characters. I loved Daisy and how caring she was even in her own broken state and Mason was a man’s-man but a likeable one. Then we have Mason’s family, especially Aunt Tilley (she was what one might call the batty Aunty), who were all characters you could see yourself sitting down to dinner with. As the story unfolded I found myself getting ever deeper in these character’s lives. I laughed and cried and there is nothing better than a story that makes you feel so many emotions.
I really enjoyed spending a few hours in this heartwarming novel. Summer State of Mind is the perfect summer read!
Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
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