Nancy Thayer Books In Order

The Hot Flash Club

From the bestselling author of Between Husbands and Friends and An Act of Love comes a wise, wonderful, and delightfully witty coming of age novel about four intrepid women who discover themselves as they were truly meant to be: passionate, alive, and ready to face the best years of their lives. Meet Faye, Marilyn, Alice, and Shirley. Four women with skills, smarts, and secrets all feeling over the hill and out of the race. But in a moment of delicious serendipity, they meet and realize they share more than raging hormones and lost dreams. Now as The Hot Flash Club, where the topics of motherhood, sex, and men are discussed with double servings of chocolate cake, they vow to help each other…
and themselves. Faye, the artist. A determinedly cheerful widow and connoisseur of control top pantyhose, she’s struggling with creative block and an empty, lonely house. Now she s got a tricky problem to bring to the club s table: how can they catch her perfect son in law cheating on her only daughter Laura? Shirley, the healer. Though her yoga slender body belie her years, decades of dating losers and the strain of being broke make her feel her age. Shirley has a secret dream: a wellness spa that nurtures body and soul. But first she needs to believe in herself, in her abilities, and in her friends at the club. Marilyn, the brain. A paleontologist who has spent so many years looking at dried up fossils, she s almost become one herself. Worried that her brilliant but nerdy son is about to marry the very wrong woman, she gets some help from the HFC, who transform her from a caterpillar to a butterfly, with amazing results. Alice, the executive. Black and regal, she soared to the top of the corporate ladder. Now her shoes are murder on her arthritic back and the younger jackals are circling in for the kill. But as the inspiration behind the HFC, she s about to discover something extraordinary: contentment. For Faye, Shirley, Marilyn, and Alice, the time has come to use it or lose it be it their bodies, their brains, their spirits, and their sense of fun. Together they realize that they can have it all, perhaps for the first time in their lives. And though what sags may never rise again, feeling sexy has no expiration date and best of all, with a little help from her friends, a woman can always start over…
and never, ever, give up what matters most. From the Hardcover edition.

The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again

The fabulous women from The Hot Flash Club are back in top form, welcoming the stressed out and pampering deprived through their discreet spa doors as Nancy Thayer returns with a witty, sexy, and heartwarming novel. The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again also introduces four new women, ready for massages and seaweed wraps, each struggling to reconcile her secret dreams, biggest fears, and deepest feelings as topsy turvy events shake up her life. After eighteen years of trying to make peace with her husband’s cold as ice mother, Polly vows to be the perfect mother in law: loving, accepting, and determined to keep her mouth shut. Then her son marries Amy, a Birkenstocked gal whose organic farm and family ooze a rather creepy serenity. Ever the optimist, Polly puts her best foot forward…
so why does it end up in her mouth?A shy and brilliant professor to be, Beth has lived a sheltered life. Then she meets Sonny, a rugged, sexy carpenter who sweeps her off her feet. The problem? Beth may not survive his loud, affectionate, athletic family especially when the very beautiful and earthy woman everybody wanted Sonny to marry is still hanging around the family dinner table. Heiress to one of New England s oldest paper companies, Carolyn is the driving force behind the brand. Now, at thirty seven, the workaholic executive is finally pregnant with her first child, and high blood pressure is forcing her to do something totally alien: relax. But how can she let down her guard when her seventy something father has gone and eloped with a young bank clerk named Heather, whose rather plain looks and unassuming nature still manage to fill Carolyn with suspicion.A free spirited photographer, Julia has married a man she loves, but he s come packed with baggage. Tim is a widower with a young daughter, and Julia has bravely stepped up to the plate, doing her best to provide maternal support. But as if being pinned down by the child s slightly manipulative ways and dare Julia say it spoiled behavior wasn t enough, there s Tim s ex mother in law, whose meddling is getting nastier by the week. For Polly, Beth, Carolyn, and Julia, the time has come to stand up for what matters for their passions, their hearts, and themselves. As they maneuver through family drama and embrace unexpected change, they come to find that life is much easier and a lot more fun when you ve got friends, wine, and chocolate along for the ride. From the Hardcover edition.

Hot Flash Holidays

The intrepid women of The Hot Flash Club are back for the holidays, soothing jingled nerves and stressed shoppers in their exclusive spa and celebrating the joys of the season. In her witty and delightfully wisecracking prose, Nancy Thayer tells a heartwarming tale packed with fun, secrets, romance and an ample dose of good cheer.

When the Hot Flash friends gather at the spa to trim the Christmas tree, they share steaming mugs of hot chocolate, a few laughs, and a vow to make this holiday one to remember. And it is but not in the cheerful, ho ho ho way they expected. Instead, Christmas brings family conflicts, household accidents, plane delays and that’s just the beginning.

After a hazardous holiday season, the women make resolutions that they intend to keep…
in a perfect world. But life and their friends and relatives cause complications. Shirley lends financial support to her boyfriend s schemes, which infuriates Alice, whose own son commits an act she s not sure she can accept. Marilyn travels to Scotland and falls in love, but her octogenarian mother needs her at home. And when Polly and Faye find themselves pitted against each other by a younger woman, an they overcome this clash to make a new, entrepreneurial dream come true? Then real disaster strikes, bringing new challenges and surprising revelations.

Just as every month of the year throws new problems at us all, so too does the end of the year give us the chance to reunite and put these problems
into their proper perspective. And when the Hot Flash Five get together for the holidays, we should expect nothing less than the unexpected.

From the Hardcover edition.

The Hot Flash Club Chills Out

Since opening up their day spa, The Haven, the wonderful women of the Hot Flash Club have been busy indulging the beleaguered, nerve frazzled throngs. Now, in Nancy Thayer’s hilarious new Hot Flash novel, it s the friends turn to grab some soothing, and much deserved R&R. When a long time Haven client asks the gals to housesit her Nantucket hideaway for the summer, they re beyond thrilled; the cozy island enclave is the perfect place to shop, swim, chill, and plan Marilyn s upcoming wedding to Ian, her Scottish fianc . And Marilyn desperately needs the break, since Ian s grown son has crashed at the couple s place with no departure date in sight. Soon after they arrive, the other hot flashers surrender to their own summer flings: Shirley entertains a steamy dalliance with a scruffy, sexy local fisherman that could lead to something deeper; Faye finds her dream house, but restoring it could be a costly nightmare; craft maven Polly is enthralled by the island s bounty, from shell art to lightship baskets; and even hardboiled Alice swoons with romantic adventure or is it seasickness?But this lovefest among the sand and ocean breezes is not without its consequences. Each woman must determine for herself what she is willing to give up in order to hold onto what she has found and all of them fear that Shirley is on the brink of making a huge mistake, one that threatens their harmony and their business. But these concerns may be eclipsed by the mystery surrounding the disappearance of family heirlooms at the house where they are staying, and rumors that the place harbors spirits other than Grey Goose and Tanqueray. Nancy Thayer continues her hugely successful Hot Flash series with this wickedly funny, delightfully bawdy tale. These irresistible women spring to life along with their passions, their sorrows, their joys, and, most importantly, their friendship. So pack your bags and join these fabulous five for a season of fun, sun, love, sex, and estrogen therapy. From the Hardcover edition.

Three Women at the Water’s Edge

From the surf of Maine to lakeshore Milwaukee to Canada’s Pacific mists, each of the Wallace women a mother and her two daughters is looking across her treasured home waters to the horizons of change…
MARGARET has gone from a matronly doctor’s wife who carried everyone’s burdens to a svelte single, her hard won freedom invaded by a compassion she dare not feel…
Her daughter DAISY turns desperately to her mother pregnant with her third child, her cozy, sloppy, domestic world ripped apart by her husband’s elopement with a sexy young journalist…
Sophisticated DALE’s heady, obsessive passion for a co teacher is shadowed by her mother’s and sister’s divorces. Is this the perilous price tag of love and belonging?These three women warm, funny and courageous are about to ride a bittersweet merry go round of joy and pain, love and illusion, reconciliation and rediscovery, in this classic bestseller that has won the hearts of women everywhere.

Belonging

Today Joanna has the life she’d always dreamed of…
Joanna Jones, the successful host of Fabulous Homes, a New York based TV show, seems to have it all. Blessed with great looks, she has a successful lover and a job that gives her fame and money, while allowing her to indulge her passion for beautiful homes. Tomorrow she might lose it all…
Suddenly and shockingly, Joanna will discover what she doesn’t have: a committed relationship she can depend on. Now she faces a stunning discovery alone and makes the tuogh decision to leave her glittering life for an old Nantucket house on the ocean, new friends, and unexpected enemies. The choices ahead will test her courage; the surprising twists of fate will challenge her faith as she faces a day of ashes, a time of sorrow, and one extraordinary new chance for love, happiness, and…
Belonging

An Act of Love

They used to be a happy family. Then her daughter accused his son…
of rape. Writers Owen and Linda McFarland have been incredibly happy for seven years. During that time they’ve worked hard to make his son Bruce and her daughter Emily part of a real family on their Massachusetts farm. Now handsome Bruce is a high school senior with a girlfriend he is crazy about. Pretty Emily is a sophomore at the same boarding school. Then shortly before Thanksgiving, Emily tries to kill herself. Confined to a private hospital, a sullen, angry Emily says Bruce raped her. He swears he didn’t. One of them is lying. Finding out the truth may tear apart a lifetime of illusions, and a marriage in a story about stepfamilies and secrets, trust and love that will touch your heart…
An Alternate Selection of the Literary Guild.

Between Husbands and Friends

Can you marry young and remain faithful all your life? Will marriage fulfill your deepest desires? Is a secret the same as a lie? To whom should you be most loyal, your best friend or your spouse? These are some of the questions troubling Lucy West, the wife of Max West, editor of a small town Massachusetts newspaper. The Wests’ best friends are the glamorous Cunninghams; their four children are friends, too. Every August for ten years the two have shared a summerhouse on Nantucket. When they meet in their early twenties, Lucy and Katie Cunningham, vivacious women who find their lives limited as wives and mothers, share a certain restlessness that leads to some wild times that their husbands know nothing about. Lucy keeps Katie’s secrets from Chip, Katie’s husband. Through the years, the secrets accumulate. And Lucy has some secrets of her own. Then one summer a pivotal event forces Lucy to expose what she’s been hiding. And now they all must sift through the tangle of lies and love to discover where desire has led.

Custody

Young, brilliant, and engaged to the perfect guy, Kelly Macleod feels ready to begin her new appointment as a Massachusetts judge. With all her dreams coming true, Kelly never envisions what might go wrong…
Then a chance meeting with a man at a cemetery awakens an unexpected passion in Kelly. Agreeing not to reveal their real names to each other, Kelly and the stranger begin an affair. But Kelly’s lover is really Randall Madison, a doctor on the brink of divorcing his wife, Anne, a well known political candidate who will stop at nothing to gain Custody of their daughter. In the courtroom, as well as the bedroom, his life will unexpectedly dovetail with Kelly’s. And as a secret from Kelly’s own past re emerges, she must make a life changing decision, as a judge and as a woman.A spellbinding novel about betrayal and desire, Custody looks at today’s families, children caught between warring parents, and the price men and women pay for love…
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Moon Shell Beach

New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer delighted readers with her sparkling Hot Flash Club series. Now she has written a vibrant new novel set within a tight knit island community, where two women struggle to rekindle a childhood friendship damaged by harsh words, betrayal, and the passing years. Lexi Laney and Clare Hart grew up together swimming in the surf, riding remote bike trails, and having wondrous adventures across picturesque Nantucket. And when it was time to share intimate secrets and let their girlish imaginations run free, they escaped to their magical private hideaway: Moon Shell Beach. But nothing stays the same. With the complicated pressures of adulthood, their intense bond is frayed, hurtful words are exchanged, and Lexi flees Nantucket to a life of luxury while Clare stays behind. Ten years later, a newly divorced Lexi returns to make amends with those she left in her wake. Living at home with her father and dating a gorgeous carpenter, Clare still simmers with resentment toward her glamorous friend. And when Lexi opens an upscale clothing boutique next door to Clare’s chocolate shop, their paths are fated to cross. Their emotional reunion is beset with major challenges: Lexi s return sets off a series of startling events that fracture the status quo and set the town gossips tongues wagging. And as Clare s life takes an abrupt detour, Lexi wonders if the happiness and peace they once knew on Moon Shell Beach will, in the end, prove to be as fleeting as time and the tide. In the turbulent adult world, awash in failed loves and romantic disappointment, can childhood dreams still come true?Irresistible reading, Moon Shell Beach explores the evolution of a tumultuous lifelong friendship, the power of forgiveness, and the rewards of believing in miracles.

Summer House

From the New York Times bestselling author of Moon Shell Beach a moving new novel about an unexpectedly magical summer for three generations of women At thirty, Charlotte Wheelwright remains the dreamer she’s always been. But when she begins an organic garden on a portion of her grandmother s land, Charlotte learns to plant her feet in solid ground and begins to build a new life. More often than not, ninety year old Nona Wheelwright contentedly spends her time reminiscing about days gone by. But with her family s annual reunion and financial meeting looming, Nona must give up her days of quiet solitude to soothe her easily riled up family. For decades Charlotte s mother, Helen, who married into the illustrious Wheelwright family, has been pressured to adhere to their way of life. But when, during the course of the family s annual summer retreat, she discovers her husband s betrayal, Helen wonders if she sacrificed her dreams for the wrong reasons. Artfully written and set on the glorious island of Nantucket, Nancy Thayer s Summer House is a vibrant and stirring novel about family, love, and daily choices that affect entire lives.

Beachcombers

Beautifully written, powerfully felt, full of both abundant joy and heart wrenching sorrow, Beachcombers is an extraordinary novel that centers on the bittersweet reunion of three captivating, very different sisters on Nantucket over one gorgeous, exhilarating summer. Abbie Fox hasn t seen her father or two younger sisters in almost two years, during which she’s jetted around the world and experienced life, if not love. But now Lily, the baby of the family, is sending Abbie urgent emails begging her to return home to Nantucket. Their middle sister, Emma, has taken to her bed, emotionally devastated after the loss of her high powered stockbroker s job and a shockingly unexpected break up with her fianc . Also, Lily is deeply worried that Marina, the beautiful, enigmatic woman renting their guesthouse, has set her sights on the sisters widowed father, Jim. The Fox girls closed ranks years ago after the haunting, untimely death of their mother, but seeing their dad move on with his life forces each of them to take stock. Over the course of the summer, the sisters lives grow as turbulent as the unpredictable currents encircling Nantucket. When Abbie encounters an incredibly appealing married man, she breaks her own rules in the name of love, fearing all the while that she ll regret it. Meanwhile, type A Emma learns a new definition of success, and strong minded Lily must reconcile her dreams with reality. Even Marina, who has come to Nantucket to forget heartbreak and betrayal, faces an astonishing turn of events that will find her torn between fate and freedom. At summer s end, these unforgettable women will face profound choices and undergo personal transformations that will surprise even themselves.

Heat Wave

Unerringly perceptive, superbly written, every page packed with the warmth and compassionate wisdom that have become Nancy Thayer’s trademark, Heat Wave tells the moving story of a woman who, after her seemingly perfect life unravels, must find the strength to live and love again. Making the startling discovery that her family finances are in dire straits is only the latest shock endured by Carley Winsted after her husband s sudden death from a heart attack. Resisting her in laws well meaning overtures to take in Carley and her two daughters, the young widow instead devises a plan to keep her family in their beloved home, a grand historic house on the island of Nantucket. The solution is right at Carley s front door: transforming her expensive, expansive house into a bed and breakfast. Not everyone, however, thinks this plan prudent or quite respectable especially not Carley s mother in law. Further complicating a myriad of challenges, a friend forces Carley to keep a secret that, if revealed, will undo families and friendships. When her late husband s former law partner keeps showing up at the most unexpected times, Carley must cope with an array of mixed feelings. And then, during a late summer Heat Wave, the lives of Carley and her friends and family will be forever changed in entirely unexpected ways. Lyrical, emotional, dramatic, and ultimately wonderfully uplifting, Nancy Thayer s latest novel is compelling from its first page to its last.