Summers at the Saint
by Mary Kay Andrews
Published May 7, 2024 by St. Martin's Press
Genre: Romance, Chick Lit
Taken from Goodreads:
Welcome to the St. Cecelia, a landmark hotel on the coast of Georgia,
where traditions run deep and scandals run even deeper. . . .
Everyone refers to the St. Cecelia as “the Saint.” If you grew up coming here,
you were “a Saint.” If you came from the wrong side of the river, you were “an
Ain’t.” Traci Eddings was one of those outsiders whose family wasn’t rich
enough or connected enough to vacation here. But she could work here. One
fateful summer she did, and married the boss’s son. Now, she’s the widowed
owner of the hotel, determined to see it return to its glory days, even as
staff shortages and financial troubles threaten to ruin it. Plus, her greedy
and unscrupulous brother-in-law wants to make sure she fails. Enlisting a motley
crew of recently hired summer help—including the daughter of her estranged best
friend—Traci has one summer season to turn it around. But new information about
a long-ago drowning at the hotel threatens to come to light, and the tragic
death of one of their own brings Traci to the brink of despair.
Traci Eddings has her back against the pink-painted wall of this beloved
institution. And it will take all the wits and guts she has to see wrongs put
to right, to see guilty parties put in their place, and maybe even to find a
new romance along the way. Told with Mary Kay Andrew’s warmth, humor, knack for
twists, and eye for delicious detail about human nature, Summers at the Saint
is a beach read with depth and heart.
My Thoughts: Mary Kay Andrews is one of the top chick lit/romance
writers. I was taken to The Saint, I
could see the glamour of the hotel, the beauty of the surrounding, and when she
describes the sunset, it came to life for me.
Romance is a small part of the story; the murder mystery
and family drama is the main part of the story. I was intrigued by the family drama and felt
like it was portrayed as real life would be.
When money is involved, life can get messy. Traci was the bigger, smarter person than
the Edding’s family gave her credit for.
She was willing to fight for what was right and stand up for her
employees that were faithful to her.
This is a different type of Mary Kay Andrews. There is a lot going on in the book, at
times it may have been more than needed.
But I love every word of Summers at The Saint. The book entertained me, took me to an beach
hotel, and introduced me to some amazing characters.
Thank you St. Martin's Press for a copy of the book in via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads
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Meet
Mary Kay Andrews (Taken from her website): MARY KAY ANDREWS is the New York Times bestselling
author of 30 novels (including The Homewreckers; The Santa
Suit; The Newcomer; Hello, Summer; Sunset Beach; The
High Tide Club; The Weekenders; Beach Town; Save the Date; Ladies’
Night; Christmas Bliss; Spring Fever; Summer Rental; The
Fixer Upper; Deep Dish; Blue Christmas; Savannah Breeze; Hissy Fit; Little
Bitty Lies; and Savannah Blues), and one cookbook, The
Beach House Cookbook.
A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, she earned a B.A. in
journalism from The University of Georgia. After a 14-year career working as a
reporter at newspapers including The Savannah Morning News, The
Marietta Journal, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
where she spent the final ten years of her career, she left journalism in 1991
to write fiction.
Her first novel, Every Crooked Nanny, was
published in 1992 by HarperCollins. She went on to write ten critically
acclaimed mysteries under her real name, Kathy Hogan Trocheck. In 2002, she
assumed the pen name Mary Kay Andrews with the publication of Savannah
Blues. In 2006, Hissy Fit became her first New
York Times bestseller, followed by fifteen more New York Times, USA
Today and Publisher’s Weekly bestsellers. To date,
her novels have been published in German, Italian, Polish, Slovenian,
Hungarian, Dutch, Czech and Japanese.
She and her family divide their time between Atlanta and
Tybee Island, GA, where they cook up new recipes in three restored beach homes,
The Breeze Inn, Ebbtide, and Coquina Cottage—all named after fictional places
in Mary Kay’s novels, and all available to rent through Tybee Vacation Rentals.
In between cooking, spoiling her grandkids, and plotting her next novel, Mary
Kay is an intrepid treasure hunter whose favorite pastime is junking and fixing
up old houses.
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