Nothing gets me psyched for summer like reading the newest Mary Kay Andrews novel!

Drue Campbell has recently been down on her luck, she lost her mother AND got fired from her job! As if that’s not bad enough, she has to put her ego aside and take a job with her father...who she hasn’t spoken to (or seen) in 20 years! To matters even more hairy, her father’s new wife is someone she knows because they went to school together!! Oh and by the way, her new step-mommy is also her new boss! The harsh reality of moving back to her childhood town is softened when Drue finds out she has inherited her maternal grandparents home! The house is in need of a ton of TLC, but the memories that the home holds are exactly what she needs most! While Drue starts to figure out her new normal, she stumbles upon an unsolved crime that doesn’t sit well with her. She then makes it her mission to get to the bottom of everything!!

Woooohoooo!! Sunset Beach is just the book I was in the mood to read! It has a little bit of everything all wrapped in an entertaining storyline. The cast of characters are completely endearing—I would adore an entire series based on them! I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this 5 star novel and highly recommended EVERYONE put it on their summer reading list!!

I received an advance reader copy of Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I have always enjoyed books by Mary Kay Andrews. I think I have read them all. I think Sunset Beach is one of her best. There are two separate deaths, one in the present and one in the past. Drue becomes involved in solving the mysteries involved in both deaths as they are tied to her family, friends and coworkers. By the time I was approaching the end of the book, I could not put it down. I highly recommend this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters are fun, the storyline is fun, and the plot is just intriguing enough to keep me wanting to pick it up, yet it's not super heavy. I thought that the descriptions of the house where Drue moves in were spot on. I loved the descriptions of the Gulf Coast, it's been years since I've been there, but I could feel the humidity oozing from the screen of my kindle as I read. This is the second Mary Kay Andrews novel that I've read, and I just thought it was great! Get this one for your beach or pool bag this summer!

Honestly, I didn't read the entire synopsis of this book before heading over to Netgalley to snap it up. So far, Sunset Beach is my favorite deceptive cover of 2019. I feel I need to create this new category because those beach chairs swayed me into thinking this would be straight up contemporary romance. I have never been so delighted to be proven wrong. Yes romance and family drama is present, but when protagonist, Drue, gets wrapped in two unsolved cases of missing women- from 1976 and a more recent crime, I was unable to do anything but give myself over to this story. Fair warning though, if you have any knowledge of the criminal justice system, accept that things work out so much better in the fictional world. This was my first Mary Kay Andrews read, but it definitely will not be my last.

Goodreads review published 23/02/19
Expected publication 07/05/19

A story about persistence and righting wrongs. Drue is the perfect character for showing that you don't have to be a professional to do the right thing. Intrigue and suspense abound.

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews is a satisfying beach read, It has mystery, family drama, workplace mayhem, murder and a satisfying ending. What more could you want?!

Drue Campbell starts out the book on a bit of a downturn in her life. Her mom has passed away, she is recovering from a knee injury that ended her amateur kiteboarding career and she has to take a job working at her estranged father’s law firm. The only bright spot is inheriting a dilapidated beach cottage that belonged to her grandparents. As the story unfolds, Drue tries to get her life and home together while trying to unsolved several mysteries. The first is what really happened to a woman who was murdered in a beach hotel. The second is what happened to a woman named Connie who Drue found a box of police files and newspaper clippings on her disappearance 40 years earlier. While Drue is not a lawyer or police officer, her curiosity leads her to solve both mysteries and leads to a promotion at the law firm to an investigator. The book ends with her life on track, a budding romance and a relationship with her father and her new step brother.

As with all of MKA’s books, these are easy reads and you are transported to the beach. Sitting in Chicago in February, I can appreciate thinking summer.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC. I am a huge fan of Mary Kay Andrews book and her latest novel, Sunset Beach, does not disappoint. I wasn't expecting a bit of mystery in this one, and was pleasantly surprised with the storyline. Her work is fast paced and engaging from beginning to end.

Title : Sunset Beach

Author: Mary Kay Andrews

Genre: romance, cozy mystery

Pages: 432

St.Martin's Press

May 7 , 2019

author's websit: https://marykayandrews.com/

twitter:

mkayandrews
Pull up a lounge chair and have a cocktail at Sunset Beach – it comes with a twist.

Drue Campbell’s life is adrift. Out of a job and down on her luck, life doesn’t seem to be getting any better when her estranged father, Brice Campbell, a flamboyant personal injury attorney, shows up at her mother’s funeral after a twenty-year absence. Worse, he’s remarried – to Drue’s eighth grade frenemy, Wendy, now his office manager. And they’re offering her a job.

It seems like the job from hell, but the offer is sweetened by the news of her inheritance – her grandparents’ beach bungalow in the sleepy town of Sunset Beach, a charming but storm-damaged eyesore now surrounded by waterfront McMansions.

With no other prospects, Drue begrudgingly joins the firm, spending her days screening out the grifters whose phone calls flood the law office. Working with Wendy is no picnic either. But when a suspicious death at an exclusive beach resort nearby exposes possible corruption at her father’s firm, she goes from unwilling cubicle rat to unwitting investigator, and is drawn into a case that may – or may not – involve her father. With an office romance building, a decades-old missing persons case re-opened, and a cottage in rehab, one thing is for sure at Sunset Beach: there’s a storm on the horizon.

My thoughts
Rating: 5
Would I recommend this book? A Big Yes ( in fact as soon as I saw Netgalley had it to request I went and told a friend she had to request it)
Will I read any more by her? a big yes
When it comes to Mary Kay Andrews's books there always warm , fuzzy and fun to read , no mater what the season is or what your day is like, their easy reads that you can pick up and just set back and enjoy with a touch of romance and mystery that will make you smile and laugh out loud, their the perfect beach reads or if you just when you want something to brightening your day or night , because she has a way with her characters that will make you just set there and shake your head at the shenanigans they get in to. AS with this book Sunset Beach , before you know it your felling in love with the characters , and wanting to visit the places that are mentioned in it. So if you haven't picked up her books you need to do so . With that said I want to thank Beatrice at St.Martins as well as Netgalley for letting read and review Sunset Beach exchange for my honest opinion , and I can't wait to read more by her books.

Wonderful read the beach ,family a little mystery a book I was drawn right into.California which is usually warm & sunny has been cold and rainy reading Sunset Beach had me back in the warm weather a summer vacation .toes in the sand. #netgalley #st.martinbooks

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews is another great read.  Since my first MKA book,  Savannah Blues, I have thoroughly enjoyed finding and reading all her books.  I liked all the characters in Sunset Beach and believe that most of them could fill another book.  I am sure Corey has alot more to say as well as Rae and Drue.  I enjoyed the St. Pete setting, the fixer upper cottage, the beach and birds descriptions.    Always sorry for the end of a book, but look forward to the next.  Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to read this book.

4.5 stars

This book was just a lot of fun for me to read. The story included a couple of good mysterious happenings, and a beautiful beach setting for Drue who is finding a new path in life and getting reacquainted with her father and his new wife. I enjoyed Drue's character, her drive and her spunk. The mysterious story lines sucked me in right away and I really enjoyed learning how the story ended up.

I actually finished Sunset Beach several days ago. I couldn’t post a review because I was in mourning. I did not want this book to end! The characters are real, the plot is believable and the twists in the story make it a hard to put down book. After the loss of her mother and a career ending injury, Drue accepts the offer to start a fresh life from her dad. New job, new stepmom and new location. What could be bad? Well hang on! In true Mary Kay Andrews fashion the conflicts surrounding Drue are what keep the reader turning pages. Her stepmom was her best friend growing up, her new job gets her involved in a murder and her new home has it’s own hidden secrets. And, of course, Drue meets a guy that rubs her the wrong way and the right way if you get my meaning! Do yourself a favor and grab Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews as soon as it hits the shelf.
I voluntarily received a copy of this book from Netgalley.

It must be almost summer. Mary Kay Andrews has a new release coming and it is wonderful. Mystery, romance and zaniness galore...love this author and her books. Great beach read

Sunset Beach is another great novel by Mary Kay Andrews. The setting of coastal Florida is beautiful and serene. I enjoyed every aspect of the story with it's charm, intrigue, entertainment factor dynamic characters. It's a well written thoughtful story that I definitely recommend. Thank you for the advanced copy!

I started this book thinking I had just discovered another author like Dorothea Benton Frank and I was really frustrated when I realized I was reading a mystery, a genre that I really don’t enjoy - wish I did. I was happy to discover that there were interesting characters and thoughtful moments on top of plenty of twists and turns with just a little bit of romance.

Drucilla is at a dead end. Her mother has passed away and the passion of Drue’s life, kiteboarding, is also at a dead end after a debilitating accident. She turns out to be resourceful and intelligent as she struggles through her conflicts with her estranged-and-now-reunited father and all that comes with his world. This requires her to move from the east to the west coast of Florida, back to St Petersburg where she grew up.

One of my favorite parts is when she watches the gorgeous sunset and a new reality kicks in for the maturing Drue, “...the funny thing is? When I was kiteboarding I never really paid attention to it. I loved being on the water, and I really, really loved doing tricks and flying, but the water and the wind? They were just there...being grounded with this stinking knee injury has made me really stop and appreciate all of this.” I can relate to this stop-and-smell-the-roses moment.

As I read the afterward from the author about her love of Florida and all the beach houses she has called home, a steady snow has been falling outside of mine, and its also something that I love about the environment I live in. This book was everything a beach read needs, minus the beach - very fun.

4.5 stars
The beach, family drama, a little romance, and a mystery to solve- what's not to like? This is a perfect beach read. Definitely recommend.

I know and love the gorgeous beach area where the story takes place. The main character, Drue, has just moved from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to the west coast of Florida, into the rundown beach house that she inherited from her mother and her grandparents. She gets a desk job at her father’s law firm. The story revolves around her new life and the people in her new life, and on two cold cases that she discovers and investigates along the way. I have read a couple of books by Ms. Andrews and she always has relatable, likable characters. Although some of the situations in which Drue found herself were a bit far fetched, the book was well written and held my interest.

This title will be available on May 7, 2019

This is the perfect book to take on vacation. It's long enough that you probably won't finish it in one sitting, it has an engaging storyline with light mystery that doesn't take too much thought to follow. You can pick it up and put it down and then resume without having to backtrack. It's the kind of book you take to a pool or a beach to escape with and probably would go down even better with a cocktail in your hand. This is my first Mary Kay Andrews novel - and it was pretty much everything I expected it to be; light, beachy fun entertainment.

That said, if I don't take too much time dissecting this novel, it's perfectly fine. I know what type of book this is and the type of readers it will appeal to. But if I look at it a little further, there were some definite problem areas. Some of the dialogue feels unnatural as do the descriptions of people. It's kind of like that awkward moment when your parent is trying to impress your friends with how "current" they are but instead utterly shows their age. That is how parts of this book felt to me. I'm sure that there are going to be readers who don't think this at all, which leads me to believe that this book is intended for an older audience than myself. The protagonist is 36 years old, but felt like she should have been 26 instead and for those who devour the mystery/thriller genre I feel like the two murder mystery storylines will be obvious. I guess to me this book felt a little dated and hokey at times but I also think that this would be better suited to a different type of reader.

There are going to be a ton of people who love this book because they're fans of Mary Kay Andrews. She's a household name for a reason and I've seen a lot of positive reviews of her other books. I haven't read any of them, but I am definitely interested in reading some of her past work to compare to this one. Sunset Beach is not by any means a "bad book" - and for readers looking for something light and escapist it's a great choice. I would definitely recommend it to bring on your spring or summer vacation.

Thank you St Martin's Press & Netgalley for the advanced digital copy for review!

Drue Campbell's life is falling apart and she has no other choice but to take her estranged father up on his offer of a job. The ocean front house she has inherited from her mother means she has somewhere to live. But the house is definitely a fixer upper and the job holds surprises in the form of her dad's new wife. As Drue tries to adjust she discovers 2 mysteries that she can't leave alone. Will she be able to find a way to connect with her father or will the mysteries tear them further apart?