It was not what I was expecting! I thought I was in for a romcom and I was definitely surprised to find out (while reading it) that this was what I would call a “light” mystery set in a beachy made-up Town in the Florida panhandle (represent! 😂) . I don’t read any other genres other than romcoms but I enjoyed this book a lot and it had me wanting to see what else Conley (the main character and reporter) would uncover and see where her life headed next. I’d would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys “light” investigative mysteries with a little bit of romance.

What I loved ❤️: Conley’s investigation. It was interesting for sure and I kept making my own guesses. ❤️ G-mama, her grandma. She was this old southern lady with Sass, very entertaining! ❤️ It has a happy ending and bit of romance. ❤️ I also loved that it was low steam. Everything happen behind closed doors. ❤️ The epilogue written by Rowena.

What I didn’t like 👎🏼: The book is 432 pages long. I felt like it could be shorten a little bit, during some parts of the investigation, it felt repetitive. For example, every time Conley discovered something, we would read the same interesting tidbit 4-5 times, as she told her sister about it, then her grandma, then to the sheriff, then to her good friend Skelly, then to a news outlet and then read it again in the newspaper article that she published.

What I liked 👍🏼: I like that it was a “light” mystery, which didn’t keep my anxiety high, that’s definitely a plus for me! But it was very interesting and I enjoyed all the twists and turns. 👍🏼 I also liked that Buddy’s life did a full circle ⭕️ I won’t go into detail, in case you haven’t read it yet, but dm me if you want to know how!

Thank you St Martin’s press and Netgalley For an ARC of this book.

I received a reviewer copy of Hello, Summer by Mary Kay Andrews from St. Martin's Press from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Conley is an all star journalist who finally got her break at a big shot newspaper in D.C., but on the day she's supposed to head there she gets the news that the paper has gone under. Now, with no home or job, she heads back to the Florida panhandle to visit her grandmother while she waits for the next big thing. But her family owned weekly newspaper is struggling and Conley reluctantly gets pulled in. But when a local congressman dies in a mysterious accident, she sees it as her ticket out.

What I Loved: Wow, Mary Kay Andrews does it again! She is great at writing these lighthearted summer mysteries and they are the perfect beach read! This book has political scandal, mystery, and romance. I really enjoyed the secondary character: the grandma and the housekeeper are fantastic! I really could connect with Conley's ambition and feeling isolated from that. I also loved the romance between Conley and her childhood friend. I really admired the character and thought he was kind of swoony!

What I didn’t like so much: There was sister drama that I felt like wasn't treated well. It was a minor plot point but was significant part of the character's life so I wish we had gotten more detail in this and not as quickly resolved. I also thought it wrapped up very suddenly.

Who Should Read It: People who love 'beach reads'. People who love political mysteries but don't love the violence. People who like reinventing yourself literature.

General Summary: A career journalist forced to reinvent herself, finds a high impact story but it has huge impacts on her family's small community.

Conley Hawkins left the small town of Silver Bay for a life of excitement in Atlanta and has her sights set on Washington DC. After getting her dream job, she’s downsized before her first day. She’s lost her job, her apartment and her boyfriend so she has to move back home until she comes up with plan B.

While she’s in Silver Bay, she is talked into working for the family paper temporarily. What she once thought was a small town where nothing ever happened turns into a hotspot of scandal when a congressman dies in a car wreck and Silver Bay becomes national news.

This is my first book by this author but I am definitely going to check out more. I really liked all of the characters. I had no idea what was actually going on until the end. Great story that was not too heavy...perfect for a good summer read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Happy #fetenationale! (in Quebec). The first summer holiday.

What would summer be (according to many people), without a book release by @marykayandrews?
This was my first time reading a book by this powerhouse author, she has 25 under her belt, and apparently they get better and better. Certainly the cover of this book makes you just dream of lounging on the #beach!

Anyways, this book is about Conly Hawkins, a journalist, who was supposed to be heading to Washington DC to work at a new digital news provider. Sadly, the news outlet fails to open, and Conly , jobless, returns to her hometown of Silver Springs, to work for her family’s own, local paper, (run by her sister), everything she ran away from years earlier (including an old boyfriend). If you think that nothing happens in small towns like Silver Springs, well, you are wrong! Conly starts small, editing the local column #hellosummer, but soon, she’s mixed up in a #national story!
I really enjoyed reading my first MKA book 📚! I could see where they are great to take on holiday. I also listened to the audiobook, which was great. Thank you #netgalley for my copy of #hellosummernovel. I loved 💕 reading it. #5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #bookstagram #booksofinstagram #bookoftheday #beachread #beachreads #summer2020 #summervacation @audible_ca @kathleenmcinerney23

Netgalley sent me a copy of this book in order for my honest review. It was ok. It started out kind of slow but got better as the story progressed. Conley was a well developed character who was interesting as well. The mystery part was good. I like how the book changed when that arrived.

I look forward to Mary Kay Andrews new books each summer. They are the perfect beach reads. This book was no exception. In this book, Sarah Conley Hawkins, who goes by Conley, is a newspaper reporter. A job that MKA knows a lot about and it shows in the story. Conley is between jobs and goes to small town Silver Bay, Florida where she grew up to spend some time with the grandmother, G'mama, and figure out her next move. While there, a fabulous story drops in her lap and she writes about it for her family's weekly newspaper. This story is a mystery, and has a political scandal, family drama and a little romance. I didn't want it to end and hope to see these characters again in a future book.

I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This was such a fun summer read! I liked Conley right away and the rest of the characters really grew on me as I read.I thought the mystery was well done and I enjoyed the romance. The only issue I had with the book was that it was longer than it needed it to be. The beginning could have been a lot shorter and that would have made it a better read. Overall though I really enjoyed it and definitely recommend this as a fun summer read!

Hello, Summer is another one of Mary Kay Andrews’ perfect beach reads. This one felt a little longer than it needed to be, but had such great character development and vivid imagery that it was like a summer breeze to read through.

Another hit from author Mary Kay Andrews! Hello, Summer delivers beachy fun, small town drama, and plenty of intrigue. I enjoyed the variety of plotlines, and found the main character likeable and believable. If you love a good summer beach read, you definitely won't want to miss this one!

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the complimentary digital review copy of this title. All opinions are my own.

This is a great "summer read" book. It's an interesting story with characters typical of MKA`s books, the feisty female leads are the best! Would definitely recommend.

a satisfying beach-y story of sisters and careers and a little intrigue and a fabulous grandmother ❤️ a perfect summer read IMO

This is the perfect summer read full of southern charm and mystery. The setting of Silver Bay and it's community and beach sound like a great place to escape to. Add some sister angst and family drama along with quirky characters and this was my kind of book.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Conley has returned to Silver Bay since she has lost her job as a news reporter for a large paper. Her sister runs the Silver Bay Beacon and they are not the closest of sisters. Conley witnesses an accident and death of their local congressman and is soon investigating for the local paper. The story is interesting and a good mystery. The romance between Conley and her old flame from high school is a good one. I would recommend this as a good beach read. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Don’t let the size of Hello, Summer turn you away from this beach read. It’s an eerily fast read. In two days I finished the almost 600 page book. The reporter and investigation plot line was unexpected in a beach read for me. It was still good summer beach read, and the last 1/4 of the book I didn’t want to put down!

Hello, Summer, by Mary Kay Andrews, is billed as the quintessential beach read. I love the beach. I loved that the novel was set in Florida. I did not love this excessively long novel, although I did not hate it. While I respect that Andrews is a best-selling and beloved author who clearly knows how to please her readers, the book just felt flat to me. The characters were perfectly pleasant but lacking in nuance. The two intertwined mysteries were predictably resolved – one more so than the other. The romantic subplot was obvious from the very beginning. In fact, all of the “good guys” find happiness, which I found satisfying but not sustaining. This would make a great Hallmark movie!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read the electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review will be posted on 6/8/2020

Conley Hawkins has her big break. She is going to DC for her new job at a prominent newspaper except things go south quickly. Her new job falls through and she finds herself heading back home to Silver Bay. Conley left Silver Bay years ago. She left her family, some old rumors, and her family's newspaper, The Silver Bay Beacon, which is struggling to survive. While home, she is happy to see certain family members, like her grandmother, but she is having a hard time accepting the fact that she is back and may be back for awhile. She really doesn't want to be stuck here, but when her grandmother asks her to help with the family's newspaper, she can't say no. Just as things start to simmer down, local congressman, Charles Robinette, dies in a car crash and Conley was at the scene of crime only minutes after the accident. There's a lot of red flags here and Conley uncovers even more when she learns more about the congressman. Conley wants more than to write a puff piece for her family's newspaper, so she starts digging and not everyone likes what she uncovers. There's more political scandal on the forefront, crappy ex-boyfriends that reemerge, a possible love interest, and of course, the constant support of family. Hello, Summer by Mary Kay Andrews is the perfect summertime read for readers who like a side of mystery with their beach reads.

Conley is an interesting character in Hello, Summer. I loved her dedication to her family, her tenacity to really get to the bottom of things, and her desire to swim against the current of her small town even if she is a self-saboteur at times. Also, I loved the tight-knit community of Silver Bay even right down to the gossip column, "Hello, Summer," that the Silver Bay Beacon publishes. Conley of course doesn't want to be in charge of editing the column, she wants something so much bigger and when the political scandal ends up in her lap, she knows she has to take it. However, Hello, Summer is about so much more than a political scandal and a mystery, there's Conley's possible (if she opens herself to it) love life, there's her unsettled relationship with her sister that she must try to mend, and of course, the very people and memories that she tried to escape from that she must eventually face when back in Silver Bay.

I love stories about journalists and their journey to get to the truth, so I truly enjoyed that aspect of Hello, Summer. Readers can really tell that Mary Kay Andrews once worked as a journalist, because she really brought the field to life. It was exciting to read about a small town paper trying stay afloat while also uncovering a big story that is sure to get a lot of national attention.

My only issue with Hello, Summer was the lack of focus on Silver Bay being a coastal community. Although the cover has flip flops and some waves, the majority of the book wasn't focused on that. While there were some romantic strolls along the sand and some sunset cocktails, it didn't read like a traditional beach read, which I was ok with, but for those that want purely a relaxing read, this isn't it. Also, be forewarned, it is a very dense book at almost 560 pages, so keep that in mind as that's not typical of beach reads.

Nonetheless, I really enjoyed Hello, Summer. Her enthusiasm and knowledge of journalism really shines in this novel and I was truly invested in Conley's story as well as the small town of Silver Bay.

Hello, Summer didn’t disappoint! I have always loved reading her books and I like how she is weaving mystery and drama into her newest novels. I recommend this book for a great beach read! Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced reader copy.

You definitely want to put this on your summer reading list. This is a story of Sarah (Conley) Hawkins. She loses out on a journalist job in D.C. and ends up going back to her hometown Silver Bay, Florida. The newspaper for the town is family owned and Conley's sister is the editor. Her Grandmother wants Conley to help her sister.
There is a vehicle accident that takes the life of the Senator for that area. Conley smells a rat and goes to investigate.
Great book that kept my interest the entire book.

As my first Mary Kay Andrews book to read, I have to say that perhaps my expectations were set high and unfortunately this novel fell short. I was expecting a fast-paced read as more of a romance and light-hearted beach read when I picked it up and yet it was more like a murder mystery with a touch of humor instead.

Some of my favourite parts of this book, I must say, were the sisters and their work environment. I have a sister whom I wouldn't want to work for and to read the interactions was quite dreadful and yet comical.

Giving this a 3.5 star rating, rounding up to 4 stars as I don't think it deserves to only be 3 stars, even if I wasn't fond of the story itself the writing talent is definitely present.

Thank you Mary Kay Andrews, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. Always so grateful for the opportunity to read complimentary books!

Conley has returned to her hometown to get her life back on track. She is forced to work at her family run town newspaper which leads her to a story that makes her famous. Does she stay in town to save the paper, get to know her family, and nurture new relationships or does she reach for the stars of big time network news? This lighthearted is perfect for sipping cocktails on the back porch in the summer.