You can go wrong with a Mary Kay Andrews book. They can be read cover to cover in one sitting because you just can’t put them down. You have to find out how the story ends and everything comes together. A wonderful small town story by such an accomplished writer. We all will the love the relationship between the sisters and grandmother because they are so well written and well defined. The book had humor, mystery and fun, all at a good pace.

This book stayed true to the Mary Kay Andrews style. A true summer, beach read. The characters came to life and I felt like I was a part of the community within this book. A 2020 summer best of the best!

Summer: for me this means- flip flops, sun, sand, a drink and MARY KAY ANDREWS. she remains a must buy author for me and seems to only get better with each novel.

I really liked this book. The characters were all very like able (especially Skelly) and I liked the mystery because it made this book a little more substantial than a typical summer beach read.

Another great story from Mary Kay Andrews! Her beach reads are always a way to escape, even if we aren't at the beach! I loved the family dynamics in this story, with the strong matriarch, G'mama. I also enjoyed the layered stories with the Buddy Bright connection coming into play at the end. I will definitely pass this along to my girlfriends as a great summer read.

Love all Mary Kay Andrews books and Hello, Summer is a real treat. I loved it. Perfect beach read!

Many thanks to the author, the publishers, and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Conley Hawkins left her family’s small town newspaper, The Silver Bay Beacon, in the rearview mirror years ago. Now a star reporter for a big-city paper, Conley is exactly where she wants to be and is about to take a fancy new position in Washington, D.C. Or so she thinks. When the new job goes up in smoke, Conley finds herself right back where she started, working for The Silver Bay Beacon. Soon she is given the unenviable task of overseeing the local gossip column, “Hello, Summer.” Then Conley witnesses an accident that ends in the death of a local congressman—a beloved war hero with a shady past. The more she digs into the story, the more dangerous it gets. As an old heartbreaker causes trouble and a new flame ignites, it soon looks like their sleepy beach town is the most scandalous hotspot of the summer. review: When I think of quintessential summer reads, Mary Kay Andrews is one of the authors that immediately comes to mind! Her latest book packs a punch with every bit of family drama, mystery & a bit of romance too! I really loved the journalistic aspect of this book - I thought it was a great element and lent to telling the story well. I really enjoyed the characters in this book - they were all so relatable and real with their own issues. I can never pass up a boy-next-door romance either, so I loved it! This will definitely be the perfect read to get you in the mood for summer! rating: 4 out of 5 ⭐️

I received a complimentary review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.
I have read almost all of Mary Kay Andrews books and sadly this one was not one of my favorites. It is more mystery than summer romance...and for some reason the romance falls a little flat.
The mystery is a good one...the journalist angle is believable. I think I just need more low country, beaches, and low country.
It is a long book...and there were some characters that could be left out. I don't regret reading it..it just wasn't my favorite MKA book!
Check out Save the Date, which was a five star review for me!

Simply put, Mary Kay Andrews never disappoints. The author’s former career as a print journalist shines in Hello, Summer, where she introduces us to Conley Hawkins, an esteemed newspaper journalist, who, in a career twist leaves Atlanta for DC, only to land back home in Silver Bay, a fictional small town in the Florida Panhandle, where she finds herself caught up in a political scandal right off the bat. Highly entertaining and timely. Hello, Summer, is another home run for MKA.

Sarah "Conley" Hawkins is suffering from career obsalescence and family dysfunction. After quitting her job at a prestigious Atlanta newspaper to take a job in D.C., she discovers that her new employer has collapsed financially. She scoots back home to spend the summer in small-town Florida, emailing resumes and chatting up her grandmother.

Instead, Conley arrives to find both her G'Mama and the family's beach home in ill health, and the newspaper that was started by her grandfather in just as much disrepair.

Shortly after her arrival, while out with a childhood friend, local pharmacist Sean Kelly, Conley happens upon a fiery single-car accident, which just happens to have killed local golden boy, Representative Symmes Robinette. Everything about the accident gets Conley's reporter's instincts riled up--especially the way the whole town wants to avoid looking beyond the funeral notice.

I had high hopes for this book, but I will be the first to admit that I haven't loved most of Mary Kay Andrews' characters for the last several years. Conley may be one of the worst, and unfortunately she plays to all of the self-centered, ill-bred stereotypes that people tend to coddle about journalists. Hello, Summer even lacks one of the fundamentals of the Andrews canon: fun, funny peripheral characters. Over all, it was oversized and underwhelming, with a dash of annoying thrown in for good measure.

Bless her heart, I sure do miss the gool ol' days of Savannah Breeze.

This is a good summertime beach read, the characters were engaging, the mystery kept you guessing, and the romance was just right. Looking forward to more stories from Mary Kay Andrews. A good book club selection.

Conley Hawkins never thought that she would find herself back in her hometown of Silver Bay, Florida. But that is exactly where she ends up after she quit her job at an Atlanta newspaper and her new job closes up shop before she can even start. Conley has only been back for the occasional weekend, but now she has to deal with her grumpy older sister, Grayson, and her aging grandmother. When Conley finds herself a witness to the death of a local politician with an old high school friend, she is forced to do the one thing she never wanted to do - work for her family's local newspaper. The deeper Conley gets into the story, the more she realizes that her smalltown is a hotbed of political scandal. And it might be the thing that saves her career and her family's newspaper. But will it be enough to save her relationship with her sister?

To me, Mary Kay Andrews is the very definition of summer. I know that summer is right around the corner whenever her newest book hits the shelf. Hello, Summer has elements of a relaxed summer beach read, but it also has a serious element of mystery. I will say that I really struggled to like Conley at first. She seemed awfully arrogant when she first arrived back in Silver Bay. I hated the way she treated her sister and looked down on her family's paper with disdain. The longer she is there, the more she starts to show a little respect for her family's history, because she starts to realize what her sister has been dealing with all of these years. The mystery itself was more "cozy mystery" than "gritty mystery" and it was a refreshing change for me. The end wasn't all that surprising, but it was satisfying. In that "happy ever after" kind of way. - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS.

Bottom Line - While I didn't think that Hello, Summer was as "beachy" as her previous books, it was still a really good, comfortable, book to read. The kind of book to read while enjoying the sun.

Details:
Hello, Summer by Mary Kay Andrews
On Instagram
Pages: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 5/5/2020
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

What do you do when your professional dreams disappear in an instant? For reporter Conley Hawkins, that means going back home to live with her grandmother and help her sister with a local newspaper in their small town, while she continues her job search with a news agency that is bigger and will have more of an impact. However, within just a few days of her arrival, Conley uncovers a story full of deception and disloyalty that threatens to disrupt everything she and her family stand for. While Conley investigates the story, she also faces family drama, gets caught up in a vendetta, and rediscovers feelings for a guy from her youth.

The pacing was solid, though it took me a few chapters to really get into the story. I liked the overall plot and where the author took the characters. There were a couple side plots that could have been their own stories and though they moved the main plot to where it needed to go, they also didn’t quite do it in a seamless manner. Full of colorful characters, Hello Summer is likely going to be a hit with May Kay Andrews fans.

(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and have written an objective review.)

There is a reason Andrews novels consistently top the best seller list: she is a phenomenal story teller. While I think her characters lean towards cliche rather than deep development, the story is full of twists and turns. This story not only has the main mystery (or is it) to be solved, but two other sinister plots develop alongside Conley's attempt to get answers. I'm not sure how they actually tied in to the story and helped the plot along to be honest. As a masterful twist, I'm left wondering if the truth about the congressman's death was actually revealed. I still have questions about events in the book - I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

All that being said, this is an engaging story with a bit of mystery and a bit of family dynamics and a bit of romance.

I received a dARC from the publisher via Netgalley. This is my honest review.

Mary Kay Andrews is a favorite author of mine. i cannot imagine starting a summer without one of her fabulous books. This was such a fun read and the perfect summer escape. This is perfect for escape from our summer quarantine to sweep you away . This has intrigue, drama, humor and a wonderful mystery in a beautiful coastal setting.
Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinion is my own . Thank you to the author for this perfect summer read !

Newspaper reporter, Conley Hawkins, is getting ready to leave her job in Atlanta for a brand new one when her new job evaporates as the company closed. She goes home to beautiful Silver Bay Florida to help her older sister with the local family newspaper. Her sister informs her the newspaper is going under fast and she needs her help.. Conley does not intend to stay and considers this a temporary move only as she and her sister have a contentious relationship. They are able to put their differences aside as Conley starts work with her first assignment. She has been assigned the "Hello Summer" gossip column to proof read. The author of the column does not like her interference or her suggestions.

When Conley sees a car burn up and finds out a victim was inside she decides to investigate. Soon she has received death threats and is finding her home town has many underlying secrets. She then learns a political scandal has emerged amid the crime. Conley must continue her investigation and find a way to save her family newspaper. This is such a well crafted story with excellent likable charcters. I loved the setting and the old fashioned newspaper. Another winning summer read from this favorite author.

Another great book by Mary Kay Andrews! I was expecting it to be more of a easy, breezy summer read, but this was full of mystery. I couldn't put it down. It still had its quirky characters (I loved G'mama!), but it was a fun mystery. Kept me guessing the whole way.

Fun, summer read!

Another great stand alone from the queen of beach reads! It was A little slower in the beginning than I was expecting but it got going and I couldn’t put it down!!!

I’ve been a LONG time reader of Andrews’ work so I can say that Conley is not my favorite of her “heroines”. 4 stars only because MKA has more lovable characters in her other works that are just as good... see Fixer Upper, Hissy Fit, Ladies Night, and Savannah Blues.

Wow, had my interest right from the beginning. Full of Political corruption, a death, dysfunctional family and just a tiny bit of romance thrown in.
Conley Hawkins had left her small town Florida town to be a bigwig journalist in a big city. She is now to take a new position in a new city and that goes up in smoke so she goes running back to Florida to live with her grandmother until she gets a new job. Her family business is a small town paper and she wants no part of it. Especially since her older sister is in charge and hates Conley.
Conley is out one night when her and a friend encounter an accident scene before anyone else gets there. It happens to be the local congressman and he is dead. So she goes digging into his life and his past and starts writing for her families paper and turns up a lot which puts her life into danger.
I could not put this down.
Thank you to St. Martins and NetGalley for the review.

A fun, frothy beach read. I enjoy Ms Andrews books and look forward to the summer reads. I can't say there is anything ever earth shattering but they are fun and pure escapism. That is so needed during these stressful times. I think having light reading that is fun is what summer is all about. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

I love the new style of books Mary Kay Andrews has begun writing. The mystery and intrigue are interesting. And the fact that she continues to include fun and quirky characters is entertaining. The story keeps you flipping the pages quickly. The characters are well developed and will have you loving or hating them. There were several times when I laughed out loud at some of the crazy antics.

At one point in time, I wondered why the author had spent so much time developing on particular characters and then the person just dropped out as an important part of the story. But was I ever wrong! That's why Mary Kay Andrews is such an amazing author. Because not only does she bring the individual back at the end; she brings it with a bang!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I am a huge Mary Kay Andrews fan and can't wait to get lost in another adventure. She definitely keeps me entertained!