Summers at the Saint is an excellent summer read from one of my favorite authors.

Traci and her best friend Shannon were lifeguards at the ‘Saint’ – St. Cecilia’s - a high end resort hotel where guests and members from the wealthy families spend their summers. After a disturbing event, Shannon is fired and the girls go their separate ways.

Fast forward and we find Traci in charge at the hotel, after she married the owner’s son, Hoke. When he died in a tragic accident, she took over running the hotel. Now, post the pandemic, she is struggling to keep the hotel in business. She can’t get staff, profits are down, but she is determined to keep her husband’s family’s legacy afloat.

As the summer season is about to start, she converts an old building into staff housing, and hires a group of young people as staff. She persuades her niece to spend the summer working in guest relations (much to the annoyance of Ric, the girl’s father and the brother of Hoke), and appears set for a last ditch season of making the resort work. When Ric and Hoke’s father passes away, the future of the resort is in question.

Told from the point of view of the new staff members, Traci, Shannon and several others, we follow lots of twists and turns as one of the family is found dead, and someone is clearly trying to ensure that the resort fails. Several people are trying to discover who is behind the murder, and behind the shady goings on.

This was full of excellent characters, lots of underhand behaviors, and family drama. A mishmash of a family saga, a murder mystery and a light romance, this book really works! I was riveted from the start, and finished the book in a single sitting. Being at a beach sipping a cocktail while I read this, certainly didn’t hurt!

Looking forward to more excellent reads from Miss Andrews.

I went into this book expecting a romance. Instead, Summers at the Saint felt like a mystery with some romance sprinkled in and I found myself a bit frustrated with the amount of darker storylines this included.

I enjoyed the setting at a beautiful hotel in a resort town and the premise that the hotel was struggling for some not-clear-until-the-end reasons. The deaths, murders, attempted murders, and unexpected family connections was too much to digest. I absolutely believe that romance should tackle tough issues that go beyond a love story, but I think the marketing on this book was off.

Summers At The Saint is now my third book by Mary Kay Andrews, with this being my first non-Christmas and non-novella book from her.

Let me set the scene of this story: Dirty Dancing, but more Johnny Castle and less Baby Houseman; the curtain has been lifted up, allowing all the nitty gritty day to day of the resort and its staff to be on view. (And with a cover and title to perfectly represent this!)

Although there are a lot of characters at the Saint, they are brought into the story in a way that lets you get to know and understand them all before the curtain is peeled back too far. I enjoyed that Traci Eddings had history within the resort community, really aiding proper representation of her age. And although there were a lot of younger characters within this story, none of them acted immaturely, nor were any acting advanced of their ages either. I’m clearly a big fan of the character development within this book!

I love Kathleen McInerney's narration of Andrews's books, and this is again proven to be true! Her voice is honey with its soothing tone, amping up only when truly needed. The voices she used fit so well with the various characters’ descriptions!

With romance, mystery and family drama - this is one beach read that has ample depth!

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for the complimentary copies to read and review.

Summers at the Saint, by Mary Kay Andrews, is a gossipy, salacious summery read with lots of drama and a major mystery component. It reads very much like an Elin Hilderbrand novel with it’s drama, drinking, drugs, secrets, romance, cheating, friendship, mischief and mystery. There is a lot going on in this novel so hang on tight and pay attention, but it will definitely keep the reader engaged.

Our story takes place on an island off the Georgia coast at a family-owned resort called the Saint. Traci is the general manager and has married into the family, but loves the resort like it’s her own. When her husband is killed in a tragic accident, he makes sure that Traci is able to maintain the management of the exclusive resort. She is desperately trying to revitalize the business, but things are happening behind the scenes to undermine her success. Additionally, Traci has to contend with the outright hostility of her brother-in-law who is trying to pull the business out from under her. To make matters worse, while she’s trying to save the family legacy, her beloved niece is killed under suspicious circumstances and no one seems able to solve the crime.

Summers at the Saint is an entertaining, suspenseful story. Don’t be fooled, this is not your typical light-hearted, beach read. There are quite a few heavier topics and issues interwoven into the plot and a lot of difficult characters to contend with. Though some plot points felt a bit unbelievable, I enjoyed the story with all it’s complexities, and found it to be an intriguing plot. Summers at the Saint is a great choice for a quick-reading, scandalous, drama-driven novel you can take pool-side or use to heat up your day regardless of the season.

Summers at the Saint was a fun and captivating read that involved mystery, murder, deceit, a little bit of romance and the running of an exclusive high-end luxury hotel located on a small islanded called St. Cecelia. This posh and expensive summer resort is called The Saint, it is owned and run by the Eddings’s family – they cater to the wealthy.

Traci Eddings came from a humble background and as a teenager worked alongside best friend Shannon. It is at The Saints that Traci meets her soon to be husband and son of The Saints owner but is it after tragedy occurred at resort, Traci and Shannon’s friendship dissolved.

Twenty years have now passed and with the patriarch of the family in end stages of Parkinson’s, now widowed Traci runs the resort and brother-in-law Ric runs the estate business. The current summer is looking to be a challenge. Traci is losing key staff, having difficultly recruiting staff, while still making a profit. In an attempt to try some new ideas, she convinces her niece to change her summer plans, recruits Shannon’s daughter and converts the old barn into dorm. Between staff issues, sub-quality food and furnishings, missing inventory things are not going as planned and now a murder on the resort grounds plus the danger of Traci’s father-in-law passing, leaves the ownership in question.

On the whole some of the who-dunnite was obvious yet Mary Kay Andrews managed to get in a few twists and turns I did not see coming. The characters are well developed, the story was fast paced that held my interest especially the last 20 percent of the book.

Mary Kay Andrews is one of my auto-buy authors. I love that she is a fellow Dawg grad and Georgia resident. I have been reading her novels since college and have enjoyed every last word. Summers at the Saint is her latest summer novel. I was expecting a cozy beach read, a little mystery, some romance. What I got was so much more! Summers at the Saint is a straight up murder mystery/thriller y’all! With a side of romance of course. I am not complaining one bit, I loved it!
I was reading along, the setting is laid out, a beautiful, exclusive resort in costal Georgia. The characters are known, we are all a found family now… and then someone is missing. They are fine, after all this is a Mary Kay Andrews book. Well, that’s where I was wrong. The story continues to unfold and evolve into something I absolutely could not put down. This is an absolute must for your summer reading list. I honestly don’t know how Mary Kay Andrews continues to write fresh, fun material after publishing so many exceptional works, but I am here for it!

Summers at the Saint is a great book! It is smoothly written, fast paced, entertaining and surprising. I guess the surprise for me was discovering that this is more than a typical beach read. There is a plot that just keeps going and characters that are interesting.
The setting, the grand old St Cecelia hotel, is beautifully depicted. You will see yourself enjoying a luscious meal, sipping bubbly and toasting the sunset. The multitude of characters that run the resort have back stories and lives that make them compelling enough for us to care about.
The author has a few tricks up her sleeve with multiple plot lines and mysteries that I was not expecting. There is some repetition of the wrap up, which is helpful if the mystery is extremely convoluted, which I did not find it to be. But it was well done and not tedious as is so often the case.
All in all, I'd say this is the book to read to jumpstart your summer. Enjoy!
And many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's press for the ARC of Summers at the Saint by Mary Kay Andrews.

Summers at The Saint by Mary Kay Andrews, from the picture on the cover I was expecting a beach read, but this book was much more than that. It interweaves the past with modern day, and builds a story line around an interesting woman. Willing to think outside the box to try to save the once luxurious family resort. Some of the characters I enjoyed others not so much. I would recommend this book to others.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, and I am leaving my review voluntarily.

It amazes me how Mary Kay Andrews can blend genres so seamlessly to write such beautiful stories. Summers at the Saint was no exception! This book combines women’s fiction, romance, and mystery and throws in some family drama to give us the perfect summer read.

I loved Traci as the main character. Even though she suffered a huge loss when her husband tragically passed away, she still showed strength and had what it takes to keep the Saint afloat. By hiring some unexpected employees, Traci was able to find herself, and a second chance at love, which I really enjoyed.

Most of the characters in this book were great (some not so much), and I loved how there was character development along with a plot that kept me guessing. I didn’t want to put this book down, and narrator, Kathleen McInerney had a lot to do with that. She was a great choice for this book. There was something about her voice that was just so peaceful, and it was exactly what I would expect if I was staying at the Saint! I highly recommend listening to this one if you can.

I loved everything about this book and look at that gorgeous cover! This book screams beach read to me, and I hope everyone else will grab it on their summer vacation to read!

Thank you Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for advanced copies in exchange for my honest review.

What a great beach read! Once I started this book, I couldn’t put it down! The Saint is for the wealthy but like other businesses in the area, good help is hard to find. Traci Eddings needs to keep operations running and a way to bring staff in. She comes up with an idea that would do just that. This book surprised me. The way things shifted and I didn’t see coming! Whoa! I enjoyed the friendships that blossomed and the budding romance that was beginning. I found myself gasping as things occurred and I couldn’t read this book fast enough. There’s loss and love and new beginnings and danger. I can’t recommend it enough!

Summers at the Saint is everything that I wanted in a beach read! Traci Eddings is now in charge at the St. Cecilia resort after growing up as an "ain't" instead of a "saint." She inherited this position following the death of her husband 4 years ago in a plane crash. She is struggling to manage all of the challenges with heading up a 5-star resort. Multiple twists, a murder, the fabulous resort/beach setting, and a little romance kept me interested the whole way through. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a Mary Kay Andrews novel, so I thought it was about time to read one. This story follows several characters at the St. Cecelia’s Resort. And, my goodness, there is SO MUCH going on there. Once people start digging into a mystery from 20 years ago, several more mysteries unfold.

The story builds slowly as does the character development, so it did take me a little while to feel immersed into the story. Some of the dialogue and choices of the characters seemed “off” to me, but all in all, by the end, I did want to know how it ended and whether everyone gets what they deserve.

I do think Summers at the Saint is darker than her typical novels, so I think it’s great that she’s trying something different.

Thanks to #StMartinsPress for providing me the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The link to my Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6475801554?book_show_action=false

I honestly had no idea that this book was going to be a mystery/who dun it read but I enjoyed the whole plot development. There was soo much going on in this book that I read it pretty quickly for it being 400 pages. This book is heavy on "class clash" between Saints and Aint's - how people can get away with things with a little hush money, which is frustrating to even imagine after reading about it. Props to the author for really putting in so much details and emotion in this book. There were a lot of characters introduced but it wasn't difficult to keep up with. This is my 2nd book from MKA and am now hooked with her writing and will definitely be exploring her backlist!

Thank you, NetGalley, for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Not A Casual “Beach Read”. With the cover and even a common understanding of the description, one might think going into this tale that it is a breezy easy beach read. Well, I’m of the belief that any book you read at a beach is a beach read, but this book takes some effort. If you’re looking for a simple tale… this aint that.

What this *is* though is a solid tale of survival on so many different levels. Yes, you have the tale of the struggle to save the resort that the description points out. But there is also *so much more* here, and the problems at the resort go *so much deeper* than is initially believed.

At first, this seems to be a tale of the resort manager building her team, Nick Fury building the Avengers style. As this slow burn story continues though, we see that not everything is as it seems, and Nick may have found Loki posing as Thor rather than the actual Thor…

Ultimately, all of the separate characters and threads do come together in a wonderful tapestry, but it takes a while to see the full picture of all that is happening and why, but for those that demand books that wrap up everything… this *is* one of those tales, at least.

Very much recommended.

I enjoyed this book immensely. The book is a perfect summer read. It has a little mystery, great characters - both the ones you like and the ones you hate, a great setting, good friendships and a little romance. I found the book to be a fast read and had more than a few surprises. I loved how the story evolved. I found the ending really satisfying. It was just really a fun read. I totally recommend curling up with this and a margarita in hand. Sit back and enjoy! I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

This book is full of compelling characters including the central heroine who is strong-minded and quite determined but also extremely kind and caring toward her employees. The intriguing plot has not one but two compelling mysteries at its center. The story is full of great friendship but the romance is not as well developed. It is kind of rushed. and you never really get to know that much about the love interest. He isn't even called by his first name but rather by his last throughout much of the story. Plus, it feels like you get to know more about his relatives than you do about him. Nevertheless, this is still a fun summer read unless you're in it strictly for the romance.

The story centers around the St. Cecilia aka “The Saint”, a five-star hotel off the coast of Georgia. There is a big social segregation between the hotel patrons (the Saints) and the locals/hotel staff (the Ain’ts). This was totally giving me dirty dancing vibes minus the song and dance numbers.

The book is told in multiple POVs which at first was a little confusing and it took a bit to get who was who straight. But overall this world at the Saint was really well developed and the storyline filled with mysteries and secrets kept me interested all the way through. It’s a fun, cozy beach mystery perfect for summer.

Read for:
🏨 High-end Beach Hotel
🌊 Beachside Mysteries
💵 Haves vs the Have-nots
🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Family Secrets
👄 Multiple POVs

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
Spice Level: 🧼 squeaky clean

This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was fun, twisty, sweet and action-packed. It kept me reading and I didn't want to put it down. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

My brain always tells me I’m getting a fun, light beach read but that is definitely not how Mary Kay Andrews rolls. This story had some fun twists and turns that I very much enjoyed, I was disappointed when one of my favourite characters got murdered but it added to the story. The characters were great. Traci & Shannon’s story was good and only got better as the book progressed, Parrish, Olivia, Felice, K.J & Garrett added the fun with their young people escapades. I liked Whelan and was happy for Traci, I really wanted Ric & Madelyn to “get it” and they really did themselves in with their evilness. The mystery of what was really going on at the Saint moved the story along. This book was fabulous & I thought it was great.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this book.

I loved this book! Traci Eddings has loved the Saint since she was a child. Her first sight of the beautiful resort had her hooked. When she grows up to marry the son of the owner, she thinks her life is perfect. But as everyone knows, life throws curveballs and Traci finds herself in the middle of a big old mess.
This book has everything, and I do mean everything! There are conniving relatives, there’s a secret baby. All kinds of people are sleeping with all kinds of other people. Strange things are happening at the Saint and it looks like it could be sabotage. There is arson.There is a murder. And there’s even romance.
When is the things I enjoy about Mary Kay Andrews books is the juxtaposition of the laid-back southern setting with all of the craziness that goes on in the story. This book is a wonderful addition to all her others. I know when I open one up I’m in for a good time, and this didn’t disappoint.