Traci marries into the rich family who own the St. Cecilia Hotel when her husband dies unexpectedly. This leaves her in charge but finds the hotel is in danger of doing under. It’s losing money but she’s doesn’t know what is going on. Her niece came back to work but is killed so now she is determined to find out what exactly is going on. All that she knows is that she needs to find out who is behind all of this.

I have known of the Friends and Fiction writer’s group since the early days of the pandemic but never took the opportunity to read a Mary Kay Andrews novel until now.

3++ rounded up to 4 stars.
Containing generations worth of memories and secrets, The St. Cecelia resort is a jewel of the Georgia coast. The grandeur rises above the dunes while heroes and villains roam the hallways and the grounds in this creative summer beachy mystery. The demarcation of the saints vs the ain’ts or the haves vs the have nots is clouded by the players whose behavior and agendas blur the line. Summer fun turns deadly, resulting in the search for current crimes and long buried truths.
One thing that does not surprise me is the publishing date, which kicks off the summer reading season with a blockbuster name and a cover sure to be seen poolside and beachside in the months ahead. Kathleen McInerney returns to narrate MKA’s latest and does an excellent job bringing to life a vast and diverse cast of characters.

Shake up Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club with The Nest, pour over ice and garnish with some Flamingo Kid movie vibes … cheers!

Thanks to Net Galley and Macmillan Audio for the early copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to @macmillan.audio for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Wow! There is a lot going on in this book. There is a young boy that drowns even though he knew how to swim, there’s an accidental murder, an attempted murder, rape, a fire, drinks laced with Rohypnol, and a widow that is running her late husband’s family’s hotel.
I was intrigued by the description of this book because it was based in a fancy hotel on an island in Georgia. I have been wanting to go to Sea Island Georgia for a while, so this piqued my interest. Also, I enjoyed White Lotus on HBO and they all have a hotel setting, I was looking for more of that kind of storyline.
The things I enjoyed about the book: One of the young girls that worked there as a teen, is now running the hotel. I liked the back story of the workers and that The Saint had dorms for their workers since it was an expensive area. The storyline of the workers stealing money from the hotel in various ways. Lastly, I really enjoyed the friendship between all the women.
What I didn’t care for: the romance felt a little added on and didn’t really go with the rest of the book.
If anyone is looking a beach read with several murder mysteries and a large cast of characters, you will enjoy this!

I was looking forward to reading this as I've enjoyed Mary Kay's previous books. Sadly, this was not as good. The setting was lovely - who wouldn't enjoy a beachside resort with all the trimmings? - but there was so much going on and far too many characters for it to be a good read.

3.5 stars. I think I am in the minority on this one so definitely check out some other reviews if this one is on your radar. The last few books I've read by Andrews have been fiiiiiiiiine, but they just seem to be lacking a little something to make them solid recommendations from me. I loved the exclusive resort setting of this one as well as the mystery backdrop. But......there are sooooooooo many characters, and this book is simply way too long for the draw of the plot. I also think that for as much as Andrews tries to be current and forward thinking in her views, she throws in occasional outdated stereotypes and comments that make me cringe. I wouldn't tell someone to skip this one, but it wouldn't be the first book I'd pick up this summer.

I loved the narrator of this book. This was also a great mystery. MKA always knows how to write a a good book.

Great story! a bit of friendship, family drama, romance, mystery. A great beach read. I loved the characters. My only slight negative is that it felt a bit long but overall a great novel from MKA! Great narration too and really enjoyed the author/narrator interview at the end

Well, Mary Kay Andrews has done it again!
Summers At The Saint is definitely a HIT!!
In her usual style, she reels you in, and before you even know it you are cheering for all the players!!

Traci Eddings had a novel life! She was happy. She was in love! And then, she was a widow…
You see, she met her husband when she was just a teenager, working at the biggest and best hotel in town, The Saint (or St. Cecelia’s). They fell in love…and stayed in love…to the surprise of his whole family. 😮
But they were not happy about it, as his family OWNED The Saint…and Traci was from the wrong side of town…

The story goes back and forth between NOW, and all that Traci is facing alone, as she now runs the hotel. Normal problems like staffing and things that can go wrong… but it seems like there is just so much going on…and something is ALWAYS going wrong…

And then we go back to the days when Traci was just a kid, working there with her best friend Shannon… all the antics they did. The fun they had…until that one day with the little boy…

As we go on we certainly feel the small town vibe, as well as the influence this one family has on the entire town!

Traci is working hard to bring the hotel back to its former days of glory…but is having a rough time of it…and then tragedy hits home…and her entire world is rocked and spinning out of control…

As some unlikely helpers join her to try to get to the bottom of it, the story unravels…and, if you are like me, you will be GLUED to the book and hanging on every word!

Oh…and there a Daschund!! Lola! (I have two at home…both rescues! And, one is currently asleep on my legs! )
She made me LOL when she said it was a rescue…a mix…half Daschund and half Velcro!! Sooo true!!! ❤️🐾❤️🐾

4 1/2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 for me, rounded up to 5!

#SummersAtTheSaint by #MaryKayAndrews and narrated beautifully by #KathleenMcInerney.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for an ARC of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. It is due for release in just a few days on 5/7/24!

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A different direction than the normal MKA books I have read and was totally drawn into the story from the first pages. Traci a widow from the wrong side of the tracks now runs the family owned luxury resort known as the Saint. Slowly getting on with her life after the sudden death of her beloved husband and recouping from the COVID shutdown has its own set of challenges. Trying to open up for another season has caused Traci scrambling in different directions, staffing shortages, finding a new Chef and the list goes on. Coming up with the idea of offering a sign up bonus plus free on site housing has gotten her the results she hoped for. Things seem to be going well, but when her niece who works there goes missing and guests are complaining about everything……something is wrong, but what?
A well developed story that has suspense, old mystery and new mystery to be solved. Family secrets, who dunnit and why? I listened to part of the story as a audiobook, but preferred reading. Only because I could keep all the characters straight. It definitely was a book I enjoyed reading and just couldn’t put down. Thank you NetGalley for this eARC. I am voluntarily posting an honest review after reading an Advance Reader Copy of this story. #NetGalley #SummersAtTheSaint #MaryKayAndrews

Let me start by saying WOW!

It has been a while since I've read a Mary Kay Andrews book, and I was totally surprised by this one (in a good way).

Going into this book I figured it would be a cute summer romance kind of book and was I ever in for a surprise.

This book has a lot of different things going on in it, secrets, murders, summer along with lots of twist and turns that I never saw coming. At certain points I was like, oh, the book is over and yet there was more and more and more.

I truly enjoyed this book, and it definitely deserves a 5-star rating!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this and give an honest opinion.

This was my first book by this author & overall, I did really enjoy this one!! I will say though, something about the authors writing seems juvenile to me?? I can’t quite explain it. Also, I kinda felt like Whelan & Traci’s relationship was kinda random… I like them together but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was strange. I loved the setting of the story, it definitely got me in the summer vacation mood. I also really enjoyed the mystery aspect as well, it was very entertaining.

The Saint resort is a dream of your classic southern beach town or is it? The Eddings are Saint royalty but with their own dark secrets. There is murder, mystery, money, romance, and family drama in the great summer beach read. A nod to many a famous southern resort town.

4/5 stars

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy!

SYNOPSIS -- The St. Cecelia, aka "the Saint," is known to have two groups of people: The "Saints" and the "ain'ts." Traci Eddings was an "ain't," desperate to get her feet in the door since she was a young child and delightfully shocked to nail herself the boss's son as a teenager. Unfortunately, Traci finds herself now-widowed and running the Saint alone, with only her dying father-in-law and disparaging brother-in-law by her side. Deep in the throes of keeping the hotel afloat, tragedy strikes, bringing with it secrets from a long-ago drowning and a whole slew of despair. Traci, armed with her supportive staff and an unlikely ally, works to keep her job, her family and her home safe, while also picking up the pieces of her very broken heart.

This was my first read by Mary Kay Andrews, and after hearing a ton of hype for THE HOMEWRECKERS last year, I was eager to pick this up. I was not disappointed! Though I think this book was a little bit too long, it had me hooked the entire time! I love a story with rich people behaving badly, and that was exactly this, plus some perspectives of "the help," which gave us an even fuller picture of the chaos at The Saint. This book is described as a beach read, and, while it is that, it's also so much more! There was a depth here that I wasn't expecting, and I was pleasantly surprised to find myself deeply invested in the characters' wellbeing. The mystery was a good one and I was SHOCKED -- like jaw-on-the-floor-shocked -- at some of the twists and turns. With complex and creative interwoven characters and a whole world of drama, this was such a fun read!

Summers at the Saint

What a fun, twisty beach read! I enjoyed this escape to the Saint for a season. There were some twists I saw coming but others that surprised me. I loved the variety of characters and how everything came together at the end. Some of the motives felt a bit overdramatized, but that's part of the joy of beachy reads.

I really enjoyed the audio narration. Even with the variety of POVs, it was relatively easy to follow who was who. I listened at 2-2.5X and followed along quite easily.

Thank you to Macmillian audio and St. Martins Press for the ALC/ARC. Summers at the Saint is on shelves May 7, 2024. My opinions are my own.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the new book by the queen, Mary Kay Andrews, and perfectly narrated by another favorite, Kathleen McInerney. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. 5 summery stars!

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 an "ain't" who worked at The Saint with her best friend, Shannon, one fateful summer. As fate would have it, she met and married the boss's son, only to lose him in a plane crash. Now the owner of the hotel, she's determined to restore it to its glory days, even with post-pandemic financial issues and staff problems. Her brother-in-law, Rick, is determined to see that she fails.

Summer can officially begin now that Mary Kay Andrews has a new beach read! This one has heart and humor, plus a mystery with plenty of twists, along with wonderful descriptions of locale and food. Traci was a great character; determined to do things the way her husband would have wanted, always being respectful of his family even when they were anything but. There's a coming-of-age factor here too, with young people anxious to set their own paths, despite what their parents may think they should do. I had both the audio and digital versions, but mostly listened to it because McInerney's narration is always perfection. A must read for the summer.

This was an amazing story and so well written! It’s a perfect vacation read, or anytime really I mean it’s Mary Kay Andrews! She is a one click author for me!!

I did enjoy the mystery, it kept me on the edge of my seat. There were many twists and turns, kept me guessing for sure!

Whether you feel like you're a Saint or an Ain't, this book takes you into a cozy summer mystery with just a touch of romance. The cast of characters provides you with plenty of people to like (and not like!), a small mystery and a large one, and hints of summertime romance. There were twists I didn't anticipate, with a few that I did, and more than one mouth-watering menu description.

To be honest though, when I started listening to this audiobook, I wasn't sure I would make it through. By the introduction of the sixth character in what I interpreted as a narrator role, I felt like it was going to be a bit much, whether I was reading with my ears or eyes. However, the author then started to pull it all together into one ongoing story, and I did come to appreciate the background story that had been given on each of the characters individually to set up their stage as they entered the story. It turned out to be an enjoyable read, but that rocky start impacted my overall rating of the book.

3.5 stars

This book wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. I have read some of her other books and the summary made me think I was going to be reading a rom-com or cozy beach read, but that wasn’t what I just read. I mean I enjoyed this book, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. This was more of a murder mystery/dark beach read. It also was not a quick read. This book was way longer than it needed to be. It kind of dragged on a bit too much for me.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I finished this book a few days ago and have waited to get my thoughts together before leaving feedback. I liked the beginning and end of this book but did not care for the middle. I wasn't looking for a murder mystery; I thought this would be a light, beachy read like the rest of her books. I also did not care for the fat shaming and the LGBTQIA shaming or that it was used to blackmail someone. Do better.

MKA has written another fun, atmospheric summer mystery with twists I didn't see coming! She made me feel like I was vacationing at The Saint. There are many characters to keep up with but the storytelling flows so smoothly that it was easy to keep up. Loved it!