Summers At The Saint is a wonderful, drama filled, mystery. The novel revolves around the historic St Cecelia hotel and the family that has owned and operated the destination for decades. Those who vacation here are Saints, everyone else is an Ain’t. When the hotel falls into disrepair, a former Ain’t is tasked with the responsibility to bring the St Cecelia back to her former glory.

This book has it all - a love story, corruption, a murder investigation (or 2), and family drama. It is filled with wonderfully quirky characters and juicy drama. I loved it! This is a perfect summer read and I’ll be recommending it to library patrons and friends alike!

📖: Summer At The Saint
✍️: Mary Kay Andrews
🎙: Kathleen McInerney
⭐️: 4 of 5
🎧: 5 of 5


Tropes & Themes:
- Multiple POVs

Trigger/Content Warnings:
- Language
- Mention of drug use
- Sexual assault

My Thoughts:
Another great cozy mystery, perfect for summer beach reading! Like every other novel by the great Mary Kay Andrews, this was such a fun time. I loved everything about this resort and getting to know all the "aints" that made their way to making it home for the summer. There were a few unexpected twists that made this an exciting and page turning read. The narration was also great and made for a fun listening experience. I am always looking for the next great read from MKA, and this one did not disappoint.
Thank you, NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and MacMillan Audio for the opportunity to read, listen, and review this advanced copy.

I love the paths this book took. It delighted me by going in directions I didn’t expect. A fun summer listen. Great narrator that captivate my attention.

My first book by this author. It was a fun read with multiple characters. How it all linked together was interesting and kept me on my toes.

This book is a great beach read with soap opera-like drama, a murder mystery and some laughs along the way. The author does an excellent job of developing each of the characters. Some you will love, and some you will despise!
The setting was at a fancy 5 star resort owned by a very wealthy influential family.
I found it very entertaining and it had a great ending!

The St. Cecelia resort on an island off the coast of Georgia is a destination for the rich. Called the Saint for short, the giant pink resort has been around for decades. When a few long time employees leave to work at a new resort up the coast, CEO Traci Eddings decides that providing free onsite housing could help recruitment. But when one of the residents staying in the new dorm ends up murdered, her roommates try to find the killer.

I had a hunch right off the bat that I would not LOVE this. The story is told by nearly a dozen point of views. I was leery- especially since I was listening to the audiobook. It ended up not being that hard to keep track of who's POV it was, so at least listening to the audiobook didn't make that worse. However, I feel when you have so many POVs, it kind of waters down the book. You don't get to know the characters as deeply. Does that make sense?

Other than the POVs, I found the story pretty predictable. It is an enjoyable beach read, but if you are wanting a real mystery or a romance, there isn't a whole lot of either in this book.

All of my ramblings do not mean that I did not enjoy this- I did. I just wasn't obsessed.

Kathleen McInerney narrates the audiobook and does a great job, as always.

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I might be a little biased because I just love Mary Kay Andrews. I’ve never read a book that I haven’t loved by her.
Summers at the Saint was wonderful. I loved all the different society backgrounds coming together in love and friendship.
This book had it all
Mystery✔️
Love✔️
Heartache✔️
Murder✔️
Friendship✔️

Plus it had Kathleen McInerney as the narrator, which is in my top 5 favorite narrators!

I just love a great beachy mystery and Mary Kay always delivers a great story. Summers at the Saint might be my new favorite.

Four stars

Traci's journey is one of resilience and determination as she navigates the complexities of running the hotel while confronting personal and professional obstacles.
Summers at the Saint is a captivating tale of love, loss, and redemption that will leave readers eagerly turning the pages until the end. Andrews masterfully blends elements of mystery, romance, and drama.

Thank you, Macmillan Audio, for the ARC copy.

2.5 rounded up. This felt to me like a knockoff Elin Hilderbrand. The premise and the setting are both intriguing, but ultimately there is too much going on and it feels a bit confused. I'm not sure the stakes of a murder mystery totally work within the context - it felt so bizarre for Tracy to be going undercover to test the quality of the grouper fingers moments after her niece was killed. I also felt like the villain was way too cartoonish and that took away some of the satisfaction from what is actually a pretty good reveal. I still had a nice time listening to this, it's very fast-paced and I found some of the relationships really sweet.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the audio ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

2.75 ⭐️ rounded up

I’ll start by saying that I have never read Mary Kay Andrews before which I’m thankful as I can be assured that my opinions are not affected by past works as I understand that this book is a bit different from her others. I was seriously considering DNFing this book at 70% finished and went to the reviews to help propel me to finish it.
I’m glad I did as while this book is way too long for how it had been marketed as a beach read (it’s not at all), the last third was the most enjoyable part.

For the audio narration of it, I did not enjoy it at all. It did get better or maybe I just got used to it but the beginning with the overly juvenile voice effect used was awful. It took me out of the book as was grating. The book has so many characters to keep track of that the poor narration made that even harder so I frequently got disconnected hence having such a hard time with it.

Looking past that (and getting used to it) the over arching feeling I had consuming this title was that it didn’t know what it wanted to be. Now I knew it was going to be a mystery since it literally has “murder” in the description so I wasn’t taken by surprise like some other reviewers but it is coded as Women’s Fiction and Romance which is why I think so many are perplexed especially with the cover art giving the impression of a light hearted beach read.
While it is a murder mystery for sure, it is still really fluffy and not very deep. It’s almost comical at times but I expect that’s the narrators impact. So I guess “a summer escape” still fits but it’s definitely a niche within that as many that seek out beach reads, aren’t expecting what this book is. Then throw in the drug use and of course the ever popular current story line of placing fentanyl into everything and you have a book that people aren’t expecting.

On top of the marketing issues, the book gets more convoluted than it needs to be. The direction of the book seems rudderless at times. Also the romance just falls flat. I definitely would not put this in the romance genre category which the book is placed. Ok I’ll stop as I can’t say much more without spoilers.


For the good… if you’re a fan of the authors other works but looking for something with a bit more grit, this may be the perfect book for you. It definitely is full of common tropes so I’m sure it’ll be a great match for someone!!

But read the book yourself and skip the audio book if you have the choice.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read againr

While I thought this would be a beach read, it turned out to be a murder mystery. While the summary mentions two deaths, this book was not marketed as such. But at the same time, this book was so much more than a murder mystery. Throw in family drama, trauma, and a bit of romance and you have Summers at the Saint. Unlike your typical murder mystery, this book takes place at a luxury resort with tons of characters involved. I didn't find myself solely focused on trying to figure out the murderer but got interested in the character development and their individual lives as well.

I always enjoy a Mary Kay Andrews book, but they are a bit like watching a soap opera. They are always fun, and always over the top and a little unrealistic. This book was no expectation, but it was still fun! "Summers at the Saint" is a perfect book for summer reading. It takes place at an exclusive 5 star resort and follows the lives of the owner, the family business, and a variety of employees- several of whom are up to no good. This was enjoyable and a quick read.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book!

I tried posting the review on Goodreads through Netgalley, but it said the ISBN wasn't found. I posted the review directly on GR and shared my link.

“Summers at the Saint” is set at a 5-star family-run resort. It is filled with family drama, decades-long unsolved mysteries, staff problems, and high-maintenance guests. As a current hotelier and former lifeguard, I found the book captivating from the start.

It's an easy and enjoyable read with elements of murder mystery and some light romance (no spice). Definitely add it to your summer to-be-read list.

I listened to the audiobook version and enjoyed the narrator. Although many characters are introduced at the beginning, the story starts to flow better after a few chapters. I felt that the book was a bit longer than necessary, but I was able to get through it quickly.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely adored this audiobook! The narrator was brilliant and it kept me hooked from the very first chapter!

Great read! The cover makes you think of an easy beach read but it is more than just that! Great storyline with mystery to make you want to keep reading with a few surprises! You can figure out some of the mystery but not all of it!

This was my first MKA book and boy it did not disappoint. I was expecting a summer beach romance but it was definitely more of a murder mystery. I loved all of the twists. I really had no idea how it was going to wrap up. All of the characters were enjoyable and it has great pacing. I will certainly be reading more MKA books.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and netgalley for the opportunity to read an ALC.

There are so many twists in this story. The narrator did such a great job. You have to really be paying attention, because the story does back to the past and also goes through most of the characters background and how they end up at the Saint. I will definitely be recommending this to all my friends and family. Thank you to the Author for letting me listen to this story. I really did enjoy it.

Whoa! That was an unexpected ride!
I was expecting a typical contemporary Romance. This book is far from it!
I was shocked. over and over. Nothing about this story is predictable.
The mystery element of this story tied in with family drama made it impossible to put this book down. Each character is introduced, given a complete backstory and entwined later with the others. This allowed you to invest in each character, understand them and you know why they are who they are. I loved the character development. I am sad it ended and would love to hear more from them.
I enjoyed the Audiobook version. The narrator was a perfect choice to bring these vastly different characters to life.
I can’t wait to read more from Mary Kay Andrews.

Cute little summer read sure to be popular. I did not however care for the narrator because of pauses throughout the book.

3.5 ⭐️’s
Andrew’s book are always entertaining. The Saint was no different except it just wasn’t believable. There were too many things happening at the resort for no one to notice them. Still an engaging read and listen, just lacked plausibility. So put your blinders on and just enjoy the ride. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for an ARC and ALC of this book.