Thank you so much to NetGalley for my advanced copy of The High Tide Club. I have always enjoyed Mary Kay Andrews books but this one came at a great time. Somehow whenever I pick her books up I think that they will be a fast, fun, beach read. But then I am reminded that while her books are all of these things there are always more depth to them. The High Tide Club is a great read for anyone looking for a great story with some intrigue and low country charm. This is definitely one to pick up for the summer.

This book was not what I was expecting from MKA but I was NOT disappointed! It reminded me of The Westing Game mixed with a typical MKA beach read, and I found myself not able to put it down until I was finished. I thought all the characters were very well written--I loved Josephine even though everyone thought she was selfish. I also enjoyed how all of the women developed their own friendships outside of the fact that they all had a relative close with Josephine. That fact may have brought them together, but the adventure they went on after that bonded them in a new way.

This book goes between the past and the present, and the way the story unfolds a little at a time makes it a page turner that you won't put down until hours have gone by. Another best seller for sure!

I received an advance copy--all thoughts are my own.

I've read all of Mary Kay Andrews' books, and this one isn't like any of her previous beach reads. It's a darker story an old woman, Josephine, who had a group of childhood friends that drifted apart over the years. Now that she's very old, she hires a lawyer names Brooke to find them or their descendants and get them to the remote South Carolina island where she lives. I ultimately enjoyed this book, but there were racist parts that disturbed me, and it wasn't the easy reading I've come to expect from Andrews.

I do recommend it because her storytelling is so good and her characters are so well-drawn, Know that the book might not be what you've come to expect but that you'll enjoy it.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Andrews weaves a generational tale of four friends and their offspring. Over the course of the novel, you feel like the characters become your friends and learn about how friendships evolve over generations - sometimes resulting in bitter disappointment and other times finding friends where you least expect to. She does not sugarcoat friendship and even throws elements of romance and mystery in the plot. Mary Kay Andrews is a must-read summer beach read!

The High Tide Club is an elevated beach read. It has all of the salty, sandy, skinny dippy moments that I crave in a beach read. It also contains enough twists and turns to keep you guessing throughout the book. There is romance and drama, which are paramount to a good beach read. Little bits of wry humor mixed in. What I didnt expect was commentary on racism and sexual abuse. A beach read with more!

I am a huge fan of Mary Kay Andrews's books. I love the fun light hearted approach she depicts situations. I really enjoy reading books set in the Savannah to Charleston region aswell.
This book however, was different than the other Mary Kay Andrews books. She seemed to pull from some of her books written under her real name Kathy Hogan Trocheck, of which I have tried to get into these series and unfortunately they were not my style.
Therefore this particular book was not one of my favorites. It is a great book and it is an easy read, but the subject matter was a little too dark for me.

The High Tide Club is Women's Fiction mixed with mystery. This was my first book by this author.

The main character is Brooke Trappnell (34 years old). She is a lawyer who lives in St. Ann's Georgia.

The book is about 99 year old Josephine Bettendorf Warrick who lives on Talisa Island in Georgia. Josephine is very old and about to die. She wants to hire Brooke to 1)protect her island and 2)make amends with the heirs of her closest friends from the past (Millie, Ruth and Varina).

In addition to Brooke's chapters in the present we also get glimpses of the past (some chapters are set in the early 1940s).

This book was not really what I was expecting. The book focuses on female friendship, secrets and an unsolved murder. I really enjoyed all of those aspects of the story. Plus I really liked the island where Josephine lived. And the characters on that island were very interesting.

The cover doesn't really accurately depict what this book is about IMO. This is not a beach read. And romance is not really the focus. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy books like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The High Tide Club weaves history with Women's Fiction and mystery. It was a very entertaining read.

Josephine Bettendorf Warrick, eccentric millionaire mistress of Talisa, is dying of cancer and wants to make ammends to her best friends. She hires an attorney to find them, and shocking secrets are revealed. Josephine dies before the will can be witnessed and people start coming out of the woodwork trying to claim they are Josephine's nearest living relative.
As all of her books are, this book was lots of fun. There were so many secrets and variations on the truth out there that I didn't want to put it down until I uncovered every last one. This will make a great beach read!

This book had it all! I thought from the title it would be a fluffy romantic beach read. Boy was I surprised. It had murders, mystery, friendships new and old, romances new and old, and lots of secrets.

The characters were fascinating. I could actually feel the pain for both Varina growing up a young black girl in the 30’s and 40’s who is now in her 90’s as she tried to explain to her great niece a young black professional of the new millennium of a different time.

Oh, and how are he secrets changed lives. And, how lives were mended from these same secrets.

I wish I could tell you I loved this book, but I didn't, and so I'll do my best to explain why.

The story is told in two timelines that seem to compete more than to complement each other. All four women from 'The High Tide Club' have narrating parts in the past timeline, and their stories meander, providing so much extraneous detail that it distracts from the present. The present timeline is told mostly from Brooke's perspective, and also gets caught up in the tendency to wander outside the point of it all. The result is a story that lacks cohesion and focus.

We have a whole lot of characters, but none of them are particularly well developed or likable. Many feel like stereotypes, and all behave in stereotypical ways.

By the time we get to the twists and all is unveiled, I wasn't the least bit surprised. We spend so much time in the past, with so much detail provided, that it's like having neon signs point the way. It's all there if we pay the slightest bit of attention.

The content should have been powerful enough to move me to tears, yet I didn't feel any emotion at all. Part of this, I think, is explained by the lack of character development. The characters seem devoid of reaction and emotion, and so, as a reader, it's impossible to feel more deeply than the characters themselves.

Overall, the story has the feel of a daytime soap opera. In fact, the characters themselves even make that comparison a few times. The major difference is that daytime soaps are all about drama and emotion, while this story has the drama without the emotional investment.

Ms Andrews tells a tale of deception and lies amid a multigenerational story of friendship. It's a great story with well developed characters, interesting setting, and so many twists and turns. I loved it! Enthusiastically recommend!

I had such high hopes for this book - Mary Kay Andrews is one of my favorite authors and I don't think I've ever rated one of her books less than 4 stars... until today.

I hate to be that person that says things like "get back in your box" or "stay in your lane," I do, but Ms. Andrews? Honey? Get back in your box please. You write the best Southern chick lit out there. Your humor, your sense of style and quirkiness... I haven't ever read one of your books that didn't make me want to immediately go buy a new hat and hit up some thrift shops while my (very slight) southern accent deepens into a drawl...until today.

Please don't misunderstand - this is not a bad book. It's a perfectly adequate book with a decent story and ok characters that absolutely deserves at least 3 stars. What it is not is a Mary Kay Andrews novel. Where is the signature humor? Where's the fun? Where is the heart?

And for the record, I hate these kinds of reviews. I know authors need to be able to stretch and explore other genres. It must be difficult to be pigeon-holed into one type of book. I'll keep reading Ms Andrews' books, of course. I just hope that the next one blends a bit more of her signature style into the mystery.

Had mixed reviews on this one. Wasn't how i was expecting it from the description. There were good and bad parts but one the whole this really just wasn't a book for me

A fun read with plenty of surprises, interesting characters, and a well developed plot.Have you ever wanted your own island? Do you enjoy women's empowerment? Find out how the past influenced the future and how Brooke became one woman's means of atonement.

Let me start by saying that Mary Kay Andrews is one of my favorite authors and she did not disappoint with this novel. This novel engaged and entertained me with it’s strong characters and well paced plot. It had a bit of mystery too, which I love. Well done Ms. Andrews!

Thanks to the publisher, St. Martin's Press, via NetGalley, for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

From the cover, the first thing you think of is a summer beach read. I didn't find it to be that but felt it was a novel that could be read anytime, anywhere. The story line was just okay for me. It's about a fictional island off the coast of Georgia owned by a 99-year-old wealthy woman who is dying and she wants to leave the island to the descendants of her three best friends. She hires an attorney to take care of this for her but details are complicated. The attorney has many problems of her own plus conflicts of interest in dealing with this case.

The novel switches between the present and the 1940's and that may be why the first half moved very slowly for me. By the time the pace picked up, I wasn't very interested in the plot or the long list of characters. the subjects included female relationships, tremendous wealth, deception, murder, and some twists and turns.

The title of the novel is from the young females in the 1940's going skinny-dipping in the moonlight when it was high tide. I enjoyed the island setting since I've spent time on the barrier islands of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. I didn't enjoy any of the characters since they weren't well-developed. Sadly, only 2 Stars.

I hate to say it, but this is not a usual Mary Kay Andrews book and I could not get into this one. I was disappointed last year's book was a cookbook and had been eagerly anticipating this one as I'm a huge MKA fan. I missed her typical style. This was not for me, but I will definitely be excited to see what she puts out next!

I could not tear through the pages of this book fast enough! I always love Mary Kay Andrews writing, but this book takes the cake. I will not insist you read a long, drawn out synopsis of the book, but what I will tell you is this-I am in the most stressful part of my school year, where so much time is spent preparing and cataloguing, and grading-and I could not wait to come home to read this book. That is the true testament to a good book! The drama surrounding a long ago death, and then the ensuing story that ties the characters together is one that readers will thoroughly enjoy. I really cannot say enough about how I enjoyed this book. I would highly recommend you read this book!

I swear for every 50 pages I read of this book, it seemed like 75 were added. It seemed to go on forever, and I felt that was unnecessary. It was a murder mystery and a multi-generation story of friendships, secrets and lies. But not as well done as others I’ve read and found that I ended up not caring about any of the characters...in fact, the 34 yo protagonist, I wanted to strangle most of the time. While I’m willing to overlook some implausibility, there were just too many coincidences here. I might be in the minority here, but it just wasn’t that engaging to me.

I’ve read almost every book by Ms. Andrews and really enjoyed Savannah Blues, Hissy Fit, among others. This story is a little darker and heavier than her other books.

The story is based on close friends in the 1940s and then the present day. The changing time periods not only helped move the story forward, it kept me reading to find out what would happen next.

Friendships and family are the highlights of the story, which also included secrets, racism, criminal acts, and plenty of twists and turns. This was an evenly paced story, and it even felt like a lazy Low Country day. I lived several years in Beaufort and Charleston, SC and visited Savannah numerous times and am very familiar with the heat, humidity, the ‘no see ums’, etc. I could easily visualize the various locations described.

Every character has some kind of issue – Brooke, who ran out on her wedding, is unmarried, has a child, is struggling to build a law practice and has relationship issues. Her parents divorced but her mother helps with her son. Brooke meets wealthy, eccentric Josephine, who wants her to find her long lost friends so she can make amends, but it takes a bit before pieces of her story come out. Varina, the black younger friend of Josephine, who lived through a terrible event and her niece Felicity. Brooke looks for Ruth, who has passed away but found her granddaughter, Lizzie in CA. She looks for Millie, who has also passed away. There are so many connections and characters, it’s a little difficult to keep up with everyone.

As Josephine share more details and wants to save her home and island, Brooke calls her former boss to help with certain aspects of Josephine’s requests. Since Josephine is terminally ill, I kept hoping she would share more each time she spoke. There are so many decisions made by numerous people in the story that affect so many others.

This is a long book and moves slowly at times but was such a joy to see Brooke and others form a deep friendship and care for each other. The pace speeds up towards the end with various issues coming to a head, and unexpected plot twists.

There is certainly plenty of sadness, loss, and mystery in the story but friendships developed and family are the most important.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this early work.