Rating 4.8

I absolutely love Mary Kay Andrews. She is my absolute favorite author and when I saw her newest book on the "Read Now" shelf on NetGalley, I had to scoop it up. She never disappoints and has a way to had a little mystery to a lovely southern story filled with great characters. They are always quick reads and I almost never know what to expect except - Love it! This was one of my absolute favorites and was ideal Southern Charm!

Traci Eddings' life was flipped upside-down when her husband passed away unexpectantly and she is thrown into fully managing the family's wonderful oasis hotel / complex / resort / island / institution, St. Cecelia ("The Saint"). Throughout the story, she is focused on navigating the waters of her in-laws, their family business practices and other local resorts that can afford to steal away all of her talent all while dealing with the past from when she use to work their too. In an attempt to get the help she needs, she recruits her niece, Parrish, a new Chef, her former best friends daughter, and a few other kids, to live in a newly formed dorm on the property.

But everything is not what it seems when it comes to The Saint, the kids, the company, and the family. When a mysterious guest shows up asking questions about the past and a previous drowning, old emotions come to the surface for Traci. On top of that, her Brother-in-law is scheming and her niece is murdered on the property during a moment of celebration. Life doesn't move slow out at The Saint and there is so much happening.

There is so much more happening in this story and I feel like if I tried to summarize it you'd be lost and confused but I swear Andrews has a way to draw me in and make me feel like I connect with her characters and her story. I love that there's always something going on. With lots of characters in the beginning, I could see how some would find this a little tricky but it smooths out and the characters become distinguishable as the story continues. While the Topics covered include some trigger warnings (drugs, SA, family issues, etc.), Andrews kept this PG-13 and you could easily recommend this to your Grandma!

Thanks to NetGalley and Mary Kay Andrews, in collaboration with St. Martin's Press, for providing me with a copy so that I could provide an honest review prior to the publish date (despite my inability to publish this review prior to release)!

I got this book without reading anything about it and let me tell you that was a great idea. I went in blind and loved every moment. It wasn’t what I expected from the start but kept me engaged and I enjoyed every bit of this. It’s contemporary, tourist season small town with all of the drama and tension you never thought would be under the surface.

I really enjoyed Summers at the Saint! It is the perfect book for a summer vacation read. Thanks for the opportunity to read it.

Summers at the Saint is full of drama, secrets, romance, and mystery. The book is filled with a big cast of characters and takes place on a beautiful resort in Georgia called "The Saint."

I'm not sure I would consider this a light summer beach read as it is a bit long and tends to drag on at times, but it does give off summer beach vibes. I do have to say that the cutesy and carefree summer beach cover does not go with the murder mystery that the book is all about. So, if you are looking for that summer romance, then this isn't the book for you. However, if you are looking for a dark and twisty summer beach read, then pick this book up and enjoy!

What an absolute delight! This is the iconic summer book read for me! It has a beach vibe, classic summertime charm, a love story or two, along with a bit of a mystery and scandal vibe. MKA has outdone herself with this one and I increasingly love her writing the more I read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this fun read!

I like the book I like all of Andrews books but it was darker and heavier than I've come to expect from her. I also wish Parrish didn't die I think that's what made it too heavy like she could have been in a coma for a bit or something and there still would have been a crime and a mystery to solve. Then she could have woken up and had a new family relationship with Olivia. But that's not how it went and it was still good the way it did go. I just expected more levity. Especially considering the cover design.

An interesting southern summer romance/mystery. However I was really put off by the plotting storyline of the in-the-closet rich kid and was frustrated with the author's choice of dialogue. It felt extremely outdated, offensive, and unnecessary in a way that simply did not move the plot forward.

An excellent summer read, especially if you're looking for a vacation romance! Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.

I really do enjoy Mary Kay Andrew’s books! I look forward to reading a book by her every summer and this book was a great summer read! Mystery, a little bit of romance, friendship, and great fun characters. This was a fun and easy read to escape into.

At the beginning there were quite a few different character POVs which threw me for a just a moment, but Mary Kay does a fabulous job tying everything together with all the different point of views and weaves a great story. I was able to guess where the story was going and who the culprit behind the mystery but that did not take away from my journey through the story and Mary Kay did surprise me with a twist I did not see coming.

I do enjoy Mary Kay’s books and do recommend Summers at the Saint for anyone looking for a fun summer or beach read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mary Kay Andrew’s, and her publisher for this book in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

This is a fast and easy read. I was expecting a fun beach read with a little love and a splash of conflict. What I got was a murder mystery, new adult romance novel? There are a lot of characters and I felt like I didn’t know what I was supposed to be reading, a mystery or a love story. I honestly would have preferred just a mystery, the love story felt a little forced.

I was being pulled in so many directions that I could never fully get into the story. I loved the setting though and I did like the main character, Traci, and that there were a range of characters.

A fun summer beach read! I was excited to get this as an ARC. An entertaining storyline and cast of characters!

A story about when a resort, family, and friendships with deep-rooted histories and secrets come together. This book was a great mix between a cozy, beach read and mysterious plot with suspenseful twists. There was a slow build to the excitement of the last bit of the book. Before reading, I would check the content warnings.

I love Mary Kay Andrews and I think this was her best one yet. I always love how she has a mystery and a bit of romance in every book and I was totally drawn in on all sides.

Do you love beach reads and also the TV show White Lotus? If you said yes to both then you're in for a treat with this book. While this book has everything you want in a beach read - somewhere on the beach at a luxe resort, it has an added layer of intrigue with a murder mystery. This is the perfect book to read beach or poolside this summer and it will have you hooked early on which, for me, is something I look for in my summer reads. The descriptions in this book truly transport you to The Saint for the summer. Highly recommend! Thanks Net Galley for sending me this book!

I was so happily surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. Reading the synopsis was hmm, the haves vs the have-nots and not one of my favorite subjects. But wrapped up in a twisty, hateful family dynamic, this story was well plotted and very interesting. Mary Kay Andrews nails the stereotypes, which are tightly and truly drawn. While it might have been easy to see where this story was going the getting there was well thought out. The book held my attention and I ripped through it. Rounding up because it was just that good.

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

Traci is doing what she can to keep the Saint alive according to the wishes of her late husband, Hoke. In an effort to get the staff needed to have a great summer, members of the staff at the Saint are thrust into a mysterious death and events that just don't seem to add up.

There were a lot of characters in this novel! I'm glad I read it, because I think I would have had a hard time keeping track of everyone. There were some storylines that I was interested in at the start (everything that was going on with Traci) and then I kind of lost interest and just wanted to know more about our Livvy and Felice were going to solve the murder. I still wish they were the main POVs of the story. The back story helped fill in some pieces, but I needed to suspend a lot of belief for this plot.

I was expecting a light beach read, I did not expect a murder.
I was expecting a light beach read, I did not expect a murder.

Mary Kay Andrews is the queen of the beach read, but this isn’t your average beach book! Full of mystery and intrigue, dark family secrets, and a web of characters that will keep you guessing until the very last pages. A classic tale of what happens when the haves scrape elbows with the have-nots in a cozy coastal hideaway. Summers at the Saint has everything you need to escape between the pages of a fabulous read on your next vacation! Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my gifted ARC!

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy!

Mary Kay Andrews never disappoints. Great beach read!

Summers at the Saint was a fun suspenseful beach read. Full of murders, explosions, and criminal activity. All set at a marvelous sounding hotel (which I honestly want to visit!) I loved the storyline and it kept Me reading.
However, it was full of language. This was the first book I had read by Andrew's and was shocked at the language. If that doesn't bother you, you will 100% love the story!