SUMMERS AT THE SAINT
Mary Kay Andrews

This is your sign from the universe telling you that just because a popular author is liked by many doesn’t mean they are going to be liked by you. The only difference between your and Tiffany’s reading experience is you.

Don’t let Tiffany pick the books you read.

SUMMERS AT THE SAINT is about a resort, Traci, the owner of the resort, and it’s about a class structure (the SAINTS and the AINTS), you either are or you ain’t,

Traci must have a great summer season to save herself and her hotel. She has a reputation to uphold and a sneaky family member to keep on her watchlist. To complicate things, she just hired her ex-besties daughter which is its own box of trouble.

Will she save herself? Will she save the resort?

I was stuck on a 10-hour flight in a tight seat and chose this to listen to.

That was a mistake but not my first one. It felt torturous listening to the audiobook and the combination of being confined to a sitting position while listening felt like it would never end. If I had died on the flight and SUMMERS AT THE SAINT was the last book, I ever read my elders would assuredly roll over in their graves.

My first mistake was not reading the synopsis or checking out any other books by Andrews before requesting this one. I wanted an escape, something set on hot summery days, maybe an even hotter summer fling, anything but this.

Thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copies!

SUMMERS AT THE SAINT…⭐⭐

Mary Kay Andrews can do no wrong! A summer is not complete without one of her books and this one was another winner!

A ritzy resort, a murder, and family drama...what more could you want? This one was absolutely amazing! Fun, but with a touch of suspense and mystery! I will be recommending this one non-stop to people to add to their summer reading list!

Looking for a great summer read? Look no further than Mary Kay Andrews' latest romantic mystery set on a private island off the Georgia coast at the exclusive Saint Cecelia beach resort and country club. Run by Traci Eddings, the widow of the family's youngest son, the resort faces challenges as the busy season approaches. To address staffing issues, Traci converts an old garage into a dorm for employees and persuades her niece Parrish to postpone her European trip to manage guest relations. When a staff member is found dead, Parrish's dorm mates investigate, risking their own safety. Meanwhile, Traci navigates a potential new romance. Despite some predictable elements, Andrews delivers a fun, light, and entertaining read with a surprising twist and realistic dialogue.

Thought this was suppose to be a romance, but it’s more like a mystery. I liked it though. Very light and easy read. Kept me entertained and did not expect who the bad guys were!

Summers at the Saint follows Traci Eddings the manager at the St. Cecilia or "The Saint" resort. Traci assembles a staff, including her beloved niece to be the summer employees at the Saint.

First, I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. I didn't really know what to expect going in and the twists and turns in the book kept me glued to the pages. Reader beware, it certainly isn't just a funny rom-com like the cover art would lead you to believe. It ends up being more of a mystery novel after one of the staff members goes missing!

Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it for summer reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to @netgalley and publishers for an arc of Summers At The Saint.
Loved this book which makes me want to go to a Tybee Island in Georgia!

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

• beach murder mystery
• big cast of characters
• great setting

This book took me WAY too long to read for some reason. On audio, it's about 14 and a half hours. So, in saying that, it kind of dragged for me. The narration was great and very engaging. The story isn't an easy-breezy summer read - there is some heaviness to it.

🗣 Thank you to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to read and review this book via both gifted eARC and audiobook! All opinions are honest and my own.

Something is going wrong at The Saint resort; Traci Eddings has been tirelessly running the resort that she inherited after her husband passed away but she seems to just be barely making it. This summer she is doing everything she can to make things work; she has brought in help and offered new incentives like an employee dorm so the employees can live on the property. But things begin to get even worse when her niece is murdered on the property; not only is Traci Determined to find out what happened but two of her new employees, Livy and Felice who lived in the dorm with her, begin to look into things as well. To top things off an investigator is snooping around trying to figure out what happened 20 years ago to his little brother who drowned at the pool while staying at The Saint.

This was a good read; it started off slow but I enjoyed it. Thank you Netgalley, the publisher and author for my ARC !

She’s back! After missing a Summer without MKA, we are back. This was just what I expected (and wanted from her). The mystery, light romance and lovely setting. Her books are ones I look forward to every year and this is not a disappointment.

If you need a beach read to kick off summer 2024, look no further! Summers at the Saint was so much fun and everything I look for in a captivating beach read!

I’m not new to MKA but haven’t read her books in a while and this was such a great reminder as to why I need to. I loved how she combined mystery, family dynamics and drama, and even romance into this seasonal contemporary fiction. Her writing transports you right to the setting. I felt as if I were right there alongside these characters as we learned about their roles at the iconic Saint Hotel. The behind the scenes aspect of running a hotel, while learning about the people who work there made for a fun element. If you enjoyed The Hotel Nantucket, by Elin Hilderbrand, then I think you’ll enjoy this as well.

I was completely invested in these characters. While I did feel that the book was slightly too long, I did appreciate the descriptive writing, character arcs, and how everything tied together by the end. So many juicy secrets were revealed. I will definitely be recommending this as a must read perfect for a summer escape!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and St Martins Press for my #gifted ARC!
4.5 stars rounded up on Goodreads

Summers at the Saint by Mary Kay Andrews has me ready for summer. I felt like I was on the coast while reading this book and will definitely be reading it again this summer under an umbrella.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Mary Kay Andrew’s is a summer romance queen. She cannot write a bad book! I absolutely adored everything about this book!

Summer begins when the new Mary Kay Andrews book come out! Summers at the Saint is filled with family dysfunction, mystery and just a little romance. Following the Eddings family and their ownership of the St. Cecelia, a 5 star hotel that defines the "saints" from the "ain'ts" in a coastal town with a long history of intriguing heirs and townies. I miss the humor that some of her books contains but it didn't disappoint and I'm anticipating the next one!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced reader copy of Summer’s at the Saint!
Mary Kay Andrews does it again with a summery mystery read! Traci Eddings has gone from an ‘ain’t’ to a ‘saint’ when it comes to the St. Cecelia hotel. She started working there as a teen and quickly fell in love and married the owners son… now after his tragic death, she is trying to save the iconic hotel. We get to follow a cast of vibrant, vastly different characters as they band together (or so we think) to save the hotel everyone loves while trying to solve a few mysteries.

This book is perfect for anyone wanting to read a mystery with several twists and lots of drama!

As soon as I saw it was by Mary Kay Andrews I had to grab this book. I have found she will always provide a good story. Of course I was not disappointed.

Description:
Welcome to the St. Cecelia, a landmark hotel on the coast of Georgia, where traditions run deep and scandals run even deeper. . . .

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 one of those outsiders whose family wasn’t rich enough or connected enough to vacation here. But she could work here. One fateful summer she did, and married the boss’s son. Now, she’s the widowed owner of the hotel, determined to see it return to its glory days, even as staff shortages and financial troubles threaten to ruin it. Plus, her greedy and unscrupulous brother-in-law wants to make sure she fails. Enlisting a motley crew of recently hired summer help—including the daughter of her estranged best friend—Traci has one summer season to turn it around. But new information about a long-ago drowning at the hotel threatens to come to light, and the tragic death of one of their own brings Traci to the brink of despair.

Traci Eddings has her back against the pink-painted wall of this beloved institution. And it will take all the wits and guts she has to see wrongs put to right, to see guilty parties put in their place, and maybe even to find a new romance along the way. Told with Mary Kay Andrew’s warmth, humor, knack for twists, and eye for delicious detail about human nature, Summers at the Saint is a beach read with depth and heart.

My Thoughts:
Traci Eddings is one strong woman. Faced with huge burdens after her husband died she shouldered it all. Hidden agendas were at work though, and she had no idea. She's an admirable character with a strong work ethic and sense of responsibility to do the right thing no matter what the situation. Traci's niece, Parrish was a good character too. This is a murder mystery with a few good twists. It kept me guessing. Whelan was a treat as a second-chance love interest as well as a great investigator and protector.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press through Netgalley for an advance copy.

I absolutely love it when a book takes unexpected twists and turns, leaving me pleasantly surprised with its storyline. One such book for me is "Summers at The Saint." In this novel, Widow Traci Eddings manages the luxurious hotel, The St. Cecelia, affectionately called "The Saint." Guests who can afford to stay there are considered Saints by the locals, while the rest are humorously labeled as Ain'ts. Traci herself understands the feeling of being an Ain't all too well. However, one summer brings forth fateful events that alter her life's course completely. The author, Mary Kay Andrews, masterfully weaves a tale filled with intricate surprises and secrets, keeping readers hooked until the very end. The story combines long-held mysteries with current dilemmas, creating a compelling narrative. The diverse characters with their unique motivations and alliances add another layer of depth to the narrative, ensuring a captivating read. If you're seeking a novel with stunning settings, well-developed characters, a gripping plot, and a fresh twist on the classic whodunit, "Summers at The Saint" is a must-read.

A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advance copy of this engaging book.

This might be my favorite by Andrews - I’m still letting it all settle… This book was really way more than I bargained for. I thought we were going to get mostly interactions between the “Saints” (St Cecelia guests) and the “Ain’t” (staff or those not wealthy enough to vacation there). This was really more of a backstage story - mostly focused on the staff and management of the hotel. I wasn’t expecting quite so much of the drama we got, but it certainly moved the story forward. The characters were interesting, although I wished for a bit more development and back story from some, especially the eventual “bad guys”. I think this was a book that was good in its own right - I just felt like I would have done the story differently. It would make a great beach or poolside read this summer. 3.5 stars.

Review will be posted on 5/23/24

Traci has inherited the St. Cecilia Resort from her late husband and she hopes to pull it out of bankruptcy. As a child, she has always looked at this resort from afar and dreamed of all the luxury. Now she is in charge, but things aren't easy. Her late husband's family is fighting for control of the hotel, not to mention there's a new resort in town is giving the Saint some competition. Then things go from worse to even worse when there is a murder that occurs at the hotel. Traci desperately tries to do damage control along with all the other workers at the Saint, including the landscaper, who is a former private investigator. This occurrence sheds light on another terrible event that happened at the Saint years before involving a drowning. If you enjoy your beach reads with a side of mystery and murder, Mary Kay Andrews has got you covered with Summers at the Saint.

Poor Traci has a lot going on in Summers at the Saint. Running a luxurious hotel isn't easy and add in new workers, her late husband's family breathing down her neck, bankruptcy and now a murder.... a disaster, really. But things aren't all doom and gloom at the Saint. The beautiful setting of coastal Georgia was done well as well as all the details of a glamorous resort. It reminded me of Hilderbrand's The Hotel Nantucket in that it takes you behind the scenes of a summer resort, but to be honest, it didn't hit the spot like that novel.

I thought Summers at the Saint was just ok as far as beach reads go and not my favorite from Andrews. It was quite long as far as beach reads go and I thought the dialogue was a bit too hokey for me. Additionally, the murder and its aftermath were taken too lightly. The romance was barely present and instead, the mystery took center stage. On the other hand, Andrews did a good job really examining how a small beach town's townies interact with the visitors who come for the summer, and how the politics of all that plays out, especially at a five-star resort. So, if you like your beach reads with a strong mystery, but one that won't keep you up at night, Summers at the Saint is a good fit. But, if you are like me and want a little more depth and quite honestly are getting tired of Andrews's formulaic mystery beach reads with cringy dialogue, you might want to pick up another novel instead.

So, are you a fan of Mary Kay Andrews? Is Summers at the Saint on your summer TBR list? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Mary Kay Andrews is one of my auto-buy authors because I know I can always count on her to deliver one heck of a story and she does exactly that with her latest, Summers at the Saint!

I love a good underdog story so I was immediately engrossed in this story as soon as I met the main character Traci Eddings. Traci is a widow who inherited the St. Cecilia Resort when her husband passed away. Faced with numerous obstacles, including another resort stealing away her most experienced employees, and a despicable brother-in-law who would love nothing more than to see the resort go under, Traci is determined to return the Saint to its glory days and honor her late husband’s memory.

Traci is such a fantastic character and in many ways, this story is about her personal journey as she is finding her path forward after the loss of her husband. She’s smart, brave, and tough, and I admired her resilience in the face of mounting obstacles, including a mysterious death and the emergence of some long-buried secrets about a tragic drowning from years ago. I also loved the summer crew she hires to replace those who left her. They may not be the most experienced resort workers out there, but a few loyal diamonds in the rough emerge and they pull together as a team and make things happen.

Mary Kay Andrews is a gifted storyteller and Summers at the Saint is one of those wonderful books that has a little something for everyone. There’s drama, mystery, suspense, a compelling personal journey, and even a hint of romance. I devoured the book in a couple of sittings and was just thoroughly entertained every step of the way.

Summers at the Saint is out now so be sure to pick up a copy. You won’t regret it!

Love, love, love! Mary Kay Andrews kills it with Summers at the Saint. The summer read to beat the heat. A fantastic plot with a struggling coastal hotel, an interesting cast of characters, and a murder to solve. The perfect elixir to entertain poolside.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance copy.