You always know you’ll get lovely characters and multiple plot lines with MKA. I was a bit surprised that the inciting incident for one of the plotlines came pretty late in the book— 30%+ — but other than feeling slightly annoyed that I was waiting for the other shoe to drop for so long didn’t mind it being so far in. Made the stakes slightly higher for the reader.

I love a good us vs them story so the Saints vs aints was amusing though it seemed to be more in the past than the present that anyone cared aside from the security booth. Haha

I enjoyed the characters quite a bit as I usually do with her books and always want more of them.

If you’re a fan of her books already worth picking up though I personally have other favorites.

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC of this book.

Thank you for letting me read this fun, multi-generational summer story. I adore every book about summer rom coms and love to watch a come back, feel food story. This was one of the authors better stories, and I hope she continues with this fun but mature style.

Summer is here. I always enjoy starting the warm weather season with a beach read by Mary Kay Andrews. Very enjoyable, but a little long.

Summer doesn’t really start until you’re in the sun with the newest Mary Kay Andrews book! This (more than a) beach read had a little bit of everything: romance, family drama, and mystery. It left me rooting for a few main characters, and hoping some truly awful ones got what they deserved! A couple times I thought I had this one figured out… close, but there’s always another twist around the corner!

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the complimentary digital review copy of this title.

Solid 4.5⭐️!!! Mary Kay Andrew’s has outdone herself with Summers at the Saint! Just when I thought I had the plot figured out there was a twist! The storyline kept me hooked the entire time. I love how MKA can combine a little mystery with what you think will be a simple beach read. Would definitely recommend this book to anyone and highly recommend it as a beachside read! Thank you NetGalley, Mary Kay Andrew’s, and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC copy!

Oh wow, did 'Summers at the Saint' have me pining for the start of summer. While this may not be my favorite Mary Kay Andrew's book, it is right up there. She has a way as an author of creating a cozy mystery with lovable characters that will just capture your heart and attention.

I have read Mary Kay Andrews books for many years, but I have to say that this is one of my favorite books of hers in a while! I consider her books my summer “beach reads” usually, but this book brought so much more! Set on an island named Saint Cecelia, this novel gives you beach vibes, murder, mystery, and romance. The author does an excellent job of tying everything together with all these elements to this story and also remains true to the the “type” of novel one expects to read when picking up a book by this author. This will definitely be on my recommendation list for others as good summer reads! #SummersattheSaint #NetGalley

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Summers at The Saint
By: Mary Kay Andrews
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub Date: 5/7/24

This was so good! Everytime I’d think I had it figured out something would change.
On this island you're either a saint or an ain’t. You're either uber wealthy or dirt poor. Traci Eddings grew up an ain’t but married a saint, the son of the owner of the St. Cecelia, a resort off the coast of Georgia. When Traci’s husband is tragically killed in a plane crash it’s up to her to keep the place going. Only she has no idea that there are some employees taking advantage of her and the business. Serving well alcohol instead of the top shelf their customers are paying for, buying cheaper crappy mattresses serving the worst catches of seafood possible to name a few. Cutting corners all over just to make a bigger chunk of the profits. When Traci’s niece, Parrish tragically overdoses at an after party, her roommates start trying to figure out how she died. Things are going to get way more messy before anyone gets answers. This was hands down my favorite Mary Kay Andrews book so far.

"And why would a couple of girls decide to play detective?" Shapley asked. "Talk about stupid. And dangerous. The two of you nearly got yourselves killed."

I thought I was getting cute summer beach vibes, but instead I got Hotel Nantucket turned murder mystery... and I loved that. The setting up the story part in the beginning started out slow because we really did need to get everyone's backstory in order for the story to progress the way it did, but once it got going, it never slowed down. Overall the moral of the story is, men SUCK and so do some women.

Whenever an inheritance is in question, I am always intrigued. Especially when it involves people who are willing to do anything, even murder, for the money. About halfway through a romance blooms between two unlikely characters, and that was my fav part.

There's also a lot more at stakes than just the inheritance and the murder.... do yourself a favor, and read this!!

I love a good summer rom-com & this one did not disappoint …. I loved it from start to finish !
#marykayandrews #netgalley #stmartinspress #summeroffun

This is a fun summer/beachy read. I've liked other books by this author too. This plot line is a mystery but still lots about working at the resort which I enjoyed. I liked all of the characters that end up working at the Saint, they are a bit of a unique bunch! I loved what Traci, the main character, was doing to help the Saint despite others trying to make her life difficult. There is also a bit of flashbacks that were well done and not confusing. This book will be out in May 2024. Add this to your summer TBR

Welcome to St. Cecilia's in Georgia, a resort known to the locals as the Saint. If you belonged to the club you were a Saint, if you were from town you were an ain't. Traci Eddings was an ain't but now she was running the place after her husband was killed. There are staff shortages and in order to attract some new help she builds a dorm so they have a place to live and a sign-on bonus. She also encourages her niece to postpone a summer in Europe to work in public relations. There are some weird things going on and two of the girls try to get to the bottom of it. I liked all the main characters, Traci, Livvy, Felice and Whelan. A couple others I wished I knew more about like how did Ric get so mean and why was KJ such a screw up. Things really got interesting when someone was found dead and then the dorm caught on fire. I so wish I could have had a beach while I read this. It is just the perfect beach/vacation read. Probably couldn't afford the Saint but it sounded delightful. At over 400 pages it never felt long and just flowed to the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital copy.

Summers at the Saint is a fabulous summer read that belongs in your beach bag. It has a bit of everything: romance, murder mystery, suspense, drama and comedy. I loved meeting the staff at the Saint and getting to know them for a summer. The depth and development of the characters is what kept me flipping the pages as I stayed up way too late finishing the story. I feel like they could actually be people I know, not just characters in a book. Highly recommend this book!

"Summers at the Saint" by Mary Kay Andrews invites readers on a delightful escape to the sunny shores of Florida's Gulf Coast. With her trademark charm and wit, Andrews crafts a story brimming with colorful characters, coastal charm, and tantalizing secrets. Set against the backdrop of a historic beachfront hotel, this novel is a perfect blend of romance, mystery, and summer escapism. Andrews' vivid descriptions and engaging storytelling whisk readers away on a captivating journey filled with sun-soaked days, starlit nights, and the timeless allure of the seaside. "Summers at the Saint" is a must-read for anyone craving a dose of sunshine and seaside adventure.

When I think of Mary Kay Andrews, my mind immediately goes to beach reads. I have read several books by her, and they all have the potential to be such books. So, when I read the blurb of Summers at the Saint, I thought that it was a given that this book (being set in a hotel, in the summer, and on the beach) would be one of those books. Well, color me surprised because I was wrong. Summers at the Saint isn’t a beach book. Instead, I got a fast-paced mystery that kept me glued to the book.

The main storyline of Summers at the Saint centers around the hotel, Traci Eddings, two murders (one from the mid-90s and one in the present), and drama with Traci’s in-laws. Numerous secondary storylines feed into and flesh out the main storyline.

I do want to warn you that this book has several POVs. I don’t like more than two because I feel that switching back and forth can get bogged down. But in this case, it worked. Backgrounds were explained (or alluded to), and storylines were given more depth.

I liked Traci, but she was so busy with everything happening at the hotel and in her personal life that she missed some blatant things happening in and around the hotel. Stuff that was so blatant and so obvious that these people were waving a red flag in front of her, and she didn’t see it. Not that I blamed her because she was dealing with so much.

Other characters in the book get a lot of page time, but if I went through them all, this review would be huge. Each character added depth and background to the primary (and secondary) storylines.

The mystery angle of Summers at the Saint was terrific. The big mystery (the murder) was very twisty and very turny. The author had me in knots trying to figure out who the killer was, and I was shocked by who it was. I was also surprised at the reason why. The death of a small boy nineteen years earlier was also a significant part of the storyline. That mystery led to one of the saddest scenes I have read and gave some much-needed background on why Traci and Shannon stopped being friends.

The end of Summers at the Saint was a feel-good ending. I liked that the author gave all the major players HEAs, and justice was dealt to the bad guys. I liked seeing everyone a year in the future and happy!!

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Mary Kay Andrews for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Summers at the Saint. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

Thank you to Netgalley for the E-Arc. Im not even gonna lie I had to make a list because there were so many characters but as I kept reading I realized how integrated each character was to making the story. I enjoyed the cozy mystery aspect of the story even if some stuff was predictable but there were still some twist that I did not see coming.

I did not expect this book to be so deeply entrenched in mystery, secrets and intrigue. While I guessed certain aspects of the plot twists, I was still surprised by a few of the outcomes. I liked how this story was rooted in the class warfare of a town, where the wealthy vacation at the Saint each summer and the poor are relegated to work at the high-end resort. There were plenty of endearing and quirky characters from the neurotic hotel guests, to the new hires, and the family members who own the resort.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it! I'm not a big mystery reader, but I devoured this multi-POV mystery. Thank you to the author, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-arc.

Disappointed to say I did not like Summers at the Saint. So much of the language and dialogue felt very dated and as if the author was trying too hard.

What a surprise! I had no idea that this book, set at a luxury resort on the Georgia coast, would involve not just one mystery, but two (you could even argue that there are three). The unexpected twists gave this glossy beach read a bit of grit, which was refreshing and also kept the pages turning.

However, I found portions of the dialog unrealistic considering the age of the characters and the modern setting. Many of the resort staff members are in their early 20s but talk as if they’re from a different decade, which pulled me out of the reading experience a few times.

I also felt that this book would have benefited from a couple content warnings, specifically where the main mysteries are concerned. There are difficult topics discussed, which some may find triggering and I encourage readers to look these up in advance.

For me, this novel was at its best when it highlighted the happenings at the St. Cecelia, including the uppity guests and greedy in-laws. I also really enjoyed the FMC, Traci, and her determination to make the resort shine. If you enjoy books that feature an upstairs/downstairs vibe, with a dash of mystery and romance, then I think you'll enjoy your stay at the Saint!

This was a really good book full of romance, friends, deceit, and suspense all set around the beautiful Saint Cecilia resort in Georgia.  I liked that I was pulled into the story immediately by the prologue that introduced Trace and Shannon and how they had been friends since they were little girls.  It also introduced one of the first scandals at the Saint and led into Trace and Shannon being all grown up and no longer best friends.  The scandals only grew after Trace's husband died and she had taken over The Saint, while still grieving for Hoke Eddings.
It was interesting to learn the residents of Bonaventure, Georgia were either Saints, who were wealthy or Ain'ts who were the townies or workers at The Saint.   However, Trace grew up as an Ain't and married a Saint and became one of them.  After Hoke died she ran The Saint.
I enjoyed the characters, the romance and all of the riveting suspense as the story unfolded.  I could not put the book down.  I received an advance copy of this book and I willingly chose to write an honest review.