3.5 stars rounded up to 4.*

I'm a MKA fan and was excited to see this one come up on NetGalley.

Summers at the Saint is classic MKA - romance, mystery, a few good twists and a sunny locale.

It is the story of Traci and Shannon, best friends that grew up in a summer resort town on the wrong side of the tracks. Those with the means spent their summers at the Saint Cecelia Beach Club & Resort (The Saint). Traci and Shannon find themselves working as lifeguards at the Saint the summer they turned 19. When a young boy drowns on their watch, both of their lives are turned upside down. Traci winds up married to the heir to the resort and Shannon is fired, pregnant and alone. The women become estranged.

20 years later, Traci is a widow running the financially troubled resort and she hires Shannon's daughter along with a crop of young promising staff whom will live in new staff housing that Traci builds in an effort to attract good help.

A series of awful things happen and Traci & Shannon are forced back together to face the past as well as try to figure out what is at the bottom of the troubles.

I really liked this one. A terrific summer beach read!

*with thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for this honest review.

This book had a little bit of everything - romance, mystery, friendships, and family secrets! It was a fun, easy read and would be the perfect book to take to the beach with you. I was worried that there were going to be way too many characters, but the author did a great job of moving from one POV to another. It was not overwhelming and was interesting to see how all of their storylines overlapped. It was also evident this book was well-researched, and I loved the behind-the-scenes look the author gave us of all the things that go into managing a hotel. My only wish was that the epilogue was just a little bit longer because I wasn't ready for Traci's story to be finished. Overall, I highly recommend this book and gave it five stars on Goodreads!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion!

I enjoyed reading Summers at the Saint by Mary Kay Andrews. You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

I listened to this one on audio and it was very binge worthy. In true MKA fashion there were twists and turns but it was the depth of those twists and turns that kept me hooked to this story right until the very end. If you’re looking for well developed characters, beach side atmosphere, friendships through the hard times and a hint of romance here is an awesome beachfront or pool side read.

Do not let this book cover fool you! What I first expected as a relaxing beach read, this novel is not that. Mary Kay Andrew's latest story has a little bit of everything in it - romance, workplace scandal, and murder mystery. While I found this story enjoyable, I would warn readers that there are a number of characters to keep track of and a TON of plot. I will say, Mary Kay Andrews knows how to throw a twist into her stories!

This was fantastic!! I have read a few others of Andrew’s but this one tops those. I was fascinated by this dysfunctional family and old money resort. Traci was such a wonderful character and I felt all of her pain and joy. Her happy ending was my favorite. I also loved the multiple view points as the story was set. I’ve already got a few more of her books on hold from the library.

Mary Kay Andrews delivers a charming summer read once again.

I have read her for years and this book is just as fantastic as the others. You can tell she is a veteran writer by the way she builds the worlds around her characters and makes you want to root for them in the beginning.

This author will make you want to run to your closest beach and put up shop as long as possible!

Summers at the Saint has a little bit of everything going on. It’s got major family drama, a few scandals, a ton of secrets, a mystery, and a little romance. The setting is a fancy resort run by a family that doesn’t quite see eye to eye and Traci, the CEO, is trying to keep it afloat and hopes that her new summer hires will be just what the resort revitalization needs.

Out of all the MKA books I’ve read this is by far the longest but it read really quick because of the storyline being face paced.

Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I love Mary Kay Andrews's books and this one is no different.

Traci Eddings was an outsider whose family wasn’t rich enough or connected enough to vacation at the The Saint. But she worked here.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. Her unscrupulous brother-in-law wants to make sure she fails. So she hires some interesting summer help, Traci has one summer season to turn it around. But new information about a long-ago drowning at the hotel threatens them, and the tragic death of one of their own brings Traci to the brink of despair. Traci has to find a way to deal with all of the challenges and win the day. Loved this book!

I absolutely loved Summers at the Saint by Mary Kay Andrews! Many interesting characters, family drama, and mysteries. It was hard to put down because of all the twists and turns that happened throughout the book! I kept trying to figure out what was going to happen next, but never succeeded! I highly recommend reading Summers at the Saint! You will not be disappointed!

Mary Kay Andrew’s Summers at The Saint is a fun and captivating cozy mystery. There is a lot going on in this book with several story threads and a large cast of great characters. There is something for every reader in this story; in addition to the mystery, there is light romance and some big family drama. If that isn’t enough, there is dreamy setting of an upscale resort on a coastal island.

The story starts with the building of the summer staff, and that allows for the introduction of many of characters and their motivations for taking a job at The Saint. Traci Eddings, who inherited the hotel when her husband passed away, has a lot on her plate running the resort, and to make matters worse, she is dealing with ungracious in-laws, curious guest complaints and a lot of red ink on her ledgers. The tension builds as more and more minor mysteries are threaded into the story. There are long unsolved mysteries, day-to-day drama, and plenty of lies and deception. In her usual panache, Ms. Andrews weaves together the various threads to a surprising story zenith and culmination.

Summer at The Saints is the perfect vacation read, and the audio book narration is fabulous.

This one surprised me. I didn’t read what it was about before I started listening. I thought it was going to be a romance, beach read and I was wrong. It’s more of a mystery. I listened to it pretty quickly, at 2.75x. It was the only way I could get through it. This narrator is just not for me. I think going forward I will actually read her novels.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an electronic advanced readers copy of this novel.

St. Cecelia, or as people know it, the Saint is a high end resort on the coast of Georgia. Traci Eddings grew up in the shadow of the Saint, as "an Ain't", someone from the wrong side of the tracks. A chance meeting with the son of the owners turned into a strong marriage, which ended when Hoke passed away in a plane crash.

Determined to keep the Saint going, Traci decides to build a dorm where summer workers can stay, just like where she and her former best friend Shannon used to live when they worked there. Tragedy strikes and she is left to pick up the pieces and find out what's really going on at the hotel.

Summers at the Saint by Mary Kay Andrews is a well-written and entertaining novel. Fans of her work won't be disappointed, and it was nice to get engrossed in the world of the Saint.

Summer at the Saint is, in my opinion, rates at the top of Mary Kay Andrews’ excellent and prolific catalog. This family melodrama takes place on an exclusive Georgia barrier island where the Eddings family began an exclusive resort, The Saint Cecelia, in the early 1900s. Today, the holding company is run by eldest son Ric, while the resort is run by Traci, widow of second son Hoke.

The story juxtaposes the issues with the resort with the growth of the holding company. As Traci works diligently to make the resort a success, she pursues staffing a flailing resort as she bucks her brother-in-law and father-in-law to prove she is capable of carrying on her husband’s legacy.

As the story follows a darker strand there is a murder, attempted murders, arson, and betrayal which sets forth a mystery that will lead the reader on an adventurous trek. With well developed characters, an exotic setting, and a mystery that is difficult to untwine, Ms. Andrews has penned a wonderful story that will thrill her readers. I very much enjoyed this book and I absolutely do recommend this book!

This would be such a fun beach read!
Summers at the Saint had a great plot that was paced really well. I kept wanting to know what was going to happen at the hotel next. The characters were so likable, except the ones that suck,
I felt like the romance aspect of this came out of left field, but altering finishing I think it added a level of suspense to the book that played into the twists. If you're anything like me, you're trying to figure out who did it before the end of the book and this kept me guessing.
The twists were a lil predictable and it felt a little anticlimactic, but overall l'd recommend this book for a fun easy read!

Summers at the Saint is an excellent summer read from one of my favorite authors.

Traci and her best friend Shannon were lifeguards at the ‘Saint’ – St. Cecilia’s - a high end resort hotel where guests and members from the wealthy families spend their summers. After a disturbing event, Shannon is fired and the girls go their separate ways.

Fast forward and we find Traci in charge at the hotel, after she married the owner’s son, Hoke. When he died in a tragic accident, she took over running the hotel. Now, post the pandemic, she is struggling to keep the hotel in business. She can’t get staff, profits are down, but she is determined to keep her husband’s family’s legacy afloat.

As the summer season is about to start, she converts an old building into staff housing, and hires a group of young people as staff. She persuades her niece to spend the summer working in guest relations (much to the annoyance of Ric, the girl’s father and the brother of Hoke), and appears set for a last ditch season of making the resort work. When Ric and Hoke’s father passes away, the future of the resort is in question.

Told from the point of view of the new staff members, Traci, Shannon and several others, we follow lots of twists and turns as one of the family is found dead, and someone is clearly trying to ensure that the resort fails. Several people are trying to discover who is behind the murder, and behind the shady goings on.

This was full of excellent characters, lots of underhand behaviors, and family drama. A mishmash of a family saga, a murder mystery and a light romance, this book really works! I was riveted from the start, and finished the book in a single sitting. Being at a beach sipping a cocktail while I read this, certainly didn’t hurt!

Looking forward to more excellent reads from Miss Andrews.

I went into this book expecting a romance. Instead, Summers at the Saint felt like a mystery with some romance sprinkled in and I found myself a bit frustrated with the amount of darker storylines this included.

I enjoyed the setting at a beautiful hotel in a resort town and the premise that the hotel was struggling for some not-clear-until-the-end reasons. The deaths, murders, attempted murders, and unexpected family connections was too much to digest. I absolutely believe that romance should tackle tough issues that go beyond a love story, but I think the marketing on this book was off.

Summers At The Saint is now my third book by Mary Kay Andrews, with this being my first non-Christmas and non-novella book from her.

Let me set the scene of this story: Dirty Dancing, but more Johnny Castle and less Baby Houseman; the curtain has been lifted up, allowing all the nitty gritty day to day of the resort and its staff to be on view. (And with a cover and title to perfectly represent this!)

Although there are a lot of characters at the Saint, they are brought into the story in a way that lets you get to know and understand them all before the curtain is peeled back too far. I enjoyed that Traci Eddings had history within the resort community, really aiding proper representation of her age. And although there were a lot of younger characters within this story, none of them acted immaturely, nor were any acting advanced of their ages either. I’m clearly a big fan of the character development within this book!

I love Kathleen McInerney's narration of Andrews's books, and this is again proven to be true! Her voice is honey with its soothing tone, amping up only when truly needed. The voices she used fit so well with the various characters’ descriptions!

With romance, mystery and family drama - this is one beach read that has ample depth!

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for the complimentary copies to read and review.

Summers at the Saint, by Mary Kay Andrews, is a gossipy, salacious summery read with lots of drama and a major mystery component. It reads very much like an Elin Hilderbrand novel with it’s drama, drinking, drugs, secrets, romance, cheating, friendship, mischief and mystery. There is a lot going on in this novel so hang on tight and pay attention, but it will definitely keep the reader engaged.

Our story takes place on an island off the Georgia coast at a family-owned resort called the Saint. Traci is the general manager and has married into the family, but loves the resort like it’s her own. When her husband is killed in a tragic accident, he makes sure that Traci is able to maintain the management of the exclusive resort. She is desperately trying to revitalize the business, but things are happening behind the scenes to undermine her success. Additionally, Traci has to contend with the outright hostility of her brother-in-law who is trying to pull the business out from under her. To make matters worse, while she’s trying to save the family legacy, her beloved niece is killed under suspicious circumstances and no one seems able to solve the crime.

Summers at the Saint is an entertaining, suspenseful story. Don’t be fooled, this is not your typical light-hearted, beach read. There are quite a few heavier topics and issues interwoven into the plot and a lot of difficult characters to contend with. Though some plot points felt a bit unbelievable, I enjoyed the story with all it’s complexities, and found it to be an intriguing plot. Summers at the Saint is a great choice for a quick-reading, scandalous, drama-driven novel you can take pool-side or use to heat up your day regardless of the season.

Summers at the Saint was a fun and captivating read that involved mystery, murder, deceit, a little bit of romance and the running of an exclusive high-end luxury hotel located on a small islanded called St. Cecelia. This posh and expensive summer resort is called The Saint, it is owned and run by the Eddings’s family – they cater to the wealthy.

Traci Eddings came from a humble background and as a teenager worked alongside best friend Shannon. It is at The Saints that Traci meets her soon to be husband and son of The Saints owner but is it after tragedy occurred at resort, Traci and Shannon’s friendship dissolved.

Twenty years have now passed and with the patriarch of the family in end stages of Parkinson’s, now widowed Traci runs the resort and brother-in-law Ric runs the estate business. The current summer is looking to be a challenge. Traci is losing key staff, having difficultly recruiting staff, while still making a profit. In an attempt to try some new ideas, she convinces her niece to change her summer plans, recruits Shannon’s daughter and converts the old barn into dorm. Between staff issues, sub-quality food and furnishings, missing inventory things are not going as planned and now a murder on the resort grounds plus the danger of Traci’s father-in-law passing, leaves the ownership in question.

On the whole some of the who-dunnite was obvious yet Mary Kay Andrews managed to get in a few twists and turns I did not see coming. The characters are well developed, the story was fast paced that held my interest especially the last 20 percent of the book.