This was my first book by Mary Kay Andrews and I can honestly say that I’m officially a fan. This book had me on my toes constantly trying to figure out what was going to happen next! I struggled in the beginning to keep up with all the characters, but you adjust quickly. I felt heartbroken, happy, irritated, and anxious throughout the entire book. This author truly knows how to make her words come to life. I highly suggest!

Summers at the Saint is a captivating, cute, cozy mystery with a bit of romance snuck in. Mary Kay Andrews is one of those authors that never disappoints, I know I can pick up a pick by Andrews and enjoy it.

Summers at the Saint takes place at a fancy resort on the seaside in Georgia. Traci and Shannon were lifeguards at the fancy resort where there were the Saints (rich families) and the Aints (families that couldn't afford to stay at the Saint. Traci and Shannon were both Aints, until Traci marries the son of the resort owner. Then we flash to the present and Traci is widowed and mourning. her husband who has died in an accident. At the same time she is trying to get the resort back into a better financial situation while there is drama with her terrible, evil brother in law.

Enter a few more characters, plus family drama, then a murder. In my opinion, there were a few too many characters for the plot. Traci and Livvy are very rich characters, but I feel like more could have been done with Parrish and Whelan. Also, a little more chemistry in the love interest was needed.

Overall, I"m giving this a 4 out of 5.

Summers at the Saint by Mary Kay Andrews is the not light, cute summer beach read you may be expecting based on the cover. Inside the pages you'll find murder, mystery, conspiracies, and a FMC you can't help but root for. Tracy has been running The Saint; a swanky, five star island resort, since her late husband died in a freak plane crash. In a town known for being a Saint or an Aint, Tracy was once from the other wise of the town, working as a lifeguard for The Saint when she met her future husband. Struggling with staffing shortages since the pandemic shut down the world, Tracy decides to build an on-property dorm style building for staff and creatively recruits new people to staff The Saint for the summer. Only Tracy doesn't get the easy, profitable summer she hoped.

With so many different characters to keep track of, I expected to get lost mid-way through but I didn't. Andrews crafted a page turning mystery filled with family drama, conspiracies, and broken friendships, oh and add a dose of romance to the mix. I really liked the story but I had two minor critiques. I was frustrated with the pressuring of Tracy towards the end of the book with her love interest. In modern times where enthusiastic consent is a must, I felt it toed a line I didn't love and didn't feel fit the character. I also thought some aspects of the mystery were a little heavy handed; for example, when discussing how someone may have found our about a secret it was suggested "Oh when that person cleaned out the house maybe they found the NDA" and sure enough two chapters later, it was said verbatim.

Over a compelling read that I enjoyed. Thank you SMP for the gifted ARC.

Summers at the Saint by Mary Kay Andrews. So much more than a summer “beach” read. There are murders, past and present, family drama, arson, kickbacks, twist and turns, a quintessential grumpy entitled customer, Mr McBee, and so much more. Well written and relateable "Saints" and "Ain'ts", you either love them or not. Traci and Whelan are well matched couple and are deserving of their second chance at love. Very entertaining and engrossing read.

Thank you to May Kay Andrews, St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

I enjoyed this one even though it was a little overwhelming with the first few chapters starting from different character's points of view. Once all of the characters were introduced, it wasn't too difficult to follow the story. The story itself was intriguing with a mystery and lots of twists and turns along the way. This isn't your typical beach read, but it was still good.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy, and I give my review freely

This was my first Mary Kay Andrews book and I absolutely LOVED it! I can’t believe I’ve never read anything by her before and look forward to reading all of her books now! It’s the perfect summer beach read. I loved the setting and felt like I was on the coast at The Saint. There were a lot of characters but it wasn’t hard to keep track of them all because they were all so interesting. There was romance and mystery and overall such a great book!!!! Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I highly recommend it!!!

Five stars as the perfect beach read for 2024. It has a fun beach setting, a diverse cast of characters, a mystery, a romance and easy to read. Mary Kay Andrews did it again!

Another Mary Kay Andrews hit! While I enjoy "chick lit," I want a little more than just a "Hallmark story" where you know exactly what comes next and how the book will end. This book fit the bill of what I look for in a summer read, and I just wish I would have been reading it on vacation!

While this book is on the longer side (448 pages), it was a really quick read. I really enjoyed everything about this book - the story, the romance, the setting of the book, and the characters. MKA does a fabulous job with her settings, and I'm ready to take a trip to the Saint.

My only complaint is that there was a lot going on, so I felt a little whiplash in trying to keep up with everyone and all the different storylines - especially at the beginning.

Thank you St. Martin's Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I always enjoy MKA summer reads! This is another enjoyable beach read full of mystery, romance and suspense. I listened to this on audiobook. It was narrated by Kathleen McInerney and she was excellent! I got all the summery vibes while listening!

The St. Cecilia hotel is called “The Saint”. It was an exclusive luxury hotel back in the day and the rich patrons who had connections would spend their summers there. Traci Eddings wasn't one of those, but she did spend a summer working there, and ended up marrying her boss's son. She's now a widow and has inherited the hotel. She feels she's in over her head. She also has to deal with the unexpected drama of her hubbys family. She wants to bring The Saint back to its glory. She plans to spend the summer doing just that. There is a full cast of fleshed out characters, and decades of secrets and unsolved mysteries that get revealed. This is entertaining,fun and captivating. If you enjoy a good whodunnit, pick this one up!!

Thank you to the publisher, Macmillan audio and netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Great story! a bit of friendship, family drama, romance, mystery. A great beach read. I loved the characters. My only slight negative is that it felt a bit long but overall a great novel from MKA!

Wow, I was totally expecting something more of a romance/drama story. This was a full on drama/mystery with a little romance thrown in! I loved Traci, the "Ain't" that became a "Saint" and absolutely hated Ric, her brother-in-law. Some of the people in this story were totally hateable (I know it's not a word) and some of them I totally loved. The twists that came out toward the end were totally a surprise, I love when I don't figure it out right away! I can see sitting on the beach with a drink and reading this all in one day, if children and life didn't get in my way I would have read it all in one day. Great story!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is based on an ARC from NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher.

Summers at the Saint is a reminder of why MKA is queen of beach reads. From page one, I was thoroughly invested in the going on of The Saint. I could have easily read it without the added layer of a mystery that MKA is known for because it still had all the elements of a beach read escape. There were summer employees living in dorm rooms, quirky/irritating guests, romance, and family drama. Yet, she's queen because the mysteries that were woven throughout took the book to another level. I admit that I was shocked and saddened early on in the book by something I didn't see coming, but I never wanted to put the book down. I actually finished it yesterday and I woke up this morning still thinking about it.

THIS is why she is my favorite author! Excellent!

The book’s ending was succinct- truly a pleasurable ending that left my stomach hurting (in the very best of ways), I enjoyed the mystery, romance, and descriptive ways of the author’s writing. At some point while reading, I felt like I couldn’t put the book down. Although I was hosting a party myself, with a large TO DO LIST, I had to read- had to finish- had to know whodunit!

That’s the best way to sum up how wonderful this book reading experience was for me.

Enjoy!

Summers at the Saint is a great mix of a summer beach romance, family drama, and murder mystery. Perfect for readers like me who love all three genres. This was a long book, but kept me interested and entertained throughout. There was a good mix of likable characters and others who needed to be taken down a notch.
Start your summer off right by reading about the Saints and the Ain'ts!
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

"Summers at the Saint" was a lot darker than the cover would lead you to believe. Don't go into this book thinking its a light-hearted romantic summer romp. There was murder, sexual abuse, drug and alcohol abuse. I actually did enjoy this book. The mystery and the twists were not super shocking, but entertaining none-the-less. The characters were stereotypical, but it didn't bother me too much. The romance was not steamy at all. Honestly I didn't feel like there was any chemistry with Traci and Whelan.

Overall, a great summer read that's slightly darker than average.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for and advanced readers copy of this book for my honest review.

Traci first saw the Saint Cecelia hotel as a child fishing with her grandfather and always wanted to go since it looked like a pink fairy castle. But she soon learned that she was from the wrong side of town. However she finally gets her chance, working there as a lifeguard and eventually falls in love with the owners son, Hoke Eddings. Now, as a widow, she's solely responsible for the failing hotel with its dwindling number of guests, staffing shortages, and maintenance issues. Her horrible brother-in-law is just waiting to see her fail, and now there's a man asking questions about a tragic accident that happened at the hotel years ago, on top of the active murder investigation happening now. She's trying so hard to save the Saint's future, if only she can survive the summer.
This was definitely more mystery with just a sprinkle of romance. I was interested to see how the mystery of the past tied into all the crazy things going on at the hotel in the present. There were a lot of characters to learn in the beginning, but I quickly fell into the story. I enjoyed this author's writing style and how it made the characters feel like friends. By the end I was rooting for Traci to get her HEA both with her dream hotel and her man.
Thanks to St. Martin's Press through Netgalley for the advance copy of this book. The opinions in this review are my own and given voluntarily.

A different direction than the normal MKA books I have read and was totally drawn into the story from the first pages. Traci a widow from the wrong side of the tracks now runs the family owned luxury resort known as the Saint. Slowly getting on with her life after the sudden death of her beloved husband and recouping from the COVID shutdown has its own set of challenges. Trying to open up for another season has caused Traci scrambling in different directions, staffing shortages, finding a new Chef and the list goes on. Coming up with the idea of offering a sign up bonus plus free on site housing has gotten her the results she hoped for. Things seem to be going well, but when her niece who works there goes missing and guests are complaining about everything……something is wrong, but what?
A well developed story that has suspense, old mystery and new mystery to be solved. Family secrets, who dunnit and why? I listened to part of the story as a audiobook, but preferred reading. Only because I could keep all the characters straight. It definitely was a book I enjoyed reading and just couldn’t put down. Thank you NetGalley for this eARC. I am voluntarily posting an honest review after reading an Advance Reader Copy of this story. #NetGalley #SummersAtTheSaint #MaryKayAndrews

"Welcome to the St. Cecelia, a landmark hotel on the coast of Georgia, where traditions run deep and scandals run even deeper. . . ."
Summers at the Saint was another book by Mary Kay Andrews that I enjoyed and was a mystery, romance and fiction book that will have you turning the pages till the end. From the beginning the story grabs your attention and is about Traci along with other characters but it also is about the resorts history and the hidden secrets. The author does an amazing job writing this and at the heart of the book is about Traci's strength, the friendships she forms and how she fights to keep St Cecilia's legacy alive while uncovering the truth. I loved the characters in this book and the twist and turns in the book were so good. I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend this to any reader who loves a good mystery or romance. Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for this ARC book in exchange of my honest review of Summers at the Saint.

This was my first book by this author & overall, I did really enjoy this one!! I will say though, something about the authors writing seems juvenile to me?? I can’t quite explain it. Also, I kinda felt like Whelan & Traci’s relationship was kinda random… I like them together but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was strange. I loved the setting of the story, it definitely got me in the summer vacation mood. I also really enjoyed the mystery aspect as well, it was very entertaining.

I always really love a Mary Kay Andrews book. This is no exception! First of all, this is nothing new for her, but the setting is a dream. The story grabbed my attention immediately and did not lose me at any point. The pacing was phenomenal and the draw of the mystery (and the romance) made this impossible to put down. Also, the behind the scenes of the running of the resort was an additional layer of intrigue.