I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I read it over a few days and kept coming back to it. The reason I give it 4 stars is because the beginning felt a but long and drawn out. Traci is the CEO of a hotel looking for staff, and she is kind of picking people up throughout the first chapters of the book. While this is helpful to get to know some of the characters, overall I just thought it took awhile to get the real story started! I loved (LOVED) Whelan. I wish we had more of him in the book! I loved visualizing this amazing property in a lazy beach town. There were certainly ups and downs in the book but overall it was a great vacation read that once the plot got started, I was totally hooked and excited to come back to. It just took me a little longer to get there!

This was an intriguing read! So many layers with complex family relationships, romance, secrets, and a mystery. An interesting mix of characters as they tackle class divisions in a small resort town. I enjoyed the plot of challenges of running a historic upper-class resort with a mix bag of young employees and suspicious circumstances that keep the twists coming. This book has a lot of depth and will have you turning the pages.

WOW! Mary Kay Andrews, author of “SUMMERS AT THE SAINT” has written a captivating and amazing novel again! I am a huge fan of Mary Kay Andrews’ novels, and this will be a huge winner! This summer escape is to The St. Cecilia, a distinguished hotel, known as “The Saint” on the coast in Georgia. The elite clientele are known as “The Saints”, and those who work there and live in town are known as “The Aint’s” The genres for this well-written novel are Contemporary Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Romance,Women’s Fiction, and Chick-Lit. I loved everything about this novel!

Mary Kay Andrews is a “Master Story Teller” and vividly describes the scenery, landscape, the plot, and the dramatic and colorful characters. The timelines for this story are set in the past and present at “The Saint”, especially when it pertains to the characters and events. Traci Edding, was originally one of the “Aint’s” who married a “Saint” . Now a recent widow, Traci wants to upgrade and bring The Saint back to its original esteem in society. Traci is faced with problems, when staff is leaving, replacing staff, and strange occurrences at the hotel. Years ago, a young boy drowned in the pool at The Saint, and Traci was one of the lifeguards, as well as her friend, Shannon. After that incident, many things changed. Traci and Shannon no longer are friends.

There are secrets, betrayals, danger and murders that cloud the sunshine . Mary Kay Andrews gives us suspense, twists, and surprises. Some of the adults recently hired at The Saint were children who were there, years before. There is also Romance, and budding friendships. This is also a novel about families, mothers and daughters, friends, second chances, forgiveness, love and hope. I highly recommend this memorable and thought-provoking novel.

Summers at the Saint belongs in every beach bag this summer! This page turning mystery kept me engaged from the first page. Luxury, family, and colleague drama all take place at a beautiful resort that is a vacationers dream…. Until someone gets murdered. Deep secrets are revealed as these likable characters start to dig into a hidden past.
Thank you net galley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Summers at the Saint” by Mary Kay Andrews
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release Date: 5/7
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Andrews has done it again! I still remember picking up “Sunset Beach” because it was on a must read Summer list. Since then I’ve read an additional 10 of her books and plan to get to all of them one day! I love that the main character is always a strong woman finding herself and typically solving a mystery at the same time! This book had a cold case and a new murder that multiple people were working to solve.

Traci Eddings now partial owner of The Saint a resort hotel off the coast of Georgia. Growing up she was considered an Aint meaning her family had no money and she didn’t get to go to the Saint for Fun. She worked there as a lifeguard with her best friend Shannon until one summer she fell in love with the owners son Hoke. After Hoke died in a plan crash a few years ago she took over the daily operations of the Saint. The problem is the profits have gone down and she can’t figure out why. Traci hires a group of young adults to live in their newly built staff dorms to work in various places around the resort. When one gets murdered two of the staff work together to figure out what happened. What they didn’t expect was they were putting themselves in danger.

Traci and Shannon, best friends since childhood, were lifeguards at the luxurious St. Cecelia Hotel, known as The Saint. The guests at the Saint were commonly referred to as the Saints, wherein Traci and Shannon were part of the Ain'ts, not allowed or worthy to mingle with the guests. Traci and Shannon couldn’t have imagined how drastically their lives would change after a young boy dies in their pool. Shannon is fired and basically disappears from Traci’s life. Traci unexpectedly meets and falls in love with Hoke Eddings, the son of the Saint’s owner. After Hoke’s death in a plane crash, Traci becomes the sole owner of the Saint. Continuing the luxurious legacy of the Saint, and working to adapt to newer demands, she also must deal with the animosity of her father-in-law, Fred, and Hoke’s brother, Ric. Ric is determined to make her life difficult.
The Saint is having great difficulty hiring enough new people for the Summer. Traci decides to renovate the old cart shack into a dorm building to encourage new employees to come on board. She’s fortunate to be able to hire some key people, including her beloved niece, Parrish. Traci persuades Parrish to delay her trip to Europe and promises to pay for it once she does go later. Parrish’s father, Ric, is furious.
Throughout this story of intense family drama, twists and turns and betrayals, Traci maintains her focus on doing the right thing, even when her world is rocked with a sudden family death.
Thank you, Net Galley, for the chance to read and review Summers at the Saint. Mary Kay Andrews has done it again. I loved Summers at the Saint and read it in a day. 😊

Thank you Mary Kay Andrews for another wonderful mystery page turner of a read with so many questions throughout. I just loved trying to find the answers to these questions:

Who killed a loved Eddings family member, how and why?

What caused the friendship that Traci & Shannon had since first grade to become so broken 💔, and can it be repaired?

How did that little boy really die? Who will help get the answers to the questions from long ago?

What is actually happening at the St. Cecelia Hotel (the Saint) with so many things going so wrong?

Not only is there mystery, but also romance, family love, drama, heartache, and sadness. This book gave me so much, and I loved everything about it. I highly recommend this 5 ⭐ read. What a surprise ending. Enjoy ❤️.

I also loved what the fortune cookie 🥠 said, "Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the conquest of it."

I've worked 30+ years in hotel & hospitality. This book brought back memories, the guest complaints, dealing with hotel problems, and solving issues as the overnight manager, wow.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Mary Kay Andrews for the advanced ebook reader copy.

#SummersattheSaint
#NetGalley
#MaryKayAndrews

I have been reading books by Mary Kay Andrews for quite a few years. Several of her books are on my keeper shelves. I have enjoyed her books when they were straight mysteries or women’s fiction. She is a talented author.

This book is simply not for me.

I missed the humor which is normally in her stories. The jumping from one perspective to another pulled me out of the story on more than one occasion. There weren’t very many people I liked in this book.

I guess I was expecting a theme that was not so dark.

Parrish is a widow who manages a Southern resort. Her late husband was part of the original family who owned the resort. After his death, she has become the lead manager for the family. She has a great deal of responsibility. This is a long time family business and her late husband’s family do not consider her part of the family. But, in my humble opinion, she is better off not being a part of that family. Expect for her niece, none of them are warm and cuddly.

The other characters come and go within the story line. Everyone has their own perspective. Jumping from one perspective to another really didn’t do it for me.

I am a fan of this author. I am not a big fan of this book.

I received the book from the publisher through NetGalley. I am voluntarily writing this review and all opinions are completely my own.

This is the perfect summer read!!! It had a little bit of everything. I really enjoyed the murder mystery storyline. There were so many twists and turns that I did not see coming. This is a fun page turner that will be the perfect beach read.
4.5 stars!!

Mary Kay Andrews does it again. The Saint Cecelia resort is an elusive coastal Georgia setting, where the elite summer. After the death of her husband, Traci is left to run the Saint; yet she is struggling to maintain staff and keep up with modern day resort expectations. She builds a dorm to house staff and is taken back to her own teenage summers working at the Saint. But when her niece is murdered, she becomes suspicious of foul play. As is MKA's signature style, we get a little romance, a little mystery and a low-country coastal setting. Sign me up to summer at THE SAINT!

The Saint was the place for the rich to stay and party through out the summer. The ones that could not afford wanted to be there. Traci came from the side that wanted to be there.

This is what got me peaked other than having read every new Mary Kay Andrews book since the pandemic. I love how Mary Kay writes. You feel like you are there living the actual book. This one felt so much different than the previous ones. Everyone had a reason to be there and everyone had done something regarding the mystery part.

Summers at the Saint is the perfect beginning of summer read. All of Mary Kay Andrews are. 4.75/5 start from me

Mary Kay Andrews does it again! Summers at the Saint is a quick read that will have you falling in love with the characters and setting and will keep you guessing until the very end. I recommend checking this one out!

Way too much going on & far too much repetition in retelling same events to multiple characters for me to enjoy.
Story unfortunately couldn’t live up to the appealing title & cover.

With thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for this e-ARC.

First of all – I love MKA. I always look forward to her books. However, this was a departure from her normal type of book. I love MK for her mysteries, her romances, the setting descriptions, and her southern charm. Unfortunately a lot of that was missing in this book. First of all the language in the book was astonishing! I am no prude, but the amount of F bombs that were strewn throughout this book was alarming. It really felt like MKA was trying too hard to reach a certain audience. Which ultimately, felt alienating. There was a lot going on in this book. Too many mysteries, too many characters, and too much foul language. I was thoroughly disappointed.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I went into it kinda blind, thinking it was a fluffy romance novel, but it was SO MUCH MORE! There was family drama, workplace drama, investigations, murder, and more! I love how intertwined several of the characters were. This book would make an awesome movie, I could picture scenes being played out while reading. I LOVED it!

A GREAT READ, This is a story about the saints and the Aints. Traci and Shannon were the very best of friends until there was a drowning at The Saint where Traci and Shannon were Lifeguards they both did everything they could to save him. Shannon got fired that day. Was this an easy way out for management getting rid of Shannon. You will have to read in to see. Traci married Hoke Eddings son of Fred , owner of the Saint' Hoke was killed in a plane crush so Traci took control of his share and ran the Saint. You must really read this book as there is so much going on that it is hard to write about it without spoilers. All of this author's books are very good but in my opinion , this is one is GREAT.

I went into this book thinking it would be a lighthearted summer read. I forgot that Mary Kay Andrews imbues her novels with twists and turns along with the humor. Summers at the Saint IS a great beach read that will keep you engaged, but it's a little darker than you might think. That's NOT a bad thing.
The Saint is a century-old hotel run by the Eddings family. Traci, a former "townie" who married into the formidable family, was always made to feel like an outsider. Now, after her husband's death four years ago, she's running the hotel and trying desperately to get back in the black after the pandemic. She's got some new young adults on her staff that are promising and she's optimistic. Until the secrets start being revealed.
I was hooked on this one, and some of those twists were a complete surprise to me. The characters are skillfully created, and the storyline goes deeper than I expected. Definitely pick this one up for your beach vacation - or if you just wish you were going on a beach vacation.

I could not have loved this book more! I’ve been reading MKA for the last few years and always find her novels a delight but this one kicked it up a notch. I totally did not think it would have as much mystery as it did and it surprised me in the best way. I love how she is able to make each story so unique and “Summer At The Saint” is no exception.

This book gives total beach vibes with a hint of romance and a ton of mystery. I could not stop reading and fell in love with all of the characters, especially Traci, who’s still recovering from her late husband’s death while trying to rebuild the hotel business after the pandemic. Reading this book was like watching a movie in my brain- the descriptions were so spot on, I imagined I was right there alongside the characters throughout the book.

This is definitely one to preorder and read immediately! 5/5 stars

This is Dirty Dancing meets Outer Banks with, as told in the story, the Saints vs. the Ain'ts as rivals in this island setting. There's summer fun, mystery, luxury and love.

Mary Kay Andrews has done it again, written an engaging story that was hard to put down. Traci Eddings grew up on the wrong side of town and felt drawn to the pretty pink building at The Saint from the first time she saw it as a little girl. Now as a widow, she runs the place following the tragic death of her husband four years ago. After the pandemic, business has been slower and it is harder to find new employees, so Traci comes up with some ideas to attract some. After a death occurred, there is a mystery to solve and plenty of suspicious activity to make it hard to figure out who did it along with a second chance at love.