Very fast moving read once I got into it. It had short chapters so it was easy to pick it up and put it down as needed. There was a lot going on and a lot of characters so occasionally I had to reread a section but I enjoyed the story. I guessed a couple of the twist but not all of the tangents of the twist so it still kept me interested. This was a much more involved story then I normally see form Mary Kay Andrews and I enjoyed it. I received an Arc from NetGalley.

Summers at the Saint is probably my favorite Mary Kay Andrews book ever. Beware though. This cover, though gorgeous and fun, evokes a sense of summer and light beach reading, and all things happy. But if you've read Mary Kay Andrews books in the past, you'll likely be familiar with her mysteries and secrets woven throughout. So expect those in this book as well!

Taking place at a posh beach resort, for members only of course, we meet many characters who are connected to The Saint Ceceila. Some worked there in the past, some work there now, some hope to work there in the future. But all of them are connected in many ways.

This book is on the longer side, but it's worth it...trust me! The beginning is a lot to get through as Mary Kay Andrews builds the world and introduces each of the many characters in depth, but what she has done is necessary. There's a lot of people, and a lot of things happen throughout the story. There's murder, attempted murder, theft, and a little bit of romance all mixed in this book!

If you enjoy mysteries, I think this would make a perfect beach read!

Traci and her best friend Shannon grew up longing to be at "the Saint" - Saint Cecelia resort, across the causeway from their town of Bonaventure. The Saint, a getaway for the rich, held the promise of a different, more glamourous life. Both women seek employment at the Saint as teens and one of their summers of employment changes Traci and Shannon's lives and end their friendship.

Twenty years later, Traci, who fell in love with and married the son of the Saint's owner, is widowed and the CEO at the Saint. Struggling to rebound from a poorly timed remodel, the pandemic, and difficulty recruiting employees, Traci is trying to turn around their finances, recruit a solid staff, and save the resort. What Traci doesn't know is that this is another summer that will change her life - and the Saint.

Summers at the Saint is a perfect beach read - the perfect combination of an idyllic setting contrasted with a story of murder, revenge, friendship, and redemption, Summers at the Saint will pull you in and keep you guessing until the conclusion.

I love a writer that can keep me reading until the wee hours of the morning. That is exactly what Mary Kay Andrews has done in Summers at the Saint. The story begins 4 years after Traci's husband was killed. He was the younger son of the owners of The Saint. She is now CEO of "The Saint", a beach front resort that caters to the uber rich. Traci grew up as a "Aint", rather than a "Saint" - wrong side of the tracks compared to right side - where she worked a summer as a lifeguard at the pool along with her best friend, Shannon. A drowning happened and Shannon was blamed even thought both girls tried to save the victim. Greed, graft and murder are what this story is all about.

Cute cozy mystery with some family drama and a bit of romance added. The Saint is a family owned hotel run by Traci Eddings. Her late husband actually owned and ran it but Traci took over after he died in a plane crash. Facing some financial difficulty she knows she has one summer to turn things around for the hotel. Unfortunately there is an early tragedy at the hotel with underpinnings of deceit and deception among the staff. Traci and two of the young staff members she hires for the summer must dig for details to find out who is really responsible and in the process they find themselves both developing lasting friendships and uncovering more danger. Fun book that kept me turning pages to the end.

Another great story by Mary Kay Andrews. I enjoy her books as they always seem to be light hearted. This one was a little more intense with the murder mystery in it. The story had some unexected plot twists that kept you enthralled from start to finish. The setting is lovely and the characters are well developed. You love some and you hate some which always makes the story more interesting. This is a great read to take to the beach this summer!!!

I loved the mystery & suspense of this original storyline, however, it seemed to have so many characters, that it took a while to get into the "meat & potatoes" of the storyline. Once I did though, I was HOOKED!!! I really enjoyed this different storyline from the typical romance "beach read"!!

Mary Kay Andrews’ books never disappoint . A bit of romance, mystery and murder-what more could a reader want. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced review copy.

Cute summer read! Has all the aspects of a great book, a love story, suspense and characters that you will love and hate. I found this to be a super quick read, but a book that will keep a readers interest though the entire novel

I've read Mary Kay Andrews before and find her books to be great beach reads. I read this in over a weekend and thoroughly enjoyed reading about the St. Cecilia Hotel.

Traci married in the wealthy Eddings family that owes the Saint (as it's known as) and four years after her husband's death is trying to keep it afloat in a post-Covid world. She's hiring new staff to replace those who've left and even renovates an old building into a staff dorm to attract new workers. But then tragedy strikes at the hotel and a storm of bad press hits the Saint. There's shady things happening at the hotel and the cracks are starting to show.

I really enjoyed this book but wish that the author left some plot lines out as this was a crowded plot. I don't always like an overly busy book but I did like this since there were a lot of great characters, many of whom were too greedy for their own good. There were honestly several characters and sub plots that could've been cut to streamline the book while still keeping the main plot intact. Several big plot twists occur towards the end of the book and that's really what made the book for me. I didn't quite see them coming and always loved being surprised by a twist. I will say that this book was darker than other Mary Kay Andrews' books I've read in the past but I liked the darker plot points and they kept me engaged. This was more of a 3.5 stars but I'll round up to 4 stars. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a twisty beach read with a lot of characters.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I will not be reviewing this publicly because my issues with this book are not the fault of the author. I have a toddler named Hudson, so when I got to the drowning part I really struggled. Up until that part I was really enjoying the characters and the set up of the story. However, once I hit that part I was really taken out of the story and just couldn’t love it going forward. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book by this wonderful author.

Thank you for an advance copy, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press.

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

This story follows Traci Edding's widow to the youngest son of the powerful Eddings family as she trys to manage the exclusive St.Ceclia resort. The book begins be introducing a slew of characters working at the Saint this summer and progresses to a whodunit of both a current day tragedy and one from 20 years ago.

Overall the book was okay. It took awhile to set everything up and then felt a bit too quickly wrapped up in the end. It was also listed as a romance which it really isn't. The two characters don't even meet until 70% through the book and their relationship feels rushed. Thought it was an interesting story though and glad I read it even though it wouldn't necessarily be something I would normally pick up. MKA has an easy style of writing to read.

3.5🌟 rounded to 4 cause it was an interesting story.

I enjoyed reading Summers at the Saint. I will say there are a lot of characters at first to keep track off, along with different plot lines. The plot lines eventually all intersect with each other which makes a fun mystery beach read. This story has forgiveness, murder mystery, beach/swim club vibes and romance. Another winner from Mary Kay Andrews. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press. His is my is opinion.

Mary Kay Andrews writes some of the best stories and I really enjoyed Summers at the Saint. There are a lot of characters to get to know at the start of the book, each with their own distinct place in the story. Once I had down who everyone was the story flew by. There is mystery and drama that kept me captivated as well as a little bit of romance. This is a perfect twisty summer read. I did not have the murder figured out but I had a lot of theories along the way which is always a lot of fun. The setting was so easy to visualize and I could envision the Saint as well as the vibe of the resort so easily.

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

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“Those rich kids, they’re Saints. Y’all are just Aint’s.” Traci Eddings was not born wealthy. She started as a lifeguard at the Saint and eventually married Hoke, the CEO’s son. Hoke died in a tragic accident leaving Traci to attend to the Saint while the long time family business slowly started to lose traction. Traci struggled to recruit new hires so she provided many incentives to work at the Saint. She was able to hire a skeleton crew and offered them free housing along with many benefits. Amidst the chaos, a close family member tragically died and Traci believed the death was targeted.

A detective comes to town… the year Traci was a lifeguard, a kid named Hudson drowned in the pool. Her best friend Shannon was also lifeguarding during this fatality, and they fired her. The detective, AKA a family member of Hudson’s came to Georgia/St. Cecelia to investigate his death as his was clearly a skilled swimmer and shouldn’t have drowned.

This is not your typical summer romance. There’s family drama, fight for estate, a sprinkle of romance, mystery and more. I was pleasantly surprised as this was my first MKA story. My favorite part was the beginning where we got chapters from the different characters’ perspectives. It made the mystery more exciting. Read this if you love a cozy mystery at a beautiful summer resort!

Great breezy beach read for when you want a book that is engaging but not terribly challenging.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I always think of Mary Kay Andrews’ books as granny beach reads, and this book was no exception. I really enjoyed the setting and premise, as the story focused on the staff of an upscale resort in Georgia. There was so much drama surrounding both present events and decades old mysteries that I was intrigued to see how all the pieces of the story would unfold and fit together. I don’t know why but this was totally giving Dirty Dancing when I imagined some of the situations with the staff and the dynamics between them and the resort guests. All in all, this was a fun read! 3.5⭐️ Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this ebook.

What can I say? I love Mary Kay Andrews books!! This book is a concoction of friendship, love, and unexpected twists that will have you hooked from the first page to the very last. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Tracie Eddings and her best friend Shannon grew up on the wrong side of the causeway, and dreamed of one day being one of the "Saints", those privileged people who live or vacation at the Saint Cecelia Resort/ Instead they are one of the "Aints" but do manage to work there as lifeguards one summer in their teens. Both their lives change there, with Traci marrying one of the owners sons, and Shannon having a more tragic experience.

The Summers at the saint is a mystery novel with a touch of romance thrown in, focusing on Traci and a very large cast of characters including her husbands evil family and a whole host of hotel resort employees. It took me quite a while to adjust to all the characters, and the various plot lines seemed so unrealistic they took me out of the story. Once I gave in and just decided to go with the flow, the story was enjoyable and I wanted to know what was going to happen with the various twists and turns. For me this was more cozy mystery than romance, and not my favorite of the authors large backlist.


Thank you to Net galley for the e galley of this book in return for an unbiased review.

2.5 stars

Not all books can be 5 stars. SUMMERS AT THE SAINT by Mary Kay Andrews takes on a lot, with many characters that aren’t fleshed out and a lot of plot lines. Some of the plots are rather convoluted and don’t make sense. The setting for the novel is a golf resort called The Saint, although I wouldn’t say it has summer vibes or even a summer atmosphere. Main character Traci is the CEO at The Saint. At first, the reader is led to think the resort is a small family operation. And then the reader realizes that this is a huge company, and Traci conducts functions that don’t seem realistic (hires for a server job, trains new employees herself, oversees a huge construction project that only takes weeks instead of months).

Traci started working at The Saint when she was a teen lifeguard. Unfortunately, many years ago an 8 year old named Hudson lost his life while she was on duty. She did end up marrying into the family, but her husband Hoke died in a plane accident several years ago. In this novel, there is a reckoning about the death of the 8 year old so many years ago, other links to the past, and other current and past mysteries,.

As I said, there was a lot in this novel, and I struggled to process all the different plot lines. It wasn’t just that there was a lot going on, but most of the plot lines were just plain convoluted and contrived. There was a constant barrage of information related to all the various plot lines that precluded me from having suspense while reading. The whole novel felt very forced.

I recently read a Mary Kay Andrews’ holiday romance, and I did enjoy that one. This was far too scattered for me to ever sink into. If you’re a Mary Kay Andrews super fan, then I’m sure my review won’t dissuade you. If you haven’t read her books before, I’d suggest not to start with this one.