"Summers at the Saint" by Mary Kay Andrews immerses readers in the captivating world of the St. Cecelia, a historic hotel on the Georgia coast, where scandals and secrets abound. Traci Eddings, the determined widowed owner, faces numerous challenges as she strives to restore the hotel to its former glory amidst staff shortages and financial woes, all while battling her unscrupulous brother-in-law. With a cast of colorful characters and a storyline brimming with twists and turns, Andrews skillfully weaves together humor, warmth, and heart, creating a beach read that offers both depth and entertainment. "Summers at the Saint" is a delightful escape into a world of intrigue and romance, perfect for soaking up the sun and losing yourself in a captivating story.

Good beach read summer mystery with a little romance mixed in. This was an entertaining read and quick to read with different points of view throughout. A little confusing at first with the amount of characters that were quickly introduced but was easy to follow after. This had a good amount of twists and kept you guessing. Giving this on 3 stars liked it and will recommend. I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed reading “Summers at the Saint” very much! It was a fun summer read. While there was a slow start, by the time I got halfway through I could put the book down. I was a little overwhelmed with all the different character’s perspectives at the beginning, but it didn’t become quite a problem as I expected it would be to keep them straight. While I was guessing throughout the whole book, I did not guess the ending to this one which is always a plus! Overall, I enjoyed reading this book!

I loved the setting. The history repeats let to a mystery and some real bad people. Even so I would like to stay at The Saint.

Wow!! This book was amazing. Romance, murder, mystery, secrets... It has it ALL. I need to go buy all of the books written by Mary Kay Andrews because she is an amazing writer!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to the editor and NetGalley for the ARC on this book for my honest review.

I loved this book. I was quickly hooked to the story and couldn't put it down. There were so many twists in the story that it kept me reading to get know what was going to happen next. I loved the main character Traci, growing up as an "Ain't" and as an adult running The Saint Cecelia hotel where the entire book took place. This book is a must read!

Summers at the Saint
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read Summers at the Saint before it was released. The premises of the story plays out like a whacky Dateline episode. Traci is the main character who grew up poor or as an “aint” and was always in awe of the Saint hotel. As a teenager, Traci and her best friend Shannon worked at the Saint as lifeguards. One summer a young boy drowned and their friendship ended.

Today Traci runs the Saint. She inherited it from her husbands passing. The saint was struggling and her Traci was going to overhaul the hotel and get it out of the red. Traci hired a handful of young adults to help at the Saint. Unknown to her, she hired Shannon’s daughter. Her niece uncovered that some of the employees were skimming money from the company. At an after work party, Parrish who was Traci’s niece, was drugged and died.

In the end, Traci and Livvy got to the bottom of the corruption at the Saint. It was discovered that Parrish was accidentally killed instead of Livvy since they looked alike and in the end were related. Traci and Shannon put the past behind them and became friends again. Also in the end, Traci got the man that she was interested in.

SUMMERS AT THE SAINT by Mary Kay Andrews is the quintessential summer read, blending cozy beach vibes with gripping suspense and a murder mystery that will keep you hooked. Set against the luxurious backdrop of a high-end resort, Andrews masterfully intertwines family drama and scandal, all while employing a rich tapestry of characters seen through multiple points of view. This book is a delightful concoction of intrigue and charm, making it a perfect pick for fans of Mary Kay Andrews and anyone looking for their next beach read obsession. Dive into this story and let the summer fun begin!

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

The first description of the St. Cecelia is from a young Traci Eddings who at the time was from the wrong side of the river and was known as an “Ain’t." She sees Cinderella's castle through the trees then fast forward, and she is now in charge of “the Saint.” Not only has she gone from an "Aint" to a "Saint" but things have changed over the years. Her best friend has not spoken to her since the summer they worked as lifeguards at “the Saint.” Her husband who happened to be the heir to “the Saint” has died in a tragic plane crash leaving Traci to pick up the pieces, continue the running of The Saint and dealing with her father and brother-in law.
There are many moving parts to Summer at the Saints that I wondered how would there be time to resolve it all. Mary Kay Andrews keeps the twist and turns going. I knew I had figured it out half way through and sat back to enjoy as it unfolded. I was completely off and was ready to convict the wrong person. Great beach read!
Thank you NetGalley, St Martin’s Press and Mary Kay Andrews for ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I tried reading this while I was sick and unfortunately I couldn’t get into it enough to keep going. I hate not finishing books but I just didn’t find it interesting enough.

I received an advanced copy from netgalley in exchange for a review and opinions are my own.

I'll have to tell you one thing: I will be turning around and re-reading this book quite soon. There are so many plots and sub-plots that sometimes it gets to be a little too much. But the more I read, the more enthralled I became with this novel. I got so caught up in everything that was going on that I just couldn't put this book down.

I must admit that Mary Kay Andrews is one of my favorite authors, but I will let you know right here that I don't always LOVE her books. This I indeed did!

The only tiny problem I had (and I admit that it is my problem alone) is that there was so much young adult issues going on and I'm a little too old to understand some of the lingo etc. Oh well, that's all on me!


Murder, theft, arson, financial difficulties, and possible love connections make this a perfect beach read. I have to admit that I didn't finally figure out who was behind all these machinations until the last quarter or so of this book.

I loved this book and can't wait to re-read it...slowly!

This was my first Mary Kay Andrews novel and I am so glad I read it! I loved Summers at the Saint! The characters were well developed, it was a little tricky at first with lots of characters being introduced, but once I got into the story I didn't really want my time at the Saint to end. I liked seeing the side of a resort where the staff have different backgrounds, are there for different reasons, and how they get to know each other.
Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own.
I highly recommend Summers at the Saint!!

First, an admission. I clicked on the "request to review" button for this one based on two things, the summer at the beach type cover and an expectation of a fun romance from an author I've loved for years. Well, I got what I expected but, wow, way more. As it turned out, given my current leaning toward mysteries, this one was the perfect combo of romance, summer sun and fun, and, oh, my, murder and suspense.

There is a lot going on at the beginning, with characters seeming to come and go rapidly, so it did take me awhile to get my bearings. What appears to be a simple story line at first, Traci Eddings' efforts to save the venerable "Saint", ie St. Cecelia hotel/resort, quickly evolves into multiple story lines and characters you'll love. Well, most of them. Others, um, not so much. We meet Traci herself as a child of 6-7 when she gets her first glimpse of the Saint from her grandfather's simple fishing boat. It's quickly established that they, Traci and her family aren't wealthy enough to vacation here. But, she can work there. To cut to the chase, ah, romance. Traci and Hoke, the heir, meet, fall in love, and marry. All is right in their world...until it isn't. Hoke dies and Traci, barely accepted by his upper class family, struggles. Then odd things start happening, including a mysterious death.

That is where the plot takes off and, oh, my, buckle your seat belt. I won't detail the plot further, I'm sure others have done a far better job, but will say that I found what I was expecting and then some. Yes, there is romance. There's also family dynamics, most difficult, and social divides, not to mention that pesky murder. The ending is action and emotion packed, not to mention with more than a bit of romance tossed in, too, so fasten your seat belt and enjoy the ride. 4.5 rounded to 5 star. Thanks #NetGalley and #StMartin'sPress for this fun, romantic, and suspenseful early peek at the goings on at the Saint.

Traci and Shannon were childhood best friends, that all changed the summer of 2002. The Saint is St. Cecelia, a posh 5-star resort where they worked.

There are quite a few characters in Summers at the Saint, but I really don't think that there are too many characters. It always drives me crazy when there are too few characters, especially when the setting is as large as the Saint.

It seems to me that Mary Kay Andrews has two classic novel styles, Christmas and non-Christmas. Some reviews seem to suggest that this isn't like prior MKA novels, I wonder if they are comparing this to a Christmas novel. This did seem to be "classic MKA", in my opinion.

I really enjoyed Summers at the Saint. Definitely going to be a favored "beach read" this summer.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for approving my request to read the advance read copy of Summers at the Saint in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is 07 May 2024, approx 447 pages.

I am kind of not sure what to say. I kept switching from enjoying this book, to a strong desire to speed read to "just finish" it to really not liking it. It was a perpetual merry go round of feelings. Within the first 20 pages you are introduced to the main characters
Parrish
Traci
Shannon
KJ
Whalen
Felice
Charlie Burroughs
Garrett
Olivia
Ric
^^^ Yeah, thats 10.
Yeah, you have to keep up wtih all of them.
So needless to say, when you have 10 main characters you have a.l.o.t. going on.
And there lies the problem.
It is almost as if the author had a lot of ideas about something mysterious that could happen at a luxery hotel, she wrote them down on post it notes and randomly put them all together and simply just filled in words inbetween the post it notes to make this story.
At times the writing was pretty good and I was interested in the story (the daughter of one of the hotel's owner ends up dead at an afterparty however there is really no motive to kill her.....or is there?) IN addition to her death, there was an 8 year old boy killed years before, and there are some weird things going on at the hotel. If MKA had stuck to just that simple plot line I think this book would have been much more enjoyable. Instead there was a tornado of characters with complicated, deep backstories that distracted me from the "elevator pitch" plot.
By the time you reach the end you are like, Oh yeah I forgot we were initially trying to figure out what happened to the girl.
What was most disappointing was , when i finally reached the end (WOW was this a case of a book being 150 pages too long) it really fell apart. It was like a completely different author started writing. I am not a prude, but the cussing in the last 30 pages or so would have made a sailor blush.
It was really amateurish(??) writing. It was like she got frustrated and just wanted the book to be over so she hired her 24 year old back country son to finish it.

Now there were times I laughed out loud, MKA has a great sense of humor with some of her lines and I did find parts of the book entertaining. But overall this was a book that suffered some serious idenity crisis. It checked a lot of boxes.......I am not going to recommend to a person who has never read Mary Kay Andrews, she has others that are much better. But if you are an Andrews fan, you might as well read it, its not bad, it just...not the best.

Thank you Net Galley for this advanced copy read of Summers at The Saint. I was not influenced or paid in exchange for this honest review.

This one was a tad different from the Mary Kay Andrew books I've read before. This had a lot going on! Part beach read/part whodunit/part women's fiction. Taking place in Georgia at the St. Cecelia, a fancy resort for the wealthy, employed by the Ain'ts (normal town folks) lives Traci. She is doing her best to keep the resort on its feet after the effects of the pandemic and losing staff left and right. She hires her niece to help out and a slew of other new employees before the summer rush begins which causes a bit of a drama for the long standing employees. Conflicts are starting to arise when a visitor comes to town looking for answers about a drowning 20 years ago at the resort. Suddenly a staff member dies and it's deemed a homicide. This story starts off slow but then really picks up speed. While the story overall was good, it felt like the young characters in the book, it too was having a bit of an identity crisis. At 448 pages, it was also a bit longer than I expected but again there was a lot happening in this story. Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Rounded Up.

This was quite the tumultuous read. I wasn't expecting the heaviness. Despite that, it was so well written and engrossing.

Not sure why I took so long to open this book and dig in. It's a delightful, slightly escapist read, filled with a beach/resort them, a bit of mystery, some family drama, and hints of good food. Somewhat predictable, it didn't matter a bit, as the read was just so enjoyable.

Love it when the "Aint's" prevail!

Summers at the Saint is a good beach read. The plot was not predictable and the mysteries unfolded right up until the end. I’ve loved reading this author’s mysteries and greatly enjoyed her romances. I was excited to see both unfold in the same book. That having been said, I don’t feel that it’s the best of either genres that she’s written. I would recommend it as a beach read, but not as the best example of her work.

An enjoyable read for anyone that likes a mystery with a bit of romance thrown in. I felt for the primary character and kept hoping she’d win in the end. Most of the book kept me guessing who was truly on her side.

The one bit that felt unnatural was how quickly the relationship between Traci and her best friend resolved.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.