Summers at The Saint – Escape Into Reading

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Date of publication: May 7th, 2024

Genre: Romance, Mystery, Fiction, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Womens Fiction, Adult Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Adult

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | WorldCat

Goodreads Synopsis:

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

Everyone refers to the St. Cecelia as “the Saint.” If you grew up coming here, you were “a Saint.” If you came from the wrong side of the river, you were “an Ain’t.” Traci Eddings was one of those outsiders whose family wasn’t rich enough or connected enough to vacation here. But she could work here. One fateful summer she did, 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. Plus, her greedy and unscrupulous brother-in-law wants to make sure she fails. Enlisting a motley crew of recently hired summer help—including the daughter of her estranged best friend—Traci has one summer season to turn it around. But new information about a long-ago drowning at the hotel threatens to come to light, and the tragic death of one of their own brings Traci to the brink of despair.

Traci Eddings has her back against the pink-painted wall of this beloved institution. And it will take all the wits and guts she has to see wrongs put to right, to see guilty parties put in their place, and maybe even to find a new romance along the way. Told with Mary Kay Andrew’s warmth, humor, knack for twists, and eye for delicious detail about human nature, Summers at the Saint is a beach read with depth and heart.

First Line

The first time Traci Eddings saw the Saint she was six or seven.

Important details about Summers at the Saint

Pace: Fast

POV: 3rd person (Traci, Olivia, Shannon, Felice, Garrett)

Content/Trigger Guidance: Summers at the Saint contains themes that include drug use, fatphobia, homophobia, rape, sexual assault, murder, child death, classism, alcoholism, death, drug abuse, infidelity, violence, fire, fire injury, adult/minor relationships, gaslighting, workplace harassment, divorce, abandonment, anxiety & anxiety attacks, drugging, teen pregnancy, terminal illness, hospitalization, physical injuries, death of a parent, death of a spouse, grief & loss depiction, and car accident. Please read carefully if any of these triggers you.

Language: Summers at the Saint contains mild swearing and language that might offend some people.

Sexual Content: There is mild, nongraphic sexual content in Summers at the Saint.

Setting: Summers at the Saint in the fictional town of Bonaventure, Georgia, at a hotel called the Saint.

My Review:

When I think of Mary Kay Andrews, my mind immediately goes to beach reads. I have read several books by her, and they all have the potential to be such books. So, when I read the blurb of Summers at the Saint, I thought that it was a given that this book (being set in a hotel, in the summer, and on the beach) would be one of those books. Well, color me surprised because I was wrong. Summers at the Saint isn’t a beach book. Instead, I got a fast-paced mystery that kept me glued to the book.

The main storyline of Summers at the Saint centers around the hotel, Traci Eddings, two murders (one from the mid-90s and one in the present), and drama with Traci’s in-laws. Numerous secondary storylines feed into and flesh out the main storyline.

I do want to warn you that this book has several POVs. I don’t like more than two because I feel that switching back and forth can get bogged down. But in this case, it worked. Backgrounds were explained (or alluded to), and storylines were given more depth.

I liked Traci, but she was so busy with everything happening at the hotel and in her personal life that she missed some blatant things happening in and around the hotel. Stuff that was so blatant and so obvious that these people were waving a red flag in front of her, and she didn’t see it. Not that I blamed her because she was dealing with so much.

Other characters in the book get a lot of page time, but if I went through them all, this review would be huge. Each character added depth and background to the primary (and secondary) storylines.

The mystery angle of Summers at the Saint was terrific. The big mystery (the murder) was very twisty and very turny. The author had me in knots trying to figure out who the killer was, and I was shocked by who it was. I was also surprised at the reason why. The death of a small boy nineteen years earlier was also a significant part of the storyline. That mystery led to one of the saddest scenes I have read and gave some much-needed background on why Traci and Shannon stopped being friends.

The end of Summers at the Saint was a feel-good ending. I liked that the author gave all the major players HEAs, and justice was dealt to the bad guys. I liked seeing everyone a year in the future and happy!!

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Mary Kay Andrews for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Summers at the Saint. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

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