Summers at the Saint / Mary Kay Andrews.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"Andrews perfectly balances the second chance-romance with the twisty mystery against a beachy backdrop that will please any armchair traveler." --Publishers Weekly

"A fun, heart-warming, and intriguing summer read. For readers who'd enjoy a blend of friendships (old and new), budding romance, and secrets held within the walls of a hotel that needs rescuing, as in Elin Hilderbrand's The Hotel Nantucket." --Library Journal

Book your summer escape with a "mesmerizing mix of mystery and romance" ( Publishers Weekly, starred) from the New York Times bestselling author of The Homewreckers and The Newcomer.

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.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Best seller Andrews (Beach Town) offers up another fun, heart-warming, and intriguing summer read. Resolute and determined, Traci is struggling to keep her late husband Hoke's resort out of bankruptcy after his unexpected death. Located on the Eddings family's private island off the coast of Georgia, the St. Cecelia resort was a fairy-tale dream to Traci when she was growing up in the neighboring working-class town. Marrying into the wealthy Eddings family brought the fairy tale closer but also posed new challenges for Traci. Now that Hoke is gone, his conniving older brother is trying to wrest control of the resort away from Traci. She must also compete with a new getaway in the area, while the St. Cecilia's finances continue to dip further in the red. Then disaster strikes, and a tragic past incident involving a teenaged Traci and her now-estranged best friend Shannon threatens to come to light. Traci and her new St. Cecilia employees go into investigative mode to figure out what went wrong. VERDICT For readers who'd enjoy a blend of friendships (old and new), budding romance, and secrets held within the walls of a hotel that needs rescuing, as in Elin Hilderbrand's The Hotel Nantucket.--Joy Gunn

Publishers Weekly Review

In this mesmerizing mix of mystery and romance, Andrews (Bright Lights, Big Christmas) details one woman's mission to ensure her late husband's legacy. Four years after Traci Eddings's husband, Hoke, died in a plane crash, she struggles to keep afloat the Eddings family's long-running St. Cecelia resort hotel on an island off the Georgia coast. As employees leave for better opportunities, Traci hires a new executive chef and gets her niece, Parrish, to run the front desk, further straining her contentious relationship with her entitled brother-in-law, Ric, who's trying to cut Traci out of his father's will. Then tragedy rocks the hotel staff when someone close to Traci is murdered. As she works to keep guests happy during a police investigation, the hotel's landscaper, Whelan, a former P.I., mounts an investigation of his own. Mutual attraction ignites between Traci and Whelan even as he unearths some unusual information about a decades-old drowning death at the Saint that tore apart Traci and her former best friend, Shannon. Andrews's expert exploration of complex family dynamics, hidden secrets, and class divisions in a small resort town add authenticity to the gripping mystery and swoony romance. Series fans and newcomers alike will be riveted. Agent: Stuart Krichevsky, Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency, Inc. (May)

Booklist Review

The St. Cecilia Hotel and Resort caters to a high-end clientele that looks down on the locals ("you're a Saint or you're an Ain't"). Traci Eddings is both, a local who married into the family that owns the Saint, now left to run the business after her husband died. Determined to save the resort from a postpandemic slump, she hires a group of twentysomethings for the summer, who put themselves in danger when they uncover oddities with the hotel's inventory and investigate on their own. Meanwhile, Traci is preoccupied by a new guy in town who's looking into a drowning that happened while Traci was lifeguarding at the Saint as a teen. The suspense adds a bit of darkness to Andrews' (Bright Lights, Big Christmas, 2023) usual lighthearted fun, and there's a little too much going on to pull readers in immediately. The investment is worth it, though, as most of the characters are likable, and the nail-biting conclusion is a satisfying resolution. Give this to rom-com readers who want a few more thrills in their plot.