Hello, summer

When newspaper reporter Sarah Conley Hawkins has her dream job swept out from under her, she heads home to the Florida panhandle for what she thinks is a temporary respite. She hasn't been back to Silver Bay in years, and she plans on taking off just as soon as she finds a job elsewhere. But she quickly falls back under the town's spell, spending time with G'Mama and her housekeeper, Winnie, and avoiding her sister, Grayson, who runs the family business, which is, unfortunately, Silver Bay's hometown newspaper. Eventually, Conley lets herself be talked into taking over the newspaper's "Hello, Summer" column, a task doomed to be endlessly boring (if amusing), until her reporting skills lead her to an accidental death that may not be an accident. Conley may not have intended to stay long, but small-town secrets have a way of refusing to let you go. Andrews (Sunset Beach, 2019) can be counted on for beach-worthy depictions of southern women with chutzpah and a talent for finding trouble with humor and romantic interest mixed in. Fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Kristy Woodson Harvey shouldn't miss it. [HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Devoted readers will be on the lookout for the Queen of the Beach Reads' annual crowd-pleaser,]