Review by 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.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's 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)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Andrews (The Homewreckers) continues her longtime collaboration with narrator Kathleen McInerney for this sizzling summer pop fiction mystery. Now in charge of the same coastal Georgia resort where she was once a teenage lifeguard, Traci Eddings is struggling to keep the legacy of her late husband's family alive. Beset by high costs, low bookings, and the interference of her smarmy brother-in-law, Traci risks it all to bring on a new crew of resort staff, not all of whom will survive the summer. McInerney shows off her vocal flexibility by handling the audio's large cast and seamlessly rotating points of view. Whether she's portraying an idealistic young woman, a cocky frat bro, an obnoxious guest, or an old friend of Traci's with a deep secret, McInerney inhabits each character without creating caricature. At the heart of the story is Traci, a woman learning to live and love again after bereavement while navigating a cutthroat world of business and social politics. The production concludes with an engaging conversation between Andrews and McInerney about writing, narrating, inspiration, and perseverance; don't skip it. VERDICT Highly recommended for lovers of beach reads with bite in the style of Elin Hilderbrand and Lucy Foley.--Natalie Marshall
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