Book Review: Summers at the Saint

• Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
• Publication Date: May 7, 2024
• Author: Mary Kay Andrews
• Genre: Romance | Women’s Fiction
• Page Count: 448

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Blurb

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.

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My Thoughts & Opinions

One of my favorite authors has done it again! Summers at the Saint is Mary Kay Andrews’ latest novel and in true MKA style, it is as good or better than her prior novels. They just keep getting better.

The story unfolds through multiple points of view while the characters are being introduced to the reader. The story then evolves through the lens of a third party. A little different approach from the author’s usual style, but it works very well and kept the narrative tight.

The characters are interesting and varied. I love how MKA is able to imbue fresh and diverse personalities into her characters and Summers contains an abundance of fully developed characters to both love and despise.

There are multiple storylines involving murder, embezzlement, romance, bribery and extortion. They are all neatly wrapped up in a cohesive package filled with surprising plot twists and more. Fans of MKA will not be disappointed. Five stars.

I was invited to read a DRC from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. This review is completely my own and reflects my honest thoughts and opinions.

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Book Review: Four-Alarm Homicide

• Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
• Publication Date: April 23, 2024
• Author: Diane Kelly
• Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
• Page Count: 304

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Blurb

Carpenter Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck are hot for a historical property that has just come on the market—a fire station in Nashville’s Germantown neighborhood that was built nearly a century ago.

The cousins have just begun the interior demolition work at the fire station when Joanna Hartzell, who lives in a townhouse around the corner, comes by with a plea for help. Joanna owns the right half of her building, which she proudly maintains in perfect condition, while the left side falls into disrepair: the seven adult children who inherited it years ago refuse to lift a finger on repairs. Never one to turn down a challenge, Whitney and Buck manage to acquire the rundown townhouse—though it turns out Joanna is only one of the many neighbors interested in buying the property once they’ve worked their magic.

Then Joanna shows up at the fire station confused and rambling, then collapses, never to recover. Alarm bells go off for Whitney: she suspects something—and someone—evil could be the real cause. Can she and Collin put the clues together and smoke out a killer?

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My Thoughts & Opinions

Four-Alarm Homicide is the sixth novel in the House-Flipper Mystery series, but it is the first novel that I’ve read from this author. That being said, I had no problem reading Four-Alarm as a standalone.

The story unfolds through the lens of the main character, Whitney Whitaker, a carpenter by trade and house-flipper with her cousin, Buck. There’s a few cameo appearances from Whitney’s cat, Sawdust. But I didn’t see the point of including a cat’s point of view as it didn’t add anything to the narrative.

The pacing of the novel was significantly slower than what I’m accustomed to as the murder doesn’t occur until I was at least 40% vested into the novel. I would normally give up at a little past 33%, but what kept me going were the science-based theories, and the house-flipping operations. Patience paid off in the end as the finale was unexpected and a surprise.

Being that the novel is the sixth in the series, I was pleasantly surprised that all of the characters were well developed and didn’t lose any of their attributes through the prior novels. I loved all of the characters. But dear to my heart was the crotchety old neighbor, Gideon. And then, of course, there was Whitney’s cousin, Buck.

Like most cozy mystery novels, there are a few recipes at the end which was a bonus in my book. Four stars.

I was invited to read a DRC from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. This review is completely my own and reflects my honest thoughts and opinions.

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Book Review: Picture Day at Dino Play

• Publisher: NorthSouth Books
• Publication Date: September 10, 2024
• Author: Sean Julian
• Genre: Children’s Fiction
• Page Count: 32

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Blurb

Today is picture day at the dino daycare. Freda is excited to wear her favorite hat for the photo. After playing outside with her Cretaceous friends, Freda’s hat is missing! Her teacher Miss Beak and the other students help her search until they discover the hat in the most unlikely of places: a bird has used the hat to make a nest! At first Freda wants the hat back, but then she feels that the bird needs her favorite hat more than she does. Miss Beak has a clever solution that makes the class photo picture perfect: arts-and-crafts hats for all the dinosaurs!

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My Thoughts & Opinions

Picture Day at Dino Play is such a cute story. It’s the perfect book to teach the young ones that sharing is caring. It’s the second book in the dino adventure series and it’s just as good as the first.

The illustrations continue to be colorful and adorable. And all of the characters just come alive on each page. I had fun reading it and it will be a great book for preschoolers and toddlers anytime — bedtime or story time. Five stars

I was invited to read a DRC from NorthSouth Books through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

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Book Review: Bye, Baby

• Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
• Publication Date: March 5, 2024
• Author: Carola Lovering
• Genre: Mystery & Thrillers | Women’s Fiction
• Page Count: 352

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Blurb

A missing baby. A fraught friendship. A secret that can never be told.

On a brisk fall night in a New York apartment, 35-year-old Billie West hears terrified screams. It’s her lifelong best friend Cassie Barnwell, one floor above, and she’s just realized her infant daughter has gone missing. Billie is shaken as she looks down into her own arms to see the baby, remembering—with a jolt of fear—that she is responsible for the kidnapping that has instantly shattered Cassie’s world.

So begins the story of Billie and Cassie’s friendship–both in recent weeks, and since they met twenty-three years ago, in their small Hudson Valley hometown the summer before seventh grade. Once fiercely bonded by their secrets, including a traumatic, unspeakable incident in high school, Cassie and Billie have drifted apart in adulthood, no longer the inseparable pair they used to be. Cassie is married to a wealthy man, has recently become a mother, and is building a following as a fashion and lifestyle influencer. She is desperate to leave her past behind–including Billie, who is single and childless, and no longer fits into her world. Hurt and rejected by Cassie’s new priorities, Billie will do anything to restore their friendship, even as she hides the truth about what really happened the night the baby was taken.

Told in alternating perspectives in Lovering’s signature suspenseful style, Bye Baby confronts the myriad ways friendships change and evolve over time, the lingering echoes of childhood trauma, and the impact of women’s choices on their lifelong relationships.

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My Thoughts & Opinions

Bye, Baby is the second novel that I’ve read by Carola Lovering. While I did enjoy the novel, I feel that Lovering has potential to be more.

The novel is touted as a mystery/thriller. But I found it to be more in line with women’s fiction with a touch of domestic suspense.

The story follows best friends Billie and Cassie through high school and adulthood. Told through dual points of view over dual timelines (past and present,) I was taken on a journey through an every evolving friendship between besties that over time morphed into an unrecognizable relationship. Proving that people can and do outgrow each other, especially when social status, marriage, and parenthood are added to the mix.

The novel should be read at face and entertainment value. I say that because there are some scenes in the narrative that may raise a few questions — especially for those readers that are fans of crime scene and investigative thrillers.

The characters are well developed, and I enjoyed how Lovering captured all of the characters’ personalities through high school and beyond. It just highlights the author’s ability to flesh out her characters and bring them to life on the written page.

Overall, Bye, Baby was a very good suspenseful read worthy of four stars.

I received a DRC from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

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Book Review: Broadcast Blues

• Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
• Publication Date: January 2, 2024
• Author: R. G. Belsky
• Genre: Mystery & Thriller
• Page Count: 320

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Blurb

Wendy Kyle took secrets to her grave—now, Clare Carlson is digging them up

New York City has no shortage of crime, making for a busy schedule for TV newswoman Clare Carlson. But not all crimes are created equal, and when an explosive planted in a car detonates and kills a woman, Clare knows it’ll be a huge story for her.

But it’s not only about the story—Clare also wants justice for the victim, Wendy Kyle. Wendy had sparked controversy as an NYPD officer, ultimately getting kicked off the force after making sexual harassment allegations and getting into a physical altercation with her boss. Then, she started a private investigations business, catering to women who suspected their husbands of cheating. Undoubtedly, Wendy had angered many people with her work, so the list of her suspected murderers is seemingly endless.

Despite the daunting investigation, Clare dives in headfirst. As she digs deeper, she attracts the attention of many rich and powerful people who will stop at nothing to keep her from breaking the truth about the death of Wendy Kyle—and exposing their personal secrets that Wendy took to her grave.

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My Thoughts & Opinions

Broadcast Blues is the sixth installment of the Clare Carlson series. But it is possible to read it as a standalone novel.

I thoroughly enjoyed this whodunit from a journalist’s point of view. It was different from the standard detective angle and the pacing was faster than a cozy mystery.

The main character, Clare Carlson, is the News Director at Channel 10 News. And she’s just a spitfire of a character. Her unrelenting quest for justice really shines and not only was she steadfast in her investigations, she had the personality to match — full of spunk and snark. I loved her wry sense of humor and she had a supporting cast and crew to complement her in every way. What’s surprising is that the author notes that her characters were based on real-life people that she worked with as a journalist. That tidbit just added a different dimension to an already fully developed cast of characters.

The plot contains numerous twists which kept me guessing until the end. But it wasn’t that surprising once all the evidence was gathered and laid out in a methodical manner.

Overall, Broadcast Blues was an enjoyable, suspenseful, and entertaining read. I will certainly want to read more from this author. Five stars.

I was invited to read a DRC from Oceanview Publishing through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

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