Mary Kay Andrews is known as the Queen of the Summer Beach Read. (If that's not an official title, it really should be.) She reliably gives us one of the first "books of summer" every year. We all look forward to this start of this summer tradition. Once again, she does not disappoint. Out on May 4th, 2021, this newest novel holds all the ingredients for a great Summer read; a little suspense, a little mystery, several offbeat characters, then throw in some romance and a whole heap of human nature. Mary Kay, also a decorator enthusiast, puts her personal love into the book with descriptions of room remodels and furniture refreshes. So while reading about Letty, Joe and Maya, you can also learn how to make your own chalk paint! Winner!
This was a great read, with enough tense moments to keep you reading well past bedtime. This book has also made me decide to sell the house in Atlanta and move to a motel unit on the beach somewhere in Florida. It sounds perfect to me!
#marykayandrews #stmartinspress #summerreading #beachread #thenewcomer #netgalley
In trouble and on the run...
After she discovers her sister Tanya dead on the floor of her fashionable New York City townhouse, Letty Carnahan is certain she knows who did it: Tanya’s ex; sleazy real estate entrepreneur Evan Wingfield. Even in the grip of grief and panic Letty heeds her late sister’s warnings: “If anything bad happens to me—it’s Evan. Promise me you’ll take Maya and run. Promise me.”
With a trunkful of emotional baggage...
So Letty grabs her sister’s Mercedes and hits the road with her wailing four-year-old niece Maya. Letty is determined to out-run Evan and the law, but run to where? Tanya, a woman with a past shrouded in secrets, left behind a “go-bag” of cash and a big honking diamond ring—but only one clue: a faded magazine story about a sleepy mom-and-pop motel in a Florida beach town with the improbable name of Treasure Island. She sheds her old life and checks into an uncertain future at The Murmuring Surf Motel.
The No Vacancy sign is flashing & the sharks are circling...
And that’s the good news. Because The Surf, as the regulars call it, is the winter home of a close-knit flock of retirees and snowbirds who regard this odd-duck newcomer with suspicion and down-right hostility. As Letty settles into the motel’s former storage room, she tries to heal Maya’s heartache and unravel the key to her sister’s shady past, all while dodging the attention of the owner’s dangerously attractive son Joe, who just happens to be a local police detective. Can Letty find romance as well as a room at the inn—or will Joe betray her secrets and put her behind bars? With danger closing in, it’s a race to find the truth and right the wrongs of the past.