New York Times bestselling author and Queen of the Beach Reads Mary Kay Andrews delivers her next blockbuster, Hello Summer. It’s a new season… Conley Hawkins left her family’s small town newspaper, The Silver Bay Beacon, in the rearview mirror years ago. Now a star reporter for a big-city paper, Conley is exactly where she wants to be and is about to take a fancy new position in Washington, … is about to take a fancy new position in Washington, D.C. Or so she thinks.
For small town scandals…
When the new job goes up in smoke, Conley finds herself right back where she started, working for her sister, who is trying to keep The Silver Bay Beacon afloat–and she doesn’t exactly have warm feelings for Conley. Soon she is given the unenviable task of overseeing the local gossip column, “Hello, Summer.”
And big-time secrets.
Then Conley witnesses an accident that ends in the death of a local congressman–a beloved war hero with a shady past. The more she digs into the story, the more dangerous it gets. As an old heartbreaker causes trouble and a new flame ignites, it soon looks like their sleepy beach town is the most scandalous hotspot of the summer.
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How ’bout we start summer early? No one does small town secrets like MKA! Bonus: the main character is a journalist and the news is NOT fake.
Mary Kay Andrew’s books are exceptional works of art! Her writings are paintings in prose. She portrays Southern women as heartwarming romantic with guts and Hello Summer is true to form. I lost myself in this story of Conley Hawkins, a journalist who through no fault of her own, has no job, and no place to live. She decides to go back to her childhood home and working for her sister running the small newspaper in town. There is plenty of drama, romance, family relationships and small town life that keeps me turning the pages, thanks to the author’s writing. Excellent reading, fast-paced, well worth a reader’s time. All thoughts and opinions are my own!
The calendar may disagree with me but Summer, 2020, starts on May 5 when the new Mary Kay Andrews book is published. I am a major fan and every year she publishes a perfect beach read to get her readers ready for the lazy days of summer. Her new book continues her trend of well written books with believable characters and a beautiful setting in a beach town.
Conley is leaving her job as a reporter in Atlanta and headed for an even better job in DC. Her car is packed and her condo has been rented and all she has to endure before she hits the road is a going away party from her colleagues. She finds out during the party that the new job has fallen through. She has no job, no prospects and nowhere to go, so she heads home to Silver Bay, Florida, to her G’mama’s house. Her grandmother is a feisty 90 plus year old who lives with her long time housekeeper Winnie, who is almost part of the family. Her estranged sister, Grayson, also lives in Silver Bay and is the editor at the Beacon, a small newspaper owned by their family for years. After some persuasion from her grandmother, Conley decides to stay in Silver Bay and work at the newspaper until she can find a big city job and advance her career. The first job that her sister gives her at the newspaper is to proofread and re-write the gossip column, called Hello, Summer, that has been written by an old, quirky, long time town resident who loves to get the gossip and feels that she is the pulse of the community.
Life changes for Conley when she arrives at an accident scene where the local Congressman is killed. He is a war-hero and much loved in the community but when Conley starts to look into his background, she finds a first wife and 2 children who are never mentioned plus several very expensive houses and a very rich lifestyle. She and Grayson agree that this is a mystery worth looking into. The more she digs into the story, the more dangerous it becomes to her. Her story also gets noticed by CNN and this may be her ticket out of town.
This is the book that everyone will be reading this summer!
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
I love the new style of books Mary Kay Andrews has begun writing. The mystery and intrigue are interesting. And the fact that she continues to include fun and quirky characters is entertaining. The story keeps you flipping the pages quickly. The characters are well developed and will have you loving or hating them. There were several times when I laughed out loud at some of the crazy antics.
At one point in time, I wondered why the author had spent so much time developing on particular characters and then the person just dropped out as an important part of the story. But was I ever wrong! That’s why Mary Kay Andrews is such an amazing author. Because not only does she bring the individual back at the end; she brings it with a bang!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I am a huge Mary Kay Andrews fan and can’t wait to get lost in another adventure. She definitely keeps me entertained!
You know that summer is just around the corner when the summer beach reads start showing up. And Hello, Summer was the perfect read for me to start the season. Like always, Mary Kay Andrews has once again written a wonderful story that I just got lost in.
Conley’s career takes a detour as she has goes back home to her small town, family-owned newspaper. It’s only temporary as she waits for another shot at a big-time jig. And then the accident happens. Something doesn’t feel right to Conley and she just can’t let it go. Her ‘big-city’ journalism skills come in handy as she searches for answers and uncovers things that most everyone wants to be left covered.
I love Mary Kay’s stories for the fact that they are great summer reads while also having depth to them. There is always an exciting story that draws me in and keeps the pages turning. They are great books in which I can escape life for a little bit.
Hello, Summer is definitely a book you need to add to your summer reading list. It will keep you enthralled and entertained, for sure. I just love her books and I highly recommend this one!
Wow! Mary Kay Andrews did it again. I got an early version of this through Netgalley to review. This is my honest opinion. I loved the story. It was a little different from her other books I’ve read, but the beach is still heavily intrenched in the story. It took me awhile to get into the story at first, but once I did, it was great. Sarah Conley Hawkins just lost her new job with a Washington D. C. digital paper. So she comes home to Silver Bay, Florida to regroup. She ends up doing some writing for her family’s paper, Silver Bay Beacon. She starts out editing Rowena’s gossip column called ‘Hello, Summer’. They are an absolute hoot to read. Then it gets really interesting to see how she investigates the death of a prominent local congressman after she comes up on the accident. The more she gets into it the more she angers his family, friends and neighbors of the town along with death threats. In the midst of all this, she mends things with her sister, has a new love interest with an old neighbor and decides to stay. Well done!
This author always delivers on a fun beach read. I enjoyed this one even more than usual because it was about a former newspaper reporter returning home and getting involved in a mystery. The hero, similar to Ms. Andrews, wrote for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Of course, “home” is a house on the beach with deck and ocean views AND “the one who got away,” is very available. Literally, the “man next door.”
Read it!
Mary Kay Andrews is one of my favorite authors and this is another of her books that I really enjoyed. It’s a perfect summer read with wonderful characters.
A tenacious heroine, trying to make it in the newspaper biz, noses out a mystery among the politically-connected rich & famous of Florida beach town, while she juggles strained family dynamics and a bit of romance. Many hours of entertainment in this quintessential Mary Kay Andrews story narrated by the talented Kathleen McInerney!
Fun summer read. Light, but with a decent mystery and a couple of good under-the-radar plot twists.
When Your Career Plans Take a Dive..How About a Visit Home?
> 4.5 Stars
>Recommended for Teen – Adult
>Language – Mostly acceptable, but WHY the random F-bombs?
>Tense situations, attempted murder, but no horrible, gory violence
>Sex – It happens, but without detail. If any readers are incredibly naive, they might not get it.
>Characters – I found them likable and believable.
Plot no spoilers:
Conley gets hired to go work at a prestigious newspaper, but oops. After accepting the position and quitting her job, the paper goes digital and her new position essentially evaporates.
Discouraged, but not without hope, she returns to her hometown. Although her family owns the local paper, she has NO intention of staying and getting tied down to what she sees as a dead-end job.
Then, wouldn’t you know it? She and an old “friend” are the first to arrive upon a fatal one car accident. But is it really an accident? The victim is a well-known politician who is loved by many but equally despised by others. No surprise: His family life is a tangled nightmare.
The book is a pretty straightforward mystery with a bit of humor and a dash of possible romance.
It might be classified as a cosy mystery by some. Others might say no.
Try it.
Any novel by Mary Kay Andrews is perfection! The characters become part of your life from beginning to end! The plots are well developed and truly entertaining! A must read!
A delightful summer read. Great characters and a nice story line.
I loved all her books, and this one was the same; I can’t wait until the next book comes out!
I liked this book, but I found Conley a little too driven for my taste. Interesting journey putting the pieces together. I thought the resolution was dragged out. I’m not sure I believe Buddy could possibly be that heroic. Also, Sean Kelly was way too accommodating.
Another fantastic read from Mary Kay Andrews! Hello, Summer is great for a summer read, or if you are looking to escape from everyday life. There is a little bit of romance in this one, but the main focus is on Conley’s journalism and the accident that she witnesses. It was a bit of a tome at almost 500 pages, so I was happy that I decided to do the audio. Kathleen McInerney made for a lovely narrator, and I loved the way she did each character’s voice. Doing the audiobook made things go by pretty quickly, but there are also short chapters as well which clearly helps.
Before Hello, Summer, I had read the last two books from Andrews and loved them, and while I really enjoyed this one, it wasn’t quite a five-star-read for me. I think it was a little too long with some of it feeling unnecessary, and Conley wasn’t as great of a character as I have come to expect from MKA. Plus I just wanted a little bit more romance and less of the political aspect. However, don’t let that stop you from reading it because it is definitely still worth it and there are a lot of things I did love about the book. It ended up being very twisty, and I loved the addition of the HELLO, SUMMER column (clearly where the book got its name).
Hello, Summer is a fun Sothern Lit novel, and although I wouldn’t completely consider it a beach read, it was definitely fun and endearing. MKA is an autobuy author for me and nothing has changed from reading this book. I adored the end of it, and there were so many parts that made me laugh. I also really enjoyed the journalism aspect and love that MKA is writing about what she knows. If you are a fan of this author then I definitely recommend reading Hello, Summer.
Living in Florida I was interested in the shady politician. We seem to hav an abundance of these.
Hard to put down
It never fails. You pick up a Mary Kay Andrews book and you can’t put it down until you’ve finished. This is certainly true of Hello, Summer.
This story is full of extraordinary characters that you can’t help but stay with and see the story through until the end. When it comes to Mary Kay Andrew’s characters you can’t help but become invested in their story.
Hello, Summer is an incredible and beautifully written story that is a definite must read! Mary Kay Andrews background is very evident in this story which made it even more compelling.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
Hello Summer is one incredible summer beach read! Mary Kay Andrews never disappoints and she more than delivered in Hello Summer! The characters in this book are delightful, charming, quirky and relatable. The town of Silver Bay is every bit as enchanting as it name sounds. This novel is packed with mystery, murder, suspense and all the fun, magical things that make a summer beach read so good! I’ve rated it a five, but this deserves a rating far far above a five!