Title: Beach Town
Author: Mary Kay Andrews
First published May 19, 2015
448 pages, Hardcover
ISBN: 9781250065933 (ISBN10: 1250065933)
Rating: 3.67
Overview
Emerson Jones has never been to the beach before. As a small-town girl from Ohio, she’s always dreamed of seeing the ocean and feeling the sand between her toes.
So when she lands a job as a housekeeper in a beach town in North Carolina, she’s thrilled. But the reality of her new job isn’t quite what she expected.
The house she’s supposed to clean is a mess, there are bugs everywhere, and the owner is nowhere to be found.
Desperate to make a good impression and keep her job, Emerson sets out to clean up the house and find the missing owner. Along the way, she meets a cast of quirky characters, including a handsome local fisherman and a group of feisty retirees who are determined to make the most of their golden years.
But when a hurricane threatens to destroy the town, Emerson must rally her new friends and find the courage to save the place she’s come to love.
Told with Mary Kay Andrews’ signature wit and charm, Beach House for Rent is a heartwarming tale of friendship, love, and second chances that will leave you longing for a summer by the sea.
About the Author
Mary Kay Andrews is a talented author, with 30 bestselling novels and one cookbook under her belt. Her works include titles such as The Homewreckers, The Santa Suit, The Newcomer, Hello, Summer, Sunset Beach, The High Tide Club, The Weekenders, Beach Town, Save the Date, Ladies’ Night, Christmas Bliss, Spring Fever, Summer Rental, The Fixer Upper, Deep Dish, Blue Christmas, Savannah Breeze, Hissy Fit, Little Bitty Lies, and Savannah Blues.
Originally from St. Petersburg, Florida, Mary Kay earned a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia. She worked as a reporter at several newspapers, including The Savannah Morning News, The Marietta Journal, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where she spent ten years before leaving to pursue a career in fiction writing.
Her first novel, Every Crooked Nanny, was published in 1992 under her real name, Kathy Hogan Trocheck. She then wrote ten acclaimed mysteries before taking on the pen name Mary Kay Andrews for her novel Savannah Blues in 2002.
Hissy Fit became her first New York Times bestseller in 2006, and since then she has had twelve more bestsellers on various lists including The New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly. Her novels have been translated into several languages, including German, Italian, Polish, Slovenian, Hungarian, Dutch, Czech, and Japanese.
Mary Kay and her family split their time between Atlanta and Tybee Island, GA, where they have restored two beach homes named The Breeze Inn and Ebbtide, both of which are fictional places from Mary Kay’s novels and available to rent through Tybee Vacation Rentals. When she’s not cooking, spoiling her grandchildren, or working on her next book, Mary Kay enjoys treasure hunting and fixing up old houses.
Editoral Review
Mary Kay Andrews, the bestselling author of “Beach Town,” has once again proven her mastery of the contemporary romance genre with this work that was first published on May 19, 2015. Filled with the perfect blend of humor, romance, and suspense, this novel captures the essence of small-town beach living and the efforts of a heralded, naive movie producer in saving an iconic Florida beach town from financial ruin.
“Beach Town” tells the story of Greer Hennessy, a struggling film producer tasked with creating an epic Hollywood blockbuster. Despite the numerous setbacks she faces, including a lack of funding and a difficult screenwriter, Greer and her team find themselves in an unlikely location, a small Florida beach town named Cypress Key.
Here, Greer does her best to adapt to the local vibe while juggling her movie-making ambitions in a setting that threatens to derail her dreams. Andrews’ writing style is highly accessible, providing readers with a clear picture of the setting, and the vibrant characters in this book come to life from page one.
Despite being written in the contemporary romance genre, “Beach Town” has a surprising depth to it that allows it to weave together themes of love, friendship, ambition, and corruption in a multi-layered tapestry. One of the most significant strengths of this book is its relatability.
We have all found ourselves in a new place that we simply cannot understand, and the author captures the essence of that feeling in the protagonist Greer. Her struggles to adjust to life away from the bright lights of Los Angeles are humorous, poignant, and realistic.
The book’s pacing is well-timed, keeping the reader hooked from one page to the next. Andrews does a marvelous job of balancing the various subplots, creating a cohesive and well-structured narrative.
While the romance angle is predictable, the author’s deft ability to weave together different storylines keeps the novel continually fresh and intriguing. Among the book’s shortcomings are its predictable plot and somewhat stereotypical characters.
While the setting is refreshingly different, some of the characters feel like they were plucked off the shelf of a stock character store. More character development would have been welcome.
Overall, “Beach Town” is a heartwarming read that offers an escape from the daily grind, transporting readers to the sandy beaches of Florida. Fans of contemporary romance novels will find much to love in Andrews’ latest work.
It is the perfect novel for summer reading, and anyone looking for a novel set in a small beach town should pick this one up. On a scale of 1-5, this reviewer awards “Beach Town” a 3.5.
