The Homewreckers by Mary Kay Andrews ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

The wait for Mary Kay Andrews's new beach read is over! I'm a relatively new fan of Andrews but I wouldn't miss her new book for anything. And this year's is a great read.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

May 2022; Macmillan Audio; 9781250852175
audio (14h 29m), ebook, print; romance

Hattie Kavanaugh has been working for a home renovation company since she was 18. She married the owner's son when she was 20 and life looked perfect, but a tragic accident left her heartbroken. Her only happiness comes on the job site where she oversees every step of the renovation of a house flipping project. The first one was a success but the second was a bit more of a flop. Mo Lopez is looking for the next hit show for HPTV when he crosses paths with Hattie. He loves her passion for restoring historic homes in Savannah and is sure this is his big break. Of course, there are several "suggestions" from the network that leads to challenges and that is on top of discovering the wallet of a long-missing woman in the medicine cabinet of the derelict home they are flipping.

I'm a big fan of the home improvement shows on HGTV so I loved that the plot revolved around flipping a house. I also love historic renovation (I grew up watching This Old House) so while the house flipping was just the setting, I really enjoyed all the details. The characters are great too. Even the arrogant co-star who is a somewhat bigshot LA designer is enjoyable. I really liked Hattie. She is down-to-earth and while she has experienced great tragedy she hasn't given up hope. Mo is also a great character even though he is a bit more idealistic. But you can tell he really wants the best and wants others to succeed - and not only because it will mean his career is a success.

I thought that The Homewreckers had a different vibe than her previous summer books that I've read (which I admit I've only read a few). I discovered last fall that Andrews also writes Christmas books (if you missed it you can check out my review of The Santa Suit). I loved it, of course, and went looking for more of her Christmas books at my digital library. The ones I found were part of some of her series. There were several aspects of The Homewreckers that reminded me of the one listened to from the Weezie and Bebe Mystery series. Hattie reminded me a lot of Weezie. Part of the familiarity might be because the same narrator who read Christmas Bliss also is reading The Homewreckers. I like Kathleen McInerney as a narrator. 

The previous books I've read have felt like complete stand alone novels, The Homewreckers had more of a start of series vibe. That might be because I felt that the character interactions and the renovation project was more the focus of the novel, even though there is a missing person/murder mystery. 

The mystery is interesting and adds tension and intrigue to the plot. But it felt secondary to the story. It is probably wishful thinking on my part, but if this is the start of a new series, I don't think there would necessarily have to be a murder mystery every time. I think old houses have all kinds of secrets and discovering them could easily be an element of a series. Again, there is no indication that this will be a series - but I can dream!

Speaking of the mystery - it is interesting but not as intense as Hello, Summer was. You will definitely want answers and there are some "oh my" discoveries. 

This book has a little bit of everything and is really a perfect book to read on the beach or by the pool or on your front porch. I listened to it while planting about 30 flowers, shrubs, herbs, and vegetable plants and it really made the work go quicker.

Buy The Homewreckers at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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