REVIEW: Look! I don’t know where I got the idea that Mary Kay Andrews was an author of romance books but, she’s NOT! I just finished The Newcomer and that is not just a romance book. It is about murder, love gone wrong, swindling old folks, robbery, kidnapping and the list goes on. This was my first novel by Ms. Andrews and it won’t be my last. This was a fabulous book. I’ll certainly be looking for more of her work in the future. 

Everything was just right. I’m not kidding. Just enough romance, enough crime, enough of the old folks butting in and complaining. I never felt overwhelmed by any one aspect of the book. You know how sometimes you want to say “just get on with it”? I never felt that. I didn’t feel like I didn’t want to continue. I kind of felt like things would work out but then I wasn’t totally positive about that either. I guess what I’m trying to say is this was a well crafted story from beginning to end. 

If you are a fan of Mary Kay Andrews, you will want to make sure you get your hands on a copy of this book. If your like me and haven’t read her books, this one will be a great place to start! 

I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher and #Netgalley for a fair and honest review. Thank you! 

SYNOPSIS: Mary Kay Andrews, the New York Times bestselling author and Queen of the Beach Reads delivers her next page-turner for the summer with The Newcomer.

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.