REVIEW: I’m running behind and just finished The Homewreckers by Mary Kay Andrews on Pub morning. If you love home make-over shows you will love this book. If you follow MKA on social media you know that she restores and decorates cottages. This was a fun book and I have liked the books I’ve read of hers in the past. I think she is one of those authors most of her fans buy her books blindly.

The story is about a woman named Hattie who works for her father-in-law restoring homes. She married the bosses son and became a widow at the age of 25. It is seven years later when this book begins. Hattie bought a run-down mansion and wound up selling it at a loss. There was just too much to fix and now she is out to prove herself. She is offered the co-host spot on a beach house renovation reality show. There are a few men on the show that may or may not become love interests.

I liked the characters. They were complex and MKA did a fabulous job with them. Hattie was down to earth and still grieving and missing her late husband. Time stands still for her until this new reality show comes along. It was fun to see her get wrapped up in this project and start living her life again. You have the other characters from Hollywood and you can imagine the fun that brought to the book. 

I have to admit that the first quarter of the book did not grab me like I thought it would. Then the introduction of the disappearance of a local school teacher from years before got my attention. Of course, you know I love a good mystery. MKA brought it! The last three fourths of the book was gangbusters! I really enjoyed it. I spent most of yesterday reading because I had to see what was going to happen and how the disappearance of the beloved school teacher worked out.

If you love mysteries and reality TV, then this is a book just for you! I’m really hoping Mary Kay Andrews might revisit this story line and make it into a series. I think she could write us a few more interesting sequels. I want to know more. So will  you!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from #Netgalley and #St.MartinsPress. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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SYNOPSIS: Summer begins with Mary Kay Andrews, in this delightful summer read about flipping houses, and finding true love.

Hattie Kavanaugh went to work restoring homes for Kavanaugh & Son Restorations at eighteen, married the boss’s son at twenty, and became a widow at twenty-five. Now, she’s passionate about her work, but that’s the only passion in her life. “Never love something that can’t love you back,” is advice her father-in-law gives her, but Hattie doesn’t follow it and falls head-over-heels for a money pit of a house. She’s determined to make it work, but disaster after disaster occurs, and Hattie’s dream might cost Kavanaugh & Son their livelihood. Hattie needs money, and fast.

When a slick Hollywood producer shows up in her hometown of Savannah, Georgia, she gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: star in a beach house renovation reality show called The Homewreckers, cast against a male lead who may be a love interest, or may be the ultimate antagonist. Soon, there’s more at stake than bad pipes and dry rot: during the demolition, evidence comes to light that points to the mysterious disappearance of a young wife and mother years before.

With a burned out detective investigating the case, an arsonist on the loose, two men playing with her emotions, and layers upon layers of vintage wallpaper causing havoc, it’s a question of who will flip, who will flop, and if Hattie will ever get her happily-ever-after.