#MMBBR Review and Guest Post: BEACH TOWN, Mary Kay Andrews

Greer Hennessy needs palm trees.

As a movie location scout, picture-perfect is the name of the game. But her last project literally went up in flames, and her career is on the verge of flaming out. Greer has been given one more chance, if she can find the perfect undiscovered beach hideaway for a big-budget movie. She zeroes in on a sleepy Florida panhandle town called Cypress Key. There's one motel, a marina, a long stretch of pristine beach and an old fishing pier with a community casino-which will be perfect for the film's explosive climax.

There's just one problem. Eben Thibadeaux, the town mayor, completely objects to Greer's plan. A lifelong resident of Cypress Key, Eben wants the town to be revitalized, not commercialized. After a toxic paper plant closed, the bay has only recently been reborn, and Eb has no intention of letting anybody screw with his town again. But Greer has a way of making things happen, regardless of obstacles. And Greer and Eb are way too attracted to each other for either of them to see reason.

Between an ambitious director and his entourage-including a spoiled "It Boy" lead actor-who parachute into town, a conniving local ex-socialite, and a cast of local fangirls and opportunists who catch the movie bug, nothing is going to be the same in Cypress Key. Now Greer is forced to make some hard choices: about the people and the town she's come to care about, and about her own life. True love is only for the movies, right? Can Greer find a way to be the heroine in her own life story? Told with inimitable heart and humor, Mary Kay Andrews' Beach Town is the perfect summer destination. 


Mary Kay Andrews is the pen name of American writer Kathy Hogan Trocheck, based in Atlanta, who has authored a number of best-selling books under the Andrews pen name since 2002.  Trochek graduated from the University of Georgia with a journalism degree in 1976. She worked as a reporter at a number of papers, and spent 11 years as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution before leaving to write fiction full-time in 1991. She published ten mystery novels under her own name between 1992 and 2000, and switched to the Andrews pen name in 2002 to author Savannah Blues, which marked a change in her style to more Southern-flavored themes.

Mary Kay Andrews

A such a fun and exciting story with some really interesting characters!  What fun it would be to be a movie location scout!  But also stressful, difficult and challenging as well!   I loved going along on the ride with Greer, as she negotiated through her bumps in the road.  It was fun to encounter all the people she did and to see how she would figure it all out!  I cannot help but get wrapped up in Mary Kay Andrews books.  She allows you to feel good, but you  also go through some tough situations with some very special characters.    With the voice and tone we now have come to love and expect from Mary Kay Andrews Beach Town is not to be missed this summer! 4 stars

TOP FIVE BEACH HOUSE MUST HAVES

By Mary Kay Andrews

New York Times bestselling author of BEACH TOWN

http://marykayandrews.com/

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Over the years my family and I have stayed in dozens of rented beach houses. We’ve hit the highs—gorgeous beachfront mansions complete with swimming pools and dual kitchens—and the lows—glorified shacks with rickety furniture and questionable plumbing.

So when it came time to buy and renovate our own beach house on Tybee Island, Georgia, I already had a list of my top five must haves for a great beach house.

1. Good mattresses and nice linens. Nothing’s worse than hitting the hay after a long day at the beach –then spending a sleepless night because the mattress was purchased during the Eisenhower administration and your sheets are so cheap and scratchy they torture your sunburn.
2. An outdoor area. Be it a screened porch, a patio or a back deck, there’s nothing better than lounging around outside—preferably with a great view of the beach, or at least within earshot of the sound of the surf. The screened porch at our Tybee Island beach house has a great old glider whose rusty squeak is the perfect beach music lullaby.
3. An adequate kitchen. Nobody wants to be tied to a hot stove when you’re on vacation. But on the other hand, it’s a great time and money saver if you can at least prepare cereal for breakfast and fix sandwiches to take to the beach---especially if you have small children. We love to pick up fresh shrimp or seafood at a local market and “cook in” at least one night during our beach week, so at the bare minimum your beach house kitchen should be outfitted with all the basic amenities—including pots and pans, and enough dishes and flatware—and REAL GLASS wineglasses, for your whole crowd.
4. Location, location, location. Your beach house doesn’t have to have oceanfront views—although that’s a huge plus. But if your beach is anything like ours, where parking is limited, you’ll want to be within biking or strolling distance of the shore. And easy access to a grocery (and liquor) store and walkable restaurants is a huge plus. Our vacation rental home on Tybee Island, outside of Savannah, is on the bike bath, and our grocery store, the IGA, is close enough to walk over to fetch what we need.
5. Don’t forget the fun stuff! We’ve stocked our house with shelves of puzzles, board games, DVDs of movies for all ages, crayons and coloring books—and most importantly, BEACH READS. Paperback romances, thrillers, mysteries, and of course, the latest Mary Kay Andrews titles, like SUMMER RENTAL, SPRING FEVER, LADIES’ NIGHT, SAVE THE DATE, and the newest arrival, BEACH TOWN.