The Homewreckersby Mary Kay Andrews
Rating: ★★★
isbn: 9781250278364
Publication Date: May 3, 2022
Pages: 440
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
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.
I know Mary Kay Andrews is hit and miss, and yet I still can’t resist grabbing her new releases – although I’ve gotten better about getting them from the library when I can. This was, thankfully, a library loan, because it was a very average effort on Andrews’ part.
Overall, it was too long; at 440 pages it would probably would have held my attention better with 100 fewer pages. There’s a cold case mystery involved that’s actually pretty good, except that the killer was transparent in spite of the myriad suspects and red herrings thrown in. View Spoiler »
There’s also a ‘romance’, which is what the book is mostly marketed for, and it’s terribly contrived and thrown together, with no chemistry, no tension and no build-up. Almost all the romantic page time was wasted on what every reader knew was the red herring romance: the super gorgeous TV star that’s just pretending to fall for his newbie co-host to bolster buzz. Andrews’ romances are always low-key, which is why I read them; they’re never front-and-center, but generally the outcome of the real story line, but this one was just flat, even for a low-key romance.
I enjoyed the details about Savannah, watching the house they were restoring come together, and as usual, Andrews’ writes likeable and realistic characters. These highlights were enough to keep me reading, but overall it was a solidly average read and one I doubt I’d recommend when there are quite a few of her titles that are better reads.