Spring Fever [Hardcover]

Mary Kay Andrews (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 5, 2012

The New York Times bestselling author of Summer Rental delivers her delicious new escapist novel about small towns, old flames, and deep secrets

Annajane Hudgens truly believes she is over her ex-husband, Mason Bayless.  They’ve been divorced for four years, she’s engaged to a new, terrific guy, and she’s ready to leave the small town where she and Mason had so much history.  She is so over Mason that she has absolutely no problem attending his wedding to the beautiful, intelligent, delightful Celia.  But when fate intervenes and the wedding is called to a halt as the bride is literally walking down the aisle, Annajane begins to realize that maybe she’s been given a second chance.  Maybe everything happens for a reason.  And maybe, just maybe, she wants Mason back.  But there are secrets afoot in this small southern town.  On the peaceful surface of Hideaway Lake, Annajane discovers that the past is never really gone.  Even if there are people determined to keep Annajane from getting what she wants, happiness might be hers for the taking, and the life she once had with Mason in this sleepy lake town might be in her future.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Kathleen McInerney’s narration is clear, crisp, and appealing…The Southern accent she creates is effective in all its forms: soft and sweet or acerbic and cold. This entertaining, contemporary romance is perfect for light, summer listening.” – Publishers Weekly

 

“Narrator Kathleen McInerney does the book proud, conferring subdued Southern accents on the Carolina natives and distinguishing between men and women with unobtrusive variations in key. She gives a pint-size, non-icky voice to a mystery child, Sophie, and a perky, uber-yummy Midwestern accent to the Nebraska-born manipulator, Celia. The book is a sparkler with just desserts and comeuppances dished all around.” – Newsday

 

“Kathleen McInerney perfectly presents this cheerful, funny story about second chances and true love. It’s a story full of Southern charm and witty dialogue, and McInerney’s Southern accents are well done. Her fake ‘sweet’ voice for the villainous Ceila is enough to make one’s teeth hurt, and everyone would love to have a best friend like Mason’s determined sister, Pokey. A superior listen leaves one smiling.” – AudioFile Magazine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

About the Author

MARY KAY ANDREWS is the New York Times bestselling author of Summer Rental, The Fixer Upper, Deep Dish, Blue Christmas, Savannah Breeze, Hissy Fit, Little Bitty Lies, and Savannah Blues. A former journalist for The Atlanta Journal Constitution, she lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (June 5, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312642717
• ISBN-13: 978-0312642716
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.5 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (224 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Women's Fiction > Divorce

More About the Author

Mary Kay Andrews is the author of the New York Times bestselling Savannah Breeze and Blue Christmas (HarperCollins), as well as Hissy Fit, Little Bitty Lies and Savannah Blues, all HarperPerennial.

A former reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, she wrote ten critically acclaimed mysteries, including the Callahan Garrity mystery series, under her real name, Kathy Hogan Trocheck.

A native of St. Petersburg, Florida (and a diplomate of the Maas Bros. Department Store School of Charm), she started her professional journalism career in Savannah, Georgia, where she covered the real-life murder trials which were the basis of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

As a lifelong ""junker"" the author claims to know the location of every promising thrift store, flea market and junkpile in the southeastern United States, plus many parts of Ohio.

She has a B.A. in newspaper journalism from The University of Georgia (go Dawgs!), and is a frequent lecturer and writing teacher at workshops including Emory University, The University of Georgia's Harriet Austin Writer's Workshop, the Tennessee Mountain Writer's Workshop and the Antioch Writer's Workshop. Her mysteries have been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony, Agatha and Macavity Awards.

Married for more than 31 years to her high school sweetheart, Tom, she is the mother of 24-year-old Katie Abel and 20-year-old Andrew. After a three-year hiatus in Raleigh, NC, she and her husband recently moved back to their old neighborhood in Atlanta, where they live in a restored 1926 Craftsman bungalow.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#90 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

#90 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended June 5, 2012

By Dianne E. Socci-Tetro TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews (Summer Rental)

*ARC Supplied by Publisher*

This is a book about second chances. It is about when life hands us a `do-over' do we have the depth of character and maturity to take a chance on getting things right the second time around. It is about Mason's integrity and his abiding love of a family business that will keep a town from going under. It is about Annajanes ability to love and trust someone that she has a few doubts about.

Annajane and Mason have just such a chance, when Mason's marriage to his new fiancé is interrupted by his little girl Sophie having a hot appendix and being rushed to the hospital. You see, Annajane and Mason were once married, but they didn't quite make it. Now Mason is getting married to someone who is most definitely NOT the one he was destined to be with the rest of his life. Annajane is engaged to a musician now, but even though Mason is her ex-husband, she has been invited to his wedding to Celia.

One of the main issues this story deals with is the Bayless's family business Quixie soda, a regional product, and the possibility that the family company will be taken over by a much larger company. There is more to it but I don't want to ruin the story for you.

After the somewhat slightly lackluster release of last year's "Summer Rental", this book was just such a pleasant surprise. I was worried that Ms. Andrews would keep on with the notion that those of us who like Southern chick lit would be appeased with another book like "Summer Rental"
What she gave us with "Spring Fever" is one of the most delightful, witty, charming stories I have read in ages. The characters are so well defined that you could swear you've met them before or at least people just like them. Everyone knows a couple that was just perfect for each other, but too stubborn to realize it themselves. I'm sure everyone has know a back-stabbing SOB like Celia is or a money obsessed person like Mason's brother. And this is just one of the things that makes this novel such a delight to read. The descriptions of the area, the factory, and the secondary characters are all richly written and 100% believable.. The dialogue is believable and so is the story. The ease of reading this novel was truly pleasant for me.

This will defiantly be a book I will read every springtime.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars all the way. Wish there were an option for 100 stars! June 8, 2012

By Dana R. Casella

Format:Hardcover

A 402 page book started last night and finished early this afternoon? Doesn't that say it all? I LOVED, loved, loved Mary Kay Andrews' newest novel, Spring Fever. Annajane and Mason were in love and married. Now Annajane is watching Mason stand at the alter as his new bride walks towards him. Then the fun begins! There is corporate back stabbing and there are lies & secrets, some of which I never saw coming (which is a sign of a good writer!). There is love and loss and so much fun along the way. So much happens in 402 pages. I hated to read the last page because every second spent reading this gem was joyful! Mary Kay Andrews always writes quick paced books with surprises. This one I loved as much as the first of hers that I read years ago, Hissy Fit. Now I sit and wait for another!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fit the bill of what I was wanting to read June 13, 2012

By Holly K TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

I am not a die-hard Mary Kay Andrews fan, but after reading three novels by her, I am becoming one. After seeing Ms. Andrews' name for years in bookstores everywhere, I finally picked up "The Fixer-Upper" in the fall of 2009 and gave it 4-stars. In June of 2011, I read "Summer Rental" and gave that book 4-stars as well. Neither book was absolutely the best book I have ever read in the genre, but I enjoyed them both and thought the books were good enough for me to seek out "Spring Fever" when it was just recently published.

I finished it this afternoon and have to say I enjoyed it quite a bit. I have been dealing with some major health issues with my aging mother and really needed a book that would draw me in enough to provide a distraction but wasn't so deep as to be a difficult read. I also needed an uplifting book but didn't want one so sappy that you could hear the violins playing in the background. This novel absolutely fit the bill. There were enough twists and turns in the story to keep me turning pages (one night way after I should have been asleep) but I knew everything would turn out well in the end which I found was very comforting. I knew where things were headed but I had no idea how we were going to get there. It isn't quite a five-star book for me, but it was pretty close.

I have already purchased "Hissy Fit" for my Kindle and will be looking to read other books of hers. Three very solid reads that I enjoyed a lot. Mary Kay Andrews is about to become a "go to" novelist for me