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Beach Town #0.5
Change of Scene
This 100 page prequel novella to Mary Kay Andrews's bestselling novel Beach Town is sure to delight fans and new readers alike.Greer Hennessy is a movie location scout whose latest project has literally gone up in flames. After an avocado field accidentally catches fire on the set of her new movie, she is out of a job and practically run out of town. With her feisty grandmother Dearie, a Golden Age starlet who still has a lot of vigor left in her, complicating her life, Greer needs a bit of a rest. But Greer's own mother then drops a bombshell on her that will change Greer's life completely, and raise questions about her own father that she can't ignore. In desperate need of a second chance, can Greer find what she's looking for in the one last job she can a movie called BEACH TOWN? But first, she needs to find the perfect spot...
164 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 5, 2016
359 people are currently reading
3139 people want to read
About the author
Mary Kay Andrews
52 books14.2k followershttps://marykayandrews.com/
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MARY KAY ANDREWS is the New York Times bestselling author of 30 novels (including The Homewreckers, The Santa Suit, The Newcomer; Hello, Summer; Sunset Beach; The High Tide Club; The Weekenders; Beach Town; Save the Date; Ladies’ Night; Christmas Bliss; Spring Fever; Summer Rental; The Fixer Upper; Deep Dish; Blue Christmas; Savannah Breeze; Hissy Fit; Little Bitty Lies; and Savannah Blues), and one cookbook, The Beach House Cookbook.
A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, she earned a B.A. in journalism from The University of Georgia. After a 14-year career working as a reporter at newspapers including The Savannah Morning News, The Marietta Journal, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where she spent the final ten years of her career, she left journalism in 1991 to write fiction.
Her first novel, Every Crooked Nanny, was published in 1992 by HarperCollins. She went on to write ten critically acclaimed mysteries under her real name, Kathy Hogan Trocheck. In 2002, she assumed the pen name Mary Kay Andrews with the publication of Savannah Blues. In 2006, Hissy Fit became her first New York Times bestseller, followed by twelve more New York Times, USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly bestsellers. To date, her novels have been published in German, Italian, Polish, Slovenian, Hungarian, Dutch, Czech and Japanese.
She and her family divide their time between Atlanta and Tybee Island, GA, where they cook up new recipes in two restored beach homes, The Breeze Inn and Ebbtide—both named after fictional places in Mary Kay’s novels, and both available to rent through Tybee Vacation Rentals. In between cooking, spoiling her grandkids, and plotting her next novel, Mary Kay is an intrepid treasure hunter whose favorite pastime is junking and fixing up old houses.
https://www.facebook.com/marykayandre...
https://www.instagram.com/marykayandr...
MARY KAY ANDREWS is the New York Times bestselling author of 30 novels (including The Homewreckers, The Santa Suit, The Newcomer; Hello, Summer; Sunset Beach; The High Tide Club; The Weekenders; Beach Town; Save the Date; Ladies’ Night; Christmas Bliss; Spring Fever; Summer Rental; The Fixer Upper; Deep Dish; Blue Christmas; Savannah Breeze; Hissy Fit; Little Bitty Lies; and Savannah Blues), and one cookbook, The Beach House Cookbook.
A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, she earned a B.A. in journalism from The University of Georgia. After a 14-year career working as a reporter at newspapers including The Savannah Morning News, The Marietta Journal, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where she spent the final ten years of her career, she left journalism in 1991 to write fiction.
Her first novel, Every Crooked Nanny, was published in 1992 by HarperCollins. She went on to write ten critically acclaimed mysteries under her real name, Kathy Hogan Trocheck. In 2002, she assumed the pen name Mary Kay Andrews with the publication of Savannah Blues. In 2006, Hissy Fit became her first New York Times bestseller, followed by twelve more New York Times, USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly bestsellers. To date, her novels have been published in German, Italian, Polish, Slovenian, Hungarian, Dutch, Czech and Japanese.
She and her family divide their time between Atlanta and Tybee Island, GA, where they cook up new recipes in two restored beach homes, The Breeze Inn and Ebbtide—both named after fictional places in Mary Kay’s novels, and both available to rent through Tybee Vacation Rentals. In between cooking, spoiling her grandkids, and plotting her next novel, Mary Kay is an intrepid treasure hunter whose favorite pastime is junking and fixing up old houses.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
April 24, 2020
This was so out of line with what this author normally writes -it actually depressed and even angered me. I read to get away from my problems and one of them is a mother in a nursing home...well I sure don't want to read about the same thing. Especially not written in what is supposed to be a comedic style but to me, was simply annoying.
I understand why the Mother didn't want to take care of her own mother and left it up to the Granddaughter to do so -but this info should have come out early in this book so we could have had some sympathy instead of being annoyed with everyone. I'm very glad these scenes might have been cut out of the final book; they were not needed.
I understand why the Mother didn't want to take care of her own mother and left it up to the Granddaughter to do so -but this info should have come out early in this book so we could have had some sympathy instead of being annoyed with everyone. I'm very glad these scenes might have been cut out of the final book; they were not needed.
April 5, 2016
A special thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Mary Kay Andrews combines her witty trademark southern style with CHANGE OF SCENE, a prequel to Beach Town (highly recommend), coming in paperback format, May 2016 with a sneak preview included- providing insights to the character, Greer Hennessy and what takes her from LA, to Florida’s Northwest Coastal area.
An inter-generational witty and heart-warming tale of three strong women--all with a Hollywood background:
A Feisty Grandmother: A Hollywood career, Dearie (Deidre)—eighty-seven, is still hanging on and gets kicked out of every nursing home. She is a non-conformist and does not follow rules. She is all about having fun. If they do not find her a new home, she will have to move in with daughter or granddaughter, Greer or Lise. Faced with long waiting lists, Lise says no to her apartment since she is doing phone sex. Greer lives in a one bedroom and her grandmother will not make the best housemate. Her grandmother wants in the Motion Picture Home.
An Independent Mother Lise, now too old for Hollywood acting gigs, has turned to phone sex in order to keep up her expensive lifestyle, and pay for keeping her mom in a home. After all, she was performing a valuable service—in her mind it was just another acting gig. Plus she is not herself and her daughter is worried. What secrets is she hiding? What about Cary Grant?
A Tenacious Granddaughter: Age thirty-six, a film location scout, Greer Hennessey was a city girl, born and raised in L.A. She could fake the seasons with spray paint and provide all kinds of movie magic, and props where needed. A talent scout-- her latest project has turned into a disaster. She was accustomed to dealing with difficult people; however, her gift was winning them over, persuading them that her way was the best way.
Greer, is now jobless—turning into one ugly mess, she had allowed herself to get conned on location, there was a fire, and now Hank was blaming her. Now on to the next location and job. Her career, her mom, and now her grandmother to worry about. Trying to find Dearie a place to call home, while trying to take care of finances.
Plus her mom wants her to look up her dad, Clint down in Florida Panhandle. She is looking for a small town beach, laid back location with palm trees, old motels, a pier, with a throw back feeling-- to shoot a film. Did her father even have any interest in reaching out to his daughter?
Three strong independent and funny women, fighting all odds and many life lessons. As always, Mary Kay Andrews has the best summer beach reads, drawing you to the coastal seaside with fun, mischief, and sass.
Highly recommend BEACH TOWN and just finished THE WEEKENDERS, one of her best, coming, May 17 (2016 Best Beach Cover)! Of course, I love books set in Florida and a long time fan of Mary Kay Andrews.
Every time I think of this location she is searching for, I think of Palm Beach County's—1920’s Lake Worth Casino Building and Beach Complex, a throwback, recently renovated.
JDCMustReadBooks
Mary Kay Andrews combines her witty trademark southern style with CHANGE OF SCENE, a prequel to Beach Town (highly recommend), coming in paperback format, May 2016 with a sneak preview included- providing insights to the character, Greer Hennessy and what takes her from LA, to Florida’s Northwest Coastal area.
An inter-generational witty and heart-warming tale of three strong women--all with a Hollywood background:
A Feisty Grandmother: A Hollywood career, Dearie (Deidre)—eighty-seven, is still hanging on and gets kicked out of every nursing home. She is a non-conformist and does not follow rules. She is all about having fun. If they do not find her a new home, she will have to move in with daughter or granddaughter, Greer or Lise. Faced with long waiting lists, Lise says no to her apartment since she is doing phone sex. Greer lives in a one bedroom and her grandmother will not make the best housemate. Her grandmother wants in the Motion Picture Home.
An Independent Mother Lise, now too old for Hollywood acting gigs, has turned to phone sex in order to keep up her expensive lifestyle, and pay for keeping her mom in a home. After all, she was performing a valuable service—in her mind it was just another acting gig. Plus she is not herself and her daughter is worried. What secrets is she hiding? What about Cary Grant?
A Tenacious Granddaughter: Age thirty-six, a film location scout, Greer Hennessey was a city girl, born and raised in L.A. She could fake the seasons with spray paint and provide all kinds of movie magic, and props where needed. A talent scout-- her latest project has turned into a disaster. She was accustomed to dealing with difficult people; however, her gift was winning them over, persuading them that her way was the best way.
Greer, is now jobless—turning into one ugly mess, she had allowed herself to get conned on location, there was a fire, and now Hank was blaming her. Now on to the next location and job. Her career, her mom, and now her grandmother to worry about. Trying to find Dearie a place to call home, while trying to take care of finances.
Plus her mom wants her to look up her dad, Clint down in Florida Panhandle. She is looking for a small town beach, laid back location with palm trees, old motels, a pier, with a throw back feeling-- to shoot a film. Did her father even have any interest in reaching out to his daughter?
Three strong independent and funny women, fighting all odds and many life lessons. As always, Mary Kay Andrews has the best summer beach reads, drawing you to the coastal seaside with fun, mischief, and sass.
Highly recommend BEACH TOWN and just finished THE WEEKENDERS, one of her best, coming, May 17 (2016 Best Beach Cover)! Of course, I love books set in Florida and a long time fan of Mary Kay Andrews.
Every time I think of this location she is searching for, I think of Palm Beach County's—1920’s Lake Worth Casino Building and Beach Complex, a throwback, recently renovated.
JDCMustReadBooks
May 12, 2024
Change of Scene by Mary Kay Andrews
Beach Town #0.5
164-page Kindle Ebook ends on 143
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Novella
Featuring: Prequel to Beach Town, California, Country Setting, Location Scout, Movie Production, Mother/Daughter Relationships, Grandmother, Cancer, Family Secrets, Excerpt from Beach Town - Chapter 1, Advertisement for The Weekenders
Rating as a movie: R for adult content
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️🏖🎬
My thoughts: Beach Town was my first Mary Kay Andrews book several years ago. I was surprised by it but enjoyed it a lot. A lot of the books I read afterward were better I have a place in my heart for that one. I heard about Change of Scene when it first came out but I had a hard time finding a copy, wasn't into ebooks at the time. Since this year I've been trying to clear my TBR I saw it from years ago and it was easy to get an electronic copy via Kindle. It was okay, At first it didn't seem like it was about anything it just jumped around a bit and then I realized it was leading up to Beach Town and giving some sort of mediocre background story I'm not mad at it but it definitely wasn't needed. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I read it 7 or 8 years ago.
Recommend to others: Maybe, but it can go either way as it doesn't add much to the story.
Beach Town
0.5. Change of Scene (2016)
1. Beach Town (2015)
Beach Town #0.5
164-page Kindle Ebook ends on 143
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Novella
Featuring: Prequel to Beach Town, California, Country Setting, Location Scout, Movie Production, Mother/Daughter Relationships, Grandmother, Cancer, Family Secrets, Excerpt from Beach Town - Chapter 1, Advertisement for The Weekenders
Rating as a movie: R for adult content
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️🏖🎬
My thoughts: Beach Town was my first Mary Kay Andrews book several years ago. I was surprised by it but enjoyed it a lot. A lot of the books I read afterward were better I have a place in my heart for that one. I heard about Change of Scene when it first came out but I had a hard time finding a copy, wasn't into ebooks at the time. Since this year I've been trying to clear my TBR I saw it from years ago and it was easy to get an electronic copy via Kindle. It was okay, At first it didn't seem like it was about anything it just jumped around a bit and then I realized it was leading up to Beach Town and giving some sort of mediocre background story I'm not mad at it but it definitely wasn't needed. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I read it 7 or 8 years ago.
Recommend to others: Maybe, but it can go either way as it doesn't add much to the story.
Beach Town
0.5. Change of Scene (2016)
1. Beach Town (2015)
June 27, 2023
I have book #1 on my TBR shelf and wanted to read this one first. Glad to have found it on Libby.
July 20, 2025
Little bit of a palette cleanser. Read this book super quick. Cute little story line. Everyone needs a change of scene every once in awhile don’t we. Her books always seem to be light and airy! Can’t go wrong!
March 19, 2016
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. I absolutely adore Mary Kay Andrews. She has a wonderful way of bringing her stories to life. This is a great introduction to her book Beach Town, which I will definitely be reading next. I highly recommend this great story.
September 22, 2019
This is a teaser novella for Mary Kay’s Beach Town book. There really isn’t much of a story and I don’t recall like The book Beach Town too much either. I recommend skipping, which makes me sad since I usually live MKA books.
October 5, 2016
Great. Should be read prior to her last book, Beach Town. Fills in some gaps.
February 19, 2025
Greer Hennessy is having a time. One minute, she’s a movie location scout with a promising gig, the next, she’s watching an avocado grove literally catch fire on set. (Which, honestly? A little on the nose for how her life is going.) Then, as if getting fired wasn’t bad enough, her mom—who was kind of a C-list actress back in the day—drops an absolute bombshell about their family, her grandma Dearie is getting kicked out of her nursing home (for being too fabulous, one assumes), and her best friend CeeJay is the only person holding her together with sheer force of will.
With no job, no plan, and a sudden surplus of family drama, Greer takes one last desperate gig: scouting locations for a film called Beach Town. Which should be easy, except nothing about Greer’s life is ever easy. Between dealing with Hollywood nonsense, wrangling Dearie (who, let’s be real, is the star of this novella), and trying to figure out what exactly is going on with her family’s past, Greer is on an emotional rollercoaster—and you’re on it with her.
For a novella, Change of Scene packs a lot in—drama, humor, family chaos, and that classic Mary Kay Andrews charm. It’s a fun, fast read, even if it sometimes feels like we’re sprinting through plot points (so much happens in 100 pages, y’all). A solid 4 out of 5 stars—perfect if you love strong-willed heroines, snarky grandmas, and the kind of life upheavals that make your problems seem totally manageable by comparison.
With no job, no plan, and a sudden surplus of family drama, Greer takes one last desperate gig: scouting locations for a film called Beach Town. Which should be easy, except nothing about Greer’s life is ever easy. Between dealing with Hollywood nonsense, wrangling Dearie (who, let’s be real, is the star of this novella), and trying to figure out what exactly is going on with her family’s past, Greer is on an emotional rollercoaster—and you’re on it with her.
For a novella, Change of Scene packs a lot in—drama, humor, family chaos, and that classic Mary Kay Andrews charm. It’s a fun, fast read, even if it sometimes feels like we’re sprinting through plot points (so much happens in 100 pages, y’all). A solid 4 out of 5 stars—perfect if you love strong-willed heroines, snarky grandmas, and the kind of life upheavals that make your problems seem totally manageable by comparison.
October 18, 2020
I was so excited when I found out this book existed mostly because I read the original book and felt like I was missing out on some information on the main character. it didnt relate to the story specifically that it felt like the original book was missing stuff but I found this prequel gave me a better understanding of the main character and makes the original book make sooo much more sense to me.
December 6, 2020
I downloaded this novella ebook when it was offered for free as part of Barnes and Noble's #givethanks promotion. It is a prequel to the series this author calls Beach Town.
It was entertaining.
I recommend it to readers of this author and to those readers who enjoy the genre of continuing stories about interesting characters.
It was entertaining.
I recommend it to readers of this author and to those readers who enjoy the genre of continuing stories about interesting characters.
June 3, 2024
The beginning of a story that seems slightly off and ends abruptly. Maybe it was just an excerpt from Beach Town. As usual in the Mary Kay Andrews stories, much goes wrong for the main character and that's what's fun about her stories. Seeing how they overcome problems or move on in a new direction.
November 26, 2017
Looking for a fun quick read? This is it...particularly if you like Mary Kay Andrews. (And if you want more background on Beach Town...this is a pre-quel of sorts.) Nothing intense just some good fluff.
June 18, 2018
A great prequel to Beach Town
I enjoyed this short novella. It was a quick, easy read and a nice forward or prequel to Beach Town. It's an easy summer read if you're looking for something light.
I enjoyed this short novella. It was a quick, easy read and a nice forward or prequel to Beach Town. It's an easy summer read if you're looking for something light.
February 23, 2021
It was nice to get the background on Greer. In general I'd say that this was a better book than Beach Town, even if it was somewhat depressing. Dearie is a great character. I'm glad that the author didn't try to force a boyfriend for Greer into the story the way that she did in Beach Town.
July 2, 2022
I liked this novella, it was short and sweet. A nice teaser for Beach Town. I'm looking forward to listening to the book. Mary Kay Andrews is such a good writer, she's a one click author. So glad I listened to other people about her.
May 1, 2019
I really enjoyed this short--flawed characters, a family of women trying to make it in Hollywood.
I'm looking forward to Beach Town.
I'm looking forward to Beach Town.
February 16, 2020
Enjoyed this book with the Beach Town characters! Added a lot more to the story which I appreciated!
July 6, 2020
This book is so so good. I could not put this book down. I got the book as a Library E Book from my County Library System.
I give this book 5/5 Stars.
Happy Reading :)
I give this book 5/5 Stars.
Happy Reading :)
December 3, 2020
Great pre-novel novella. Note I want to go reread Beach Town.
July 15, 2021
I was impressed with the character development in this novella. I came to care deeply about Greer, Lise and Dearie during this short story. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
April 15, 2023
Kind of depressing, actually. I usually love MKA books, but, this one was just OK.
December 29, 2023
Short and sweet
December 20, 2024
A nice little prequel to her book, Beach Town!
May 8, 2025
A very enjoyable read. Change of Scene is a novella that’s the prequel to Beach Town, a book that is now on my TBR. I give Change of Scene 3.5 stars.
August 11, 2025
Fire!!
I love Mary Kay Andrews books. She writes the good, the bad and the ugly about real life. This one hit home.
I love Mary Kay Andrews books. She writes the good, the bad and the ugly about real life. This one hit home.
September 30, 2025
Super cute mini prequel. I was kind of needing a book re-set so I found this one and now I cant wait to read book one of Beach Town.
July 20, 2025
I read this prequel over a year after reading "Beach Town".
I actually really liked this more than the main book.
I actually really liked this more than the main book.
May 18, 2024
Quick short story - prequel to the Beach town.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews