Maeve and Therese Dunigan haven’t spoken in years. Raised under the same roof in Savannah, the two sisters could not be more opposite—Maeve the rule follower, Therese the unapologetic rebel. But when their mother’s death pulls them back together, they inherit more than just grief: a mysterious painting that may be worth millions…if it’s real.
Determined to uncover the truth—and desperately in need of the money—the sisters set out on a journey to Ireland, tracing their family’s roots and the origins of the portrait. What begins as a search for answers soon becomes something deeper—a reckoning with the past, as they uncover secrets that span generations and reshape everything they thought they knew about their family.
With tensions simmering, the two hit the road and find themselves on twisty lanes, in colorful villages, at local pubs, and with handsome men whose gift of the gab is surpassed only by their charm.
Can Maeve and Therese actually survive the journey without killing each other? Join Mary Kay Andrews on a road trip that will entertain you for miles. (Pub Date: Jun 02 2026)
Although I can see how this could be a classic women's fiction, I still hesitating when it was time to tag the read. Probably because Mary Kay Andrews's books have been more in the whodunnit field, but it's also because there is something of it in this. Although for a lot of the book the only victim has been dead for years without a doubt over who did it, there was a feeling the whodunnit question was coming. So for that same lot of the book, I was wondering, 'When will whodunnit do it so I can wonder who done it?'
3.5 rounded up.
I know, that was a long introduction and I still haven't even given you my own summary of the story. It is an eventful book to be honest. We start in Ireland around a century before, when Lady Delia makes sure her ward is safe and sound in America at the cost of her own life. Back to the present, estranged sisters need to deal with their mother's death and debt when their uncle announces their mother's wish—for them to visit their origins in Ireland, and they see it as an opportunity to prove the portrait that has been in their family for a long time and that could now save them from bankruptcy. The two actually descend from the same ward saved by Lady Delia at the cost of being accused of not only theft by the same family who killed Lady Delia but also of her murder. Can they find out what is really behind that story? Or the hardest task of all: can they get along with each other?
Some books make you wonder what prompts the author to bring them forth, and this is one that feels like a passion project. I could of course be wrong, and I didn't want to research it fearing I could get influenced by others' opinions before I could write mine down. But the trip to Ireland, the idea of being away from everything, of researching your family's past, it all resonated in me. Too bad I don't think my family would have all those big secrets and that I'd turn out to be the heir of nobility (even though in this book's case, you already know they're broke from the start).
Moreover, since I met Mary Kay Andrews back when she used to write romances, it was great to remember. I am aware she wrote a romance series recently, and I recommend it by the way, but this time this was a main project, in which you can see her full potential.
This read won't be as dynamic as Andrews's usual, and not even as unpredictable, but it is another genre and her seasoning works wonderfully with the women's fiction.
Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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