Lucia Giannetti needs a fresh start. Once the hotel manager of a glamorous NYC hotel and intimately involved with the hotel's owner, Lucy had her entire future planned out. But when the owner disappears, taking millions of dollars with him, Lucy's life as she knows it falls apart. Two years later, forty-nine years old and unemployed, Lucy takes a job in Rennes, France to manage the Hotel Paradis. But can she succeed in bringing the Hotel Paradis to its former glory?
When I pick up a rom-com these days, I typically expect a witty, gregarious main character and a fairly outlandish plot ... not that this is necessarily what I like, but because you see it so often in the genre. Going into Dee Ernst’s new novel Lucy Checks In, a story about a 40-something year old woman who takes on the task of renovating a crumbling hotel to its former glory in Rennes, France, I expected much the same, but found myself pleasantly surprised.
Starting with Lucy herself, I will admit I found her rather annoying in the beginning. Coming off of an FBI investigation at her former hotel job where her boyfriend took off to parts unknown with millions of dollars leaving her holding the bag, Lucy’s name has a black mark all over it in the American hotel industry which is why she sets off for a new start in France. I found her reaction to her situation to be slightly immature for her fairly mature age (it is not often we get a 40+ main character in a rom-com), but I did appreciate that she experienced incredible growth over the course of the novel. By the end of this story, not only did I like Lucy as a person, but I was also wowed by her skill level in renovating and running hotels.
I also enjoyed this storyline of taking a dilapidated hotel and renovating it. The fact that this hotel is located in France didn’t hurt either! This plot and setting work seamlessly together to create an atmospheric story about the hotel industry. Ernst’s descriptive writing and her obvious knowledge of travel and hospitality made me feel right at home at the Hotel Paradis.
The large cast of characters is probably my least favorite part of this book. In my opinion, it was a little difficult to keep straight who was who, as there were so many, although they did add color and flavor to this novel. I loved how every person had a role in bringing the Hotel Paradis to life and renewing it. However, some of the characters were a bit “out there” for my tastes, although this is a personal issue, as you are guaranteed to run into plenty of people who don’t suit you in life!
Which brings us to the romance of this romantic comedy. The romance actually doesn’t play a large role in this novel, which personally, is how I like it. I found the love interest to be mysterious and intriguing, and I am glad that he is the character that Ernst chose to hook Lucy up with. However, Ernst does use the trope of insta-love here, which I HATE, especially because Lucy basically devolved into a teenage girl whenever the love interest was around in the start of this book.
Read Lucy Checks In if you like books featuring an older woman with an interesting career, taking on a daunting project in a beautiful, atmospheric setting … with a little bit of romance thrown in.
- Brooke, Public Relations Librarian
Коментарі