It’s the busiest season of the year, and Forest Manor Hotel is quite literally falling apart. So when Izzy and Lucas are given the same shift on the hotel’s front desk, they have no choice but to put their differences aside and see it through.
The hotel won’t stay afloat beyond Christmas without some sort of miracle. But when Izzy returns a guest’s lost wedding ring, the reward convinces management that this might be the way to fix everything. With four rings still sitting in the lost & found, the race is on for Izzy and Lucas to save their beloved hotel—and their jobs.
As their bitter rivalry turns into something much more complicated, Izzy and Lucas begin to wonder if there’s more at stake here than the hotel’s future. Can the two of them make it through the season with their hearts intact?
Release Date: Sep 26, 2023
Heat Level: Sensual
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Berkley
Price: $11.99
Izzy and Lucas both work at the Forest Manor Hotel. Izzy definitely has feelings towards Lucas and decides to put it all on the line and send him a card inviting him for a kiss. She finds herself humiliated when Lucas kisses her roommate instead.
It’s the holiday season at the Forest Manor, and everyone is trying to keep the hotel afloat. Izzy and Lucas are now forced to work the front desk at the same time, which causes friction between them. Izzy is sweet and kind to all of the staff except Lucas, and it infuriates him that she can’t be that way with him. He doesn’t even know why she is angry with him.
At first, the story moves very slowly and doesn’t pick up until halfway through. The saving grace, in my eyes, is that we get both Lucas’s and Izzy’s POV. The readers are not just left to “hate” Lucas as in a typical enemies-to-lovers romance. In true romance fashion, this could have been avoided if she had told him what he did to offend her. Obviously, we need the tension to move the story along.
Lucas and Izzy have a lot in common. I love the banter between them. There are definitely a lot of pent-up emotions. The secondary characters at the hotel bring flavor to the holiday romance. They all had huge personalities. I really like that the holidays didn’t take over the story. I’m just not that ready to get into the holiday season yet.
The ending is a bit too rushed and tidy for me since the beginning dragged. I didn’t really care for the mystery of the rings. Yes, it was a nice way to draw Izzy closer to Lucas, but it bogged down the story. I would have also liked a little more spice in my romance.
Overall, this is just a light romance for fans of chick-lit.
~ Samantha
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