The Heartbreak Hotel by Ellen O'Clover
Louisa Walsh emerged from a tumultuous childhood with a degree in counseling, a wealthy boyfriend, and her sunny outlook on life mostly intact. But that optimism is tested when she’s dumped and left unable to afford rent on their gorgeous house in the mountains of Colorado. Even with her life in disarray, Lou knows losing the one stable place she’s ever called home is not an option.
She asks her reclusive landlord, Henry Rhodes, to let her stay for free in exchange for renting out the house’s many rooms as a bed-and-breakfast. She’s shocked when he agrees to her terms, and even more surprised to discover Henry is a handsome thirtysomething veterinarian with silver at his temples and sadness in his eyes. One who does not take it well when Lou starts marketing her B and B as a retreat for the recently heartbroken.
But as the Comeback Inn opens its doors to its weary, hopeful guests, Lou and Henry find themselves dancing around both their undeniable connection and the closely held secrets that threaten to topple this fragile new start. A chance at love, here, could be too close to home…or it could be exactly where their hearts finally heal.
Review: A huge thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for an ARC in exchange for a free review!
When Louisa is dumped by her wealthy musician boyfriend, she is desperate not to lose the house they rented together, because after a tumultuous childhood it's the only stable home she's ever known. The only problem is she secretly isn't yet licensed to use her counseling degree and can't afford the rent on the large house with its many bedrooms. So armed with a plan, she approaches her reclusive landlord Henry and proposes to run the house as a bed and breakfast. As she markets the home as a retreat for the recently heartbroken, she realizes that Henry has secrets from his own past that pull him back towards the house.
This was really cute. I loved the unusual premise of running the house as a retreat for the heartbroken, which perfectly suited Louisa with her degree in counseling, but also helped to pull in Henry, with his tragic backstory. Louisa has a complicated family. Her mother struggles with her mental health, and a result, Louisa was largely raised by her older sister. As a result, her relationship with her sister is also complicated and sometimes prickly. I always love with romance stories are bigger than just the love story and this book really delivered on that front. Louisa has issues and worries much bigger than just her budding interest in Henry, and I liked the arc of how she came to terms with some of these sticking points as the story progressed.
I did love that this book very much does not romanticize dating a musician. I love that Louisa finds so much peace after leaving behind a relationship with a famous singer. She had really outgrown that college relationship and it was gratifying seeing her leave behind the complacency it gave her and coming into herself in many ways over the course of this story.
I don't want to give any spoilers, but it was very clear from early on in the book that Henry had a tragedy in his past. But I did not at all predict what it was! I felt deeply sorry for him. His relationship with Louisa feels sometimes stilted as Henry is still very much navigating through his grief; which felt realistic. However, I did feel like their relationship felt rushed in the end. The pacing just felt a bit off and went from nothing to all in very suddenly, without enough resolution of some of their conflicts.
This did remind me some of If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia, as both are about a woman learning to run a bed and breakfast while falling for a guy connected to those, although this one is not set in the 90s. This one was set in an absolutely beautiful location in the mountains of Colorado and I wish the setting had featured more in the story!
Stars: 4
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