Publication Date: September 26, 2023
Two hotel receptionists—and arch-rivals—find a collection of old wedding rings and compete to return them to their owners, discovering their own love story along the way.
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?
The Wake-Up Call by Beth O’Leary was very slow getting into since Izzy and Lucas did nothing but snipe at each other, try to one-up or ignore each other. It’s hard to do when you work side by side at a small family-owned hotel as a receptionist with guests going in and out continually. Could their behaviors be masking other feelings? There is no better way to find out than to delve into the book, which is told in alternating chapters by each of the two characters.
Set in a small town in England, there is some English humor and vocabulary along with Portuguese-Brazilian since Lucas is from Brazil. There is nothing but problems at the hotel once the ceiling falls in, and repairs must be done to remain open and viable.
They learn that the hotel is not financially stable, and they must get creative in how to raise money to stay afloat and keep their jobs. They go through the lost and found and try to return items to their rightful owners—some of which are wedding rings.
The story picks up as the two compete to find which past hotel guests have lost them, adding depth to the story. There are some laugh-out-loud moments as well as many misunderstandings along the way. Izzy and Lucas need to learn to communicate, especially when realizing they might have feelings for each other.
We get to know the other workers and some long-term guests, some of whom are quite interesting. We also learn of Izzy’s relationships with her friends, who are like family, and Lucas’ family back in Brazil.
The story has vivid descriptions and presents a variety of characters who have more to them than meets the eye. As Izzy and Lucas try to put the past behind them, will they succeed, or will it be too little too late?
There is closure with a happily ever after in the offing, but the book ended abruptly for me. I liked the cover’s vibrancy, and the title has meaning to the story.
The Wake-Up Call is set in England and Brazil and takes me there with vivid descriptions and characters I grew to enjoy, especially seeing what they’d be up to next.
Beth O’Leary is a Sunday Times bestselling author whose novels have been translated into more than thirty languages. Her debut, THE FLATSHARE, sold over half a million copies and changed her life completely. Her second novel, THE SWITCH, has been optioned for film by Amblin Partners, Steven Spielberg’s production company. Beth writes her books in the Hampshire countryside with a very badly behaved golden retriever for company. If she’s not at her desk, you’ll usually find her curled up somewhere with a book, a cup of tea and several woolly jumpers (whatever the weather).
