When the pressure is on, on several levels, unforgettable things will happen

Synopsis

Turn a tumbledown Paris hotel into a perfect boutique, bookish retreat, and have it open for Christmas? What could possibly go wrong?

When Anais receives a near-derelict Paris hotel in her divorce settlement, her first thought is to tidy it up and sell it immediately. All she wants is to move on and forget her disaster of a marriage ever happened.

But selling it proves impossible, so she has only one option: to make it gorgeous and open by Christmas… when her funds will almost certainly run out.

She’s not counting on the grumpy American bar-owner next door, Noah, coming and interfering at every moment though. Nor is she expecting to find a mysterious room – which holds the key to a one-hundred-year-old secret – about a woman who chose love against the odds.

One thing’s for sure… as the fairy lights twinkle all over the city of lights and the first snowflakes start to fall… this will be a Christmas in Paris to remember.

A totally gorgeous, escapist romantic comedy, with an unforgettable mystery! A perfect festive read for fans of Emily Henry and Sarah Morgan to curl up with this winter.

My review

Anais never expected that divorcing her husband would be ending with her being the owner of a Paris hotel that has seen its best time. Her first thought is to sell the place as soon as possible, in order to forget her disastrous marriage and hoping that she can find quickly inspiration for her next book.
But selling a hotel that needs too much TLC isn’t easy, so together with her niece Manon, Anais comes up with he perfect plan: renovate the place, open it right before Christmas and sell it in the new year.
However, renovations are expensive and also loud, and her new neighbour bar – owner Noah for sure proves to be the annoying and grumpy kind of neighbour!
So it makes sense with her history of men, that every writing attempt ends up in murder (on paper!). Yet when a mysterious room is found in the hotel, with secrets being kept for over hundred years, suddenly Anais finds her joie de vivre again, and she also discovers that she has more in common with Noah than expected…

There are people in the world that believe in the good of people, and in the honesty of love. And there are people that take advantage of those people…
Unfortunately, Anais is a woman who is the first, and fell for the tricks of the latter.

And even without having started with the book, that fact already angered me so much! I don’t understand how someone can be so evil to use someone just for financial gain and then even later on, wanting to exploit once again only for their own benefit.

So of course it broke my heart to see how Anais is left with picking up the pieces of not only her broken heart, but also a life in scatters… And a hotel that she doesn’t really want.
While reading Anais’s story, the more angered I became.
Because we have a lovely woman, believing in love, writing romance books for heaven’s sake, to finally fall in love, believing it’s the Real Thing. And then it all falls apart in a terrible way…

In a way it looked like the hotel was reflecting Anais’s life: falling apart, and in need of love. But let me tell you this, I don’t know if I would be staying in the hotel in that state! I honestly think my mysophobia wouldn’t allow that, and also, an empty hotel, isn’t that horror story – material? 😊

Yet I was happy for Anais that she had Manon in her corner. Although… Manon for sure is a force of nature, and not someone you want to have as an enemy! 😊

As a reader, it was obviously hilarious to see how Anais and Noah are clashing over everything: from dirty windows, to too much noise made by the renovation team. And of course what direction their relationship will go, so I was eager to see that development.

And that development all starts with the mysterious, hidden room. Once again, and this is purely on me, the idea of discovering hidden rooms, gave me a little bit the creeps. But in fact, this discovery was a bittersweet one. Because the reason of why that room was used in the past, was a sad one, but also one that makes you believe in the goodness of love again.

We see also how the past is an inspiration for the present and future, as not only the intrigue brings Anais and Noah closer together, but also how it gives Anais the best ideas for her hotel.

I truly enjoyed reading this book, as it shows that sometimes the worst thing that could happen, can turn out to be the best.
And the setting of Paris for sure makes this story even a more romantic one, and the surprise of some cameos in this book was a nice extra addition! 😊