When your match is exactly what you don’t want…
Synopsis
A BRAND NEW spicy summer romance set in everybody’s favourite matchmaking hotel 🌞🌴💖
For fans of Meghan Quinn and Ali Hazelwood!
Tropes: 🌶️ Matchmaking 🌶️ Rockstar romance 🌶️ Grumpy sunshine 🌶️ Opposites attract 🌶️ Forced proximity 🌶️ Fake dating 🌶️ Celebrity comeback 🌶️ Playboy with hidden depths 🌶️ Luxury hotel setting
They say opposites attract… right?
Ex-rock star Jake used to have it all. But a fall from grace has left him with a career in tatters. Trying to salvage his reputation, his agent suggests a trip to sunny California’s brand new five-star Love Hotel. The plan is to instigate a fake whirlwind social media romance to reignite his star power. Simple. Except, Jake barely knows how to use a hashtag. And he’s definitely not looking for love.
Looking for a second chance at finding true love, Halle has categorically sworn off musicians and social media after a painful break-up. So, when matched with notorious bad boy Jake, they’re a dating disaster waiting to happen, right?
Jake’s here for the clicks. Halle is craving a connection. ¬ Except the Love Hotel’s matchmaking team are the experts for a reason. And after two weeks of forced proximity in paradise, Halle and Jake discover that the pairing which at first seemed so wrong starts to feel so right…
Perfect for fans of Abby Jimenez, Meghan Quinn and Sarah Adams!
Praise for Olivia Spring:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘ADORE Olivia’s pitch perfect romances – one of the few who can have me swooning over her male characters.’ Bestselling author Kristen Bailey
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘I was hooked from the first chapter. An absolute delight!’ Bestselling author Laura Carter
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘Through Olivia’s wonderful writing style, I honestly felt as though I was there’ Reader Review
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘Well what can I say apart from this book is a rare gem. It has everything book lovers will adore’ Reader Review
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘Once you get hooked into the story you won’t want to put it down.’
My review
Halle has been seriously burnt by love, but is ready to find it again. So when with the help from her friends, she gets a spot in The Love Hotel resort in California, Halle is over the moon. The Love Hotel is known for finding perfect matches, and the only thing that Halle doesn’t want, is to be matched with someone famous, like a musician and someone very present on social media. So when she learns that her ‘perfect match’ is ex – rock star Jake, she is rather angry. Not only because Jake used to be famous, but over the years he has created a notorious bad boy reputation. What Halle doesn’t know though, is that Jake needs to salvage his reputation somehow. And according to his agent, instigating a fake romance plastered over social media is the perfect solution. Where Jake is looking for redemption, Halle is looking for a connection. And with this match, it would seem that The Love Hotel made a mismatch. Or could it be that in the two weeks Halle and Jake are spending together, they realize that perhaps their mismatch isn’t so mismatched at all?
When I started reading this book, I was excited as a little child 😊. Not only because I was so ready for another couple in The Love Hotel, but also because we see Sammie and Romeo from the previous book working as Love Alchemists!
At the start of the book, I was a bit angry with Halle! How dare she use her connections to gain a spot on the Love Hotel, and I don’t even know how to apply for it! 😊
It’s clear that Halle has been hurt by love before, and I could understand how she saw that fame is the cause of it. Because since her then – boyfriend became famous, he changed and he hasn’t been the perfect boyfriend. Nobody is a perfect partner, but he for sure does know how to treat his girlfriend in an awful way.
So I could understand how Halle wants to find her perfect match, that has to be anything but a famous person! But I also felt a tiny bit offended in the name of any musician (not that I am one 😊) because it isn’t fair to paint everyone with the same brush.
Yes, Jake is the perfect example how volatile fame is. He has made mistakes in the past, and he has a bad boy reputation and he lost everything. And initially, I didn’t pity him, because I only based my opinion on the little details that I knew. But just like Halle, I had to get to know Jake better and learn about his history.
I also found it a bit a dirty game of his agent, whom I just immediately disliked, without even a real piece of evidence. I understood that Jake needs to do something to change the world’s perception. Jake may think that his match will be playing along, and knows about why he is in the resort, but we all know better, don’t we? 😊
When Halle and Jake meet, of course they don’t get along. Halle does not want to be around Jake at all, and makes her disdain for him and his reputation very clear. I for sure liked her playlist, making her feelings very very very obvious!
Being at the Love Resort means that Halle and Jake are ‘forced’ to spend together. And initially even on the pictures it is clear how they feel about each other. But slowly, the more time they spend together, it becomes clear that they both have a misperception of each other, and that they share a lot of common thoughts, interests and ideas.
And the more time I spent getting to know Jake, the more I not only understood him, but also how everything fell into place. Because with his story, not only we see how bad choices and decisions can affect your life and reputation, but also how one tragic event changes just everything.
With Jake, we see that behind every tabloid cover is a story, a reason why that persona acted in that way. And that is something important to realize, that behind every façade there is a person that perhaps has been broken and is just trying to pick up the pieces of his/her life again.
Halle and Jake slowly start to comprehend that The Love Hotel Resort didn’t mess up with them matching up together. Halle has a lot of baggage of her own, and Jake is so understanding, non – judgmental and comforting. His acceptance of her and her ‘faults’ makes Halle realize that she in fact does not have anything to feel ashamed about and that Halle being Halle is more than good enough.
And Jake finds someone that is willing to listen, without expressing any kind of judgement. With Halle, Jake feels that he can open up, not only about his mistakes but also about what haunts him, and what broke him. With Halle, he finds someone that is just there for him.
We see with this pair that opening up can release a burden, and that it can make you feel more confident too. Jake gives an extra incentive to Halle, to believe more in herself and her capacities, he makes her understand that why shouldn’t she pursue her dreams? He also becomes very protective of her, wants to protect her from all the evils of the world, even if that evil is his own agent. And Halle makes Jake understand that not everything bad that happened to him, is his fault. Halle makes Jake see that even the most terrible thing that he has endured, can be turned into a lovely remembrance.
I feel with each review that I write for Olivia Spring, that I am repeating myself. Because also with this next book in a great series, she just swept me away. Because despite the hurt both main characters have been through, with their match, they find not only each other matched, but so much more. They find strength, acceptance, resilience and self – confidence.
Yes, this is a romance, but it shows so much growth in the main characters, there is an evolution. And seeing that movement is the strength of the book, seeing how not only perceptions can change, but how also you can change yourself, into a more confident, stronger person.
Once again a perfect score for Olivia Spring! 😊
Tizi’s Book Review 