Lucy Checks In by Dee Ernst: Book Review

Lucy Checks In is an engaging romantic comedy which has a discredited hotel manager travelling to France to renovate a hotel and rebuild her life.

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From The Publisher:

Lucia Giannetti needs a fresh start. Once the hotel manager of a glamorous NYC hotel and intimately involved with the hotel’s owner, Lucy had her entire future planned out. But when the owner disappears, taking millions of dollars with him, Lucy’s life as she knows it falls apart.

Two years later, forty-nine years old and unemployed, Lucy takes a job in Rennes, France to manage the Hotel Paradis. She pictures fur quilts and extravagant chandeliers, but what she finds is wildly different. Lucy is now in charge of turning the run-down, but charming hotel into a bustling tourist attraction. 

Between painting rooms, building a website, and getting to know Bing, the irritatingly attractive artist, Lucy finds an unexpected home. But can she succeed in bringing the Hotel Paradis to its former glory? 

Witty and heartfelt, Lucy Checks In is an inspiring and feel-good novel about reclaiming your life, finding love, and creating a home in places you never thought possible.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book. The descriptions of the hotel, Rennes and Paris all provided me with an escape to France. The fact that Lucy is a middle-aged woman trying to renovate a hotel and rebuild her life in a country other than her own is admirable.

I can’t help but cheer Lucy on right from the beginning. After her boyfriend/owner of the prestigious New York hotel that Lucy has managed leaves the country with millions of dollars, her business reputation and love life disappear with it. No hotel is willing to hire her. That is until she is hired to rebuild a heritage hotel in Rennes, France.

The hotel hasn’t been used as such since the war. Although Lucy can see the beauty of the hotel the way it once was, she knows she’s in way over her head. While she thought that the six-month contract she’d signed meant she was supervising the rebuild, she soon learns that the task of recreating the hotel is up to her and a few others who are tenants of the hotel.

As the work on the hotel progresses, Lucy begins to experience and feel the charm of living in a small French village. There are interesting and diverse characters which added to the pleasure of reading this book including Bing the resident artist she’s attracted to. By the time the hotel’s work is complete and she’s managing a small staff she can see herself staying here. That is, until tragedy strikes and her life changes overnight.

I recommend Lucy Checks In to those readers that enjoy Women’s Fiction or Romance books with strong female characters.

What I Liked:

• The strong, middle-aged protagonist
• The detailed descriptions of the hotel and Rennes
• The supportive community behind Lucy

Acknowledgments:

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the ARC of this ebook in exchange for the honest review provided here.

Similar Books I’ve Reviewed:

Maggie Finds Her Muse by Dee Ernst

Summer at the Little French Cafe by Karen Clarke

Sophie Valroux’s Paris Stars by Samantha Verant