Her plan: ask 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.
Comment: I got interested in this book because of the premise, namely the idea of a woman who had a heartbreak opening a place where others, who went through the same, might want to stay. Obviously, the fact she would fall in love again was another good reason to try it.
Louisa has just been dumped by her famous and wealthy boyfriend and while she is mostly accepting of it, after all their relationship had not been great lately, she is still sad and worried, because he was the one who contributed the most for the rent in their amazing house. Thus, the proposes to the landlord a deal: turning the huge house into a B&B and she gets to stay there for free, in exchange of managing it. At first things are weird, since she has no real experience in this field but her eagerness to do her best and her degree in counseling surely help. Then, there's Henry, the landlord, who now seems to hang around a lot more than before... but will there be room for these two souls to see what is in front of them?
The first chapters of this story were captivating and, this being the first book I try by the author, I was happy to start something that, it seemed, would be enjoyable. However, very early on, when Louisa decides to open the B&B, I was immediately disappointed.... there is no way, I think, that such a thing could happen so easily and so quickly, even if the landlord accepts and the permits could be arranged so simply as they were.
If the story had advanced more in time, perhaps this would have been easier for me to visualize but considering that Louisa was in a hurry to make money, this situation is just too unbelievable! Sometimes, I can suspend disbelief if things are presented in a good way even if the genre isn't conductive, as here in this contemporary romance, but this time I just couldn't. This also affected the general way I could look at the rest of the story.
The idea of a hotel where there are no expectations and where people can make their choices is not original, but in which a person can give advice.... there's something here, but, again, the execution was a little odd, especially because Louisa had not gotten her licence. This is an important part of Louisa's characterization but if this "slight" detail had been a given, the rest would have been easier to accept. Why making her a therapist? She could have been just a friendly, commiserating person, just like most people in hospitality should be. Or she could be a licenced therapist with all the other stuff in her personal life to solve... some plot related choices seemed a little impulsive.
The plot is meant to focus on the B&B daily life and we do see interactions with several characters but because they are there only for a while, this ends up being too superficial and the supposed "lessons" not really memorable. Then, there is also the matter of Louisa's personal issues, not only related to the heartbreak, but mostly to her childhood and how her mother never was a steady figure and how her older sister kind of took over. A lot to process and I think there were some elements that could have been done so much better.
The romance with Henry was cute but I think it happened too quickly, considering how little they had interacted before this B&B idea, especially since Louisa didn't even know him personally for it had been her ex who dealt with the house stuff. Then, besides her personal dramas, we also have to bear in mind his, which are quite heavy. The romance ha great scenes and situations, some good yearning scenes, but it wasn't as incredible as it could, in my opinion.
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