Author: Lilly Bartlett
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Author supplied review copy
Publisher: Harper Impulse
Publication Date: 18th August 2017
Rating: 5 Stars
Rosie never dreamed she’d still be in her faded British seaside hometown three years after skulking back there from New York City. Managing the Victorian hotel where she first started work at sixteen is definitely not the way she expected her life to turn out.
But a lot of unexpected things are about to come Rosie’s way.
Flamingos, for one thing. When the once-grand family hotel is sold to US developers, they set about turning the quintessentially English institution into a copy of their Florida properties. As cultures clash, there’s no longer room for the hotel’s quaint traditions, let alone for the oddball residents who stand in the way of the developers’ big plans. To the 80-something Colonel, the aging torch singer, motherly Jamaican force of nature, narcoleptic dog trainer and his resident Bassett Hound, the hotel is home and family all wrapped into one.
That’s going to make Rory’s job difficult when he arrives to enforce all the changes. And Rosie isn’t exactly on his side. He might be charming, but he’s still there to evict the residents from their home. What’s worse, she’s supposed to be helping him do it.
This is Rosie’s only chance to revive the career she’s always wanted. Will she follow her dreams if it means ending those of her friends?
Utterly fabulous, completely hilarious, with a cast full of eccentric characters, its bright colourful Florida ideals brought to a typically English seaside hotel. It's a complete clash of cultures and within the hilarity, there are some fantastic stories....one of why Rosie is even in Scarborough in the first place, one of how she is going to manage the hotel through its major changes and also the individual storylines of some of the residents of the hotels.
For at this seaside hotel, although it has been losing money for years, everyone involved is like a family. They run events for the good of the community, and there are assorted people living long term in the hotel for a variety of reasons. Yet everything is set to change when The Colonel announces he has sold the hotel to Americans!
And these are US developers who want to turn this Scarborough property, bought unseen, into a replica of their Florida hotels, right down to the flamingo print! Not to mention their tag line "5 Star experience at 3 Star prices" If you rolled your eyes at that you were completely correct to, it is laughable.
The new owners are complete eccentrics and mainly communicate via skype or fax, they send in a transition manager, Rory to help smooth over the take over and to to do their bidding.
We get to read all about Rosie's past heartbreak spread over chapters, that are spaced throughout the book, generally any time that Rosie starts getting confused between Rory and Chuck!
There is just so much to love about this book, but if I tried to list everything here I would be spoiling it for you, and not doing the book justice either. But lets face it its not often you read a book featuring of a narcoleptic children's entertainer with a dog, a 60s singer who is still trying to make it big, one surfer dude, a man with brightly coloured hair with unusual ideas, 6 course taster menus but an ex-army chef who generally cooks comfort food and a whole lot more besides.
The Big Dream Beach Hotel is by far my favourite of the three Lilly Bartlett books to date, but probably also my favourite book by Michele Gorman too. It just hits everything I like in a book, and was a great match for me. This is a pure escapist read, perfect pretty much anytime you want something incredibly entertaining to absorb yourself in.
Thank you so much to Lilly Bartlett for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
For at this seaside hotel, although it has been losing money for years, everyone involved is like a family. They run events for the good of the community, and there are assorted people living long term in the hotel for a variety of reasons. Yet everything is set to change when The Colonel announces he has sold the hotel to Americans!
And these are US developers who want to turn this Scarborough property, bought unseen, into a replica of their Florida hotels, right down to the flamingo print! Not to mention their tag line "5 Star experience at 3 Star prices" If you rolled your eyes at that you were completely correct to, it is laughable.
The new owners are complete eccentrics and mainly communicate via skype or fax, they send in a transition manager, Rory to help smooth over the take over and to to do their bidding.
We get to read all about Rosie's past heartbreak spread over chapters, that are spaced throughout the book, generally any time that Rosie starts getting confused between Rory and Chuck!
There is just so much to love about this book, but if I tried to list everything here I would be spoiling it for you, and not doing the book justice either. But lets face it its not often you read a book featuring of a narcoleptic children's entertainer with a dog, a 60s singer who is still trying to make it big, one surfer dude, a man with brightly coloured hair with unusual ideas, 6 course taster menus but an ex-army chef who generally cooks comfort food and a whole lot more besides.
The Big Dream Beach Hotel is by far my favourite of the three Lilly Bartlett books to date, but probably also my favourite book by Michele Gorman too. It just hits everything I like in a book, and was a great match for me. This is a pure escapist read, perfect pretty much anytime you want something incredibly entertaining to absorb yourself in.
Thank you so much to Lilly Bartlett for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
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Thank you, Rachel, for such a wonderful review, and Rachel's friends and readers: I hope you'll love it too! xo
ReplyDeleteThis sounds lovely!! Great review!
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