The Big Dreams Beach Hotel - Lilly Bartlett

Available here on Amazon 

Leaving a flourishing career in New York, Rosie never imagined she’d come back home nor that she would be managing a faded Victorian hotel in Scarborough.

As the hotel comes under new ownership, their vision is not received well. Cultures are clashing and the hotel’s residents decide to stand in the way of the developers’ plans.  Rory comes to the hotel to ensure the changes are made smoothly, although that is a task that may prove difficult if Rosie has anything to do with it.

Lilly Bartlett (pen name of Michelle Gorman) gives us a funny, upbeat story about following a dream and moving on.

Firstly I adore Scarborough – it’s a seaside town that has coloured my childhood and I have amazing memories of the place so to find the book set there is brilliant. (I adore it when books are set in places other than the norm).  Most the book is set within the hotel itself, I would have perhaps liked some more ventures into the town or descriptions of the local area so many of us are fond of with anecdotes or titbits of information.

The collection of characters in this book are mad! Totally eccentric and a real eclectic bunch. Narcoleptic Peter with Barry is a stand out for me, but you do adore each of them for the comedic elements they bring. Our lead, Rosie clearly gone through something in New York and this is interwoven within the book, for me it was obvious what had happened to her but I didn’t feel like it ruined the book but it did make me eager to see how she would now move forward and how she would change when the hotel had new ownership. It was also interesting to see how her past would affect the relationship she would have to build with Rory, both professionally and romantically.

I do really like Rosie, I think she could be a little bit feistier and stand up for herself some more. I admit I didn’t warm to Rory that much. He seemed nice enough and he obviously liked Rosie, he wasn’t a pushover and yet he seemed to be too dominant, too quick to dismiss Rosie’s concerns on occasion. He started to grow on me more towards the end of the book and I was pleased they both got to be happy together and in their careers.

‘The Big Dreams Beach Hotel’ had a lot laughs and charm, it was an enjoyable and funny read but for me, I felt like I expected something more. Some big event, some massive twist or something to shock me.  Maybe I’m too used to something like that happening it the books I read.

I did enjoy the book, I would recommend it if you wanted something quick and positive to read. It is the first book I have read by Lilly Bartlett and I would look to read more in the future.

Comfy Rating: 👍👍👍