Lynnie
romance
Last year, Izzy put her heart on her sleeve and Lucas rejected her. Since they work together at a crumbling estate hotel, Izzy has been getting back at him by making his work life difficult. But when their enduring mutual attraction becomes unavoidable, they agree to have a strictly physical relationship founded on a set of rules. Izzy figures she can get Lucas out of her system and then she will be over him and can move on.
Amy's Review
This was a very fun romance with an extremely satisfying
conclusion after a long, slow burn. Of course, you know the couple will end up
together from the very beginning. But this story, overall, felt more authentic
than many other romances I’ve read. I mean, there was a contrived-feeling aspect which bugged me but the overarching concept of why they were at each
other’s throats and how their relationship evolved during the book was great.
What felt contrived? I am not intimately familiar with the hospitality industry practices but I’m a frequent hotel guest. I simply cannot believe there would have been SO much Lost Property (aka Lost and Found in USA lingo) and especially so many lost rings floundering unclaimed at the hotel. Surely, anyone who lost a special ring would have circled back with the hotel to ask whether it had been found. But I went with it to enjoy this story.
I was also bummed that the title for this story, The Wake-Up Call, wasn't as perfect as the titles for all of Beth O'Leary's other novels. However, I can see that this storyline didn't inspire an obvious title as I try to think of better alternatives. I wouldn't have minded The Hotel Colleagues. But I'll admit The Wake-Up Call sounds more fun than my idea and has a more subtle meaning as well. So, I guess I've talked myself into not being so bummed about it. :) This title just stands out from O'Leary's other novel titles for not being so descriptive of the overall concept. I have enjoyed all of her cute romances, no matter the titles.
I really liked the way the audiobook production made phone
conversations sound tinny (although, they did miss one line of dialogue that
should’ve been “tinned up”). However, these narrators weren’t my
favorites. Jessie Cave voiced Izzy's sections and
Lino Facioli voiced Lucas. Cave did a
great job with the voice acting but she did not have a strong vocal repertoire
so I was confused about which character was speaking sometimes. She made no
attempt to voice Lucas with a Brazilian accent and only attempted to speak with
a Brazilian accent when voicing a few Portuguese words. Sadly, you could tell she had to re-record a
couple of those Portuguese attempts after the initial recording. Tsk tsk. Facioli had a better vocal repertoire and
Portuguese accent (and I see he was born in Brazil!) but he was extremely difficult to understand as Lucas. Interestingly, when he voiced other
characters with British accents, I could understand every word perfectly. But, as Lucas, he did not
enunciate very well and, in combination with the low voice he used, I had to
replay his sections for comprehension too frequently which was extremely frustrating! They get a B-.
Lynnie's Review
So look, if you have read one book by Beth O'Leary, you have read them all. And you know what? I don't care! I loved every predictable minute of her adorably infuriating characters.
Once again, O'Leary has created a fun rom-com setting with lovely characters, a silly misunderstanding that could be easily solved if the characters would have a conversation, and then just allows the tension to build like Augustus Gloop stuck in the chocolate room's pipe.
There are no mysteries, surprises, twists, or turns. It's not even a "will they or won't they", but more of a "when will they?" So when Izzy and Lucas finally sort themselves out is really is quite satisfying for everyone involved- including the reader.
I listened to the audiobook and Jessie Cave, who narrated Izzy's chapters, and Lino Facioli, who narrated Lucas' chapters, were lovely. It took a few chapters for me to get into Facioli's voice, but once I did, I actually think he had a better range of voices than Cave. I was impressed several times as he switched back and forth between his Brazilian accent, and British and American accents, and even an amusing impression of Cave's Izzy.
Like any book I've read by O'Leary, this would be a wonderful vacation book or just when you need a book that will make you smile.
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