What a breath of fresh air this one was.
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Lucy a 40 something hotel manager suddenly finds herself at a crossroads in life. The hotel owner of the exclusive hotel she work at in NYC (and boyfriend) up and leaves taking Millions of dollars with him. Lucy is looking for a fresh start. With 50 just under her nose, she up and moves to France for an opportunity to manage a hotel there. What she discovers once she’s there is a whole lot more than she imagined.
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I adored this book. I sincerely appreciated that the MC was nearly 50 years old. So rarely do we see women in books starting over at this point in life. I appreciated the found family aspect that was created. Bing was a delight, and France Man oh man did this book make me want to travel to France. The scenery was beautiful.
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Dee Ernst, writes with such Grace. I thought the character development was spot on and I just adored Lucy. I found her charming and relatable.
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Thank you so much netgalley and St. Martins Press for giving me the change to read this one early in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advanced reader's copy of Lucy Checks In by Dee Ernst in exchange for an honest review.

A disgraced, middle-aged hotel manager, Lucy, takes a job at the Hotel Paradis, a small hotel in Rennes after a scandal rocks her professional and personal life. Believing this to be a chic boutique hotel, Lucy is horrified to realize she has signed on to rehabilitate a building that has not housed guests in decades. Responsible for rebuilding the business from the ground up, Lucy seeks assistance from the locals- some of which who live on the premises. The novel follows Lucy and the occupants of the Hotel Paradis as they navigate the reopening of a beloved home.

This novel is a sweet read that embodies what it feels like to accept love in all its forms. Lucy’s understanding of what it means to love and be loved is central to the plot and the reader comes away feeling light. Though I wouldn’t classify this novel as a traditional romance, there are certainly some romance elements to it. Lucy comes to love her neighbors, Rennes, and most importantly herself again during the process of renovating the run-down hotel. The pacing of the novel feels appropriate when it comes to the rebuilding of the hotel. The only time it feels off is in regards to Lucy and the love interest. The relationship feels both dragged out and rushed simultaneously in parts. The characters are both middle-aged but their dialogue occasionally felt too young.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel. The story was fun and light. I would recommend it as a beach read or to someone looking for something quick.

First, the not so good...I guess I just didn't expect Lucy to be 50 years old (based on the cover and synopsis) - while this wasn't bad per se, it just wasn't a book I would have necessarily picked. Also, the back story of Lucy's past. It was super important to the story, but just wasn't all that well explained. Finally, the renovation of the hotel was done fairly early in the book, so, again, just not what I expected based on the synopsis.
Next, the pretty good. I mean, the setting of a historical hotel in France was just an idyllic setting. The portrayal of middle aged adults as real people, not stereotypes as grandparents who are beyond the age of living their life was refreshing. The characters - I liked all the different people who lived at the hotel and wished I had known more about them.

I missed reading the description that said the character was 49 until reading the book so I thought as a younger reader Lucy would not be relatable turns out she has the same struggles as most.
It was very reminiscent of the storyline of Under The Tuscan Sun only set in France not Italy and instead of a chateau being remodeled it's a hotel. I was hoping for a bit more romance or more written about Bing and Lucy's budding relationship to really help sell them together especially given the genre of the book, but it was still a cute story.

the Idea of the book is what interested me the most, but it fell short as to what I expected when starting this book.

I would not classify this as a romance, and it is not about a late 20 something either. It’s more of a fiction book with some romance staring a late 40 year old.

Don’t get me wrong it was good and I love a lot of parts of it but, it was not at all what I was expecting and disappointing in the end. That’s why I gave this book a 2/5.

Just when you think like couldn't suck more, you find yourself jobless at the 'young' age of 49, trying to revive a run down hotel in no other place than Paris.

And I think I needed to put myself in Lucy's shoes for just a sec, to understand the concept of feeling depressed due to lack of achieved dreams. That's the full impression I have on myself. I saw myself reflected in Lucy's ordeal and I said to myself: 'well, at least I'm 40, not 49' and I still have a tad bit more energy...'

Dee Ernst brought Lucy to life and made this story, more than a romance, a feel good encouraging book with a lesson: don't ever, EVER mix pleasure with business, and it doesnt matter how old you are, it's NEVER too late to reset your life.

I can't get into to many spoilers, but I have to admit I was a tad bit dissapointed because I expected MORE romance. In the beginning I was thrown off by the MC age, (cause I'm still 40, I dont like to read love stories with a main protagonist older than me) but then again this is NOT a romance per se. Yes, there is sparks and eventually love, but the HEA is not the main goal in this story. Far from it. This is a lesson in how to keep going on when the world turns against you and you feel everything is lost. Its not. There is a light at the end of the tunel. The problem is, I went thru that 15 years ago, and I wish I would've found a different type of motivation innthe story, but mostly LOVE, which IMO fell quite short of.

Everything else is ok I guess. Memorable, but not long lasting. The one thing I do live for? The cover. Its beautiful.

I really loved this book. The cover is perfect, which is what originally drew me to the book. I also really enjoyed Lucy. She's a little bit older than I typically find in many of the books I read, and she's in a very different place in life also. I enjoyed this contrast and it made the book so much fun to read. Of course, I loved that she ended up in Paris to work at and help revitalize an old hotel. Talk about a dream! I will be honest, I didn't totally love the romance aspect of this book. It wasn't as rom-com as I wanted, but it totally works as a women's fiction story. This was a great read and I highly recommend it!

This was a cute 2nd chance, it's never too late romance. I loved that the fmc was older. The setting was perfectly done, lovely image of france. I did have some hang up on the mmc but it didnt pull me out of the story too much. I would recommend this if you want a light read with more story then spice.

Lucy Checks in is most certainly a feel good story and perfect for readers who like their heroines a little bit older (most of the time we see heroines in their 20s not 40s!). I needed this book. It felt warm and refreshing to me and made me smile from ear to ear. I think many readers will agree that this is going to be a hit come August!

It was such a delightful read for me. I really loved and enjoyed everything about it, from the writing, the setting, the character, the pacing and the word building. However, I find the ending a tad bit rushed, nonetheless, it’s a 4.5 stars read for me.

I adored this book of a romance of a older woman and man . I loved that it was gradual and that she worked really hard at her jo and loved working in the hotel. She grew a lot in her time in France and rebuilding the hotel. Loved the son and others that worked in the hotel too. loved it.

I really enjoyed this 2nd chance at both romance and a career for a mature woman. The setting was absolutely dreamy. Not gonna lie - I did yearn for more love scenes between our middle-aged couple. How about more body positive, aging positive sex scenes in future Dee Ernst novels!

A charming, lighthearted read about new beginnings. Full of well developed characters and a beautiful setting, this book will grab you right into the story. I will say the ending felt a little rushed but I overall enjoyed this book!

Thank you to the publisher via NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a fun, quick read! One of my favorite things about this book is that the protagonist is a mature, grown woman. It was refreshing to read a book about overcoming adversity and finding love as an adult. I felt the characters were well fleshed out. It was a bit predictable at times which is why I didn’t give it a 5 star review. I look forward to reading more by this author!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this enjoyable book,

Lucy Checks In was a fun, cute read. I love stories about France that aren’t centered around Paris, and I enjoyed the setting in Rennes. What got in the way of a 5-star read for me was Bing’s character— I couldn’t get over his casual misogyny in the beginning, and I didn’t believe his and Lucy’s chemistry at any point. Still, Lucy herself and her hard work made up for this, and I’m glad the romance wasn’t central to the plot or her character growth.

Feeling a tad mislead by this book. There was very little romance and I just never really felt a connection to Lucy, perhaps because she is quite a bit older than the heroines I am used to reading. Not a bad book but just not for me.

One thing I LOVE about this book is that the main character is not 23, she's older and yet she is still portrayed as a layered, hopeful, and worthy main character. More of this please! Lucy is a hotel manager who was duped by her boss/lover and regulated to her childhood bedroom thanks to a very public FBI investigation that made her look pretty darn guilty.

When a job offer from France comes in, she jumps on it, doing that very human thing we do and translating the circumstances into dreamy possibilities rather than near impossible challenges. When she arrives, she sees the truth. This hotel renovation is not going to be easy. At all.

As she perseveres, because what choice does she have, Lucy opens herself up to self worth, love, and hope. This romantic comedy was sweet and sometimes slow. Not a lot of wit and banter, but a good warm., cozy synopsis and some cute little plot twists.

I'm giving five stars because I FULLY support romances noels with main characters over the age of 40. More of this please!

There are some books that you are okay with taking a break from and spending your time doing other things and there are other books that you just can’t put down. Lucy Checks In by Dee Ernst is actually right in the middle for me. While I didn’t have the urge to keep this one in my hands and read it through to the end, when I wasn’t reading it, I looked forward to getting back to it.
Lucia Giannetti, a hotel manager at a prestigious NYC hotel finds herself needing a fresh start after the owner, who she trusted with more than just her money, disappears and leaves Lucy – and all the other employees – with nothing. After two difficult years, where she has spent what money she has left on legal fees to prove she was not in on the owner’s scheme, Lucy gets an opportunity at a historical hotel that will challenge her in ways she didn’t realize – in Rennes, France.
While Ernst takes her time in building the story, it’s not too slow where I got bored. Walking through Lucy’s path of rebuilding herself, realizing what is truly important, and maybe finding love along the way was the sweet story I was looking for.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to check this one out!

Such a fantastic read! I related to Lucy so much! I couldn’t put the book down. definitely reccomend this amazing story!

Lucy is 49. She was a hotel manager in NYC who was disgraced when she fell in the love with the hotel's owner, and he ran off with all the investors' money. Two years later she is finally given a job in her field. She is entrusted to renovating the Hotel Paradis in Paris to its former glory. The hotel was more dilapidated than she expected, and the job was much more difficult. With nothing but a quirky found family to help she still thinks she can pull it off. She earns back her confidence and even finds another chance at love. This was a unique story, and it was nice to see a main character Lucys age. That is unusual for the genre. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book in advance!