Lucy doesn't know what she's gotten herself into with her new job, but it's just about the only job she's been offered after a rough past. Restoring a centuries-old French hotel was not what she expected, but it turns out to be an adventure that is life-changing! I loved the characters and vivid imagery throughout the story. A fantastic chick-lit read!

3 ⭐️

A rare DNF for me. Not the fault of the book, really—it just wasn’t for me. Forty-something hôtelier Lucy is starting over in a charming city in France after a career-ending scandal in America. The message is endearing, and I always appreciate representation of a woman protagonist who isn’t 22 years old, but the storytelling fell flat and the writing felt a bit too slow and clunky for me. I empathized with Lucy, but I didn’t like her enough to root for her or see where she ended up.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

While this is labeled as a romantic comedy, it is so much more! It is a second chance at life and love (slow burn) as Lucy moves to France after she loses everything. Her move is to run what she thinks is a cute, posh hotel, but what she finds is a run down, closed hotel and an eclectic group of tenants/crew willing to help her restore the hotel to its former glory and reopen it. One of those tenants is Bing, her love interest. this book is all about Lucy's journey as she learns to believe in herself again and find love.

You will find yourself cheering for Lucy and falling in love with the hotel tenants. There are some twists along the way and some surprises thrown in. One of this book's lessons is that you sometimes have to believe in yourself as much as others do and I think that the author does a wonderful job of getting Lucy there.

I was blessed with a copy of Ernst’s “Maggie’s Finds Her Muse” a year ago and when I saw this, I was stoked! I was NOT disappointed! Once again, Ernst has delivered a fun story with a great cast of characters (misfits) and a HEA. I loved that the characters were mostly over 40, mature, smart, but clearly still flawed and figuring things out in their lives.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Need a quick trip to France with an old friend and a quirky itinerary? Then Lucy Checks In is for you. A fresh take on a fantasy re-invention & romance novel. Our main character Lucy is almost 50, a very competent hotelier who's last job and relationship ended in a. scandal and an FBL investigation. Lucy flees to France for the only job in hospitality she can land, leaving her tattered reputation and her unsupportive parents and siblings behind. The job is bigger and rougher than she expected, but not bigger than she can handle. The hotel's cast of characters includes Bing, an artist and writer who provides Lucy with a romantic foil. Nice to see an "older" couple get the romance treatment. Good travel and design details as well. 4 stars for romance.

Lucy Checks In stars Lucy, a hotel manager who has moved to France to take on a new project. Along the way, as you would expect with a romance novel, she finds love. Each of the relationships she builds along the way introduce characters with unique quirks and personality.

I found myself sucked into Lucy’s world very easily. I loved following along as she took on challenges and found love. I wish there was more time spent building out some of the characters introduced, there is so much going on in the novel that some of the elements seem confusing or almost an after thought. Overall, a fun light hearted romance.

I was provided a free ARC from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

When I pick up a rom-com these days, I typically expect a witty, gregarious main character and a fairly outlandish plot. Not that this is necessarily what I like, but because you see it so often in the genre. Going into Dee Ernst’s new novel Lucy Checks In, a story about a 40-something year old woman who takes on the task of renovating a crumbling hotel to its former glory in Rennes, France, I expected much the same, but found myself pleasantly surprised.

Starting with Lucy herself, I will admit I found her rather annoying in the beginning. Coming off of an FBI investigation at her former hotel job where her boyfriend took off to parts unknown with millions of dollars leaving her holding the bag, Lucy’s name has a black mark all over it in the American hotel industry which is why she sets off for a new start in France. I found her reaction to her situation to be slightly immature for her fairly mature age (it is not often we get a 40+ main character in a rom-com), but I did appreciate that she experienced incredible growth over the course of the novel. By the end of this story, not only did I like Lucy as a person, but I was also wowed by her skill level in renovating and running hotels.

I also enjoyed this storyline of taking a dilapidated hotel and renovating it. The fact that this hotel is located in France didn’t hurt either! This plot and setting work seamlessly together to create an atmospheric story about the hotel industry. Ernst’s descriptive writing and her obvious knowledge of travel and hospitality made me feel right at home at the Hotel Paradis.

The large cast of characters is probably my least favorite part of this book. In my opinion, it was a little difficult to keep straight who was who, as there were so many, although they did add color and flavor to this novel. I loved how every person had a role in bringing the Hotel Paradis to life and renewing it. However, some of the characters were a bit “out there” for my tastes, although this is a personal issue, as you are guaranteed to run into plenty of people who don’t suit you in life!

Which brings us to the romance of this romantic comedy. The romance actually doesn’t play a large role in this novel, which personally, is how I like it. I found the love interest to be mysterious and intriguing, and I am glad that he is he character that Ernst chose to hook Lucy up with. However, Ernst does use the trope of insta-love here, which I HATE, especially because Lucy basically devolved into a teenage girl whenever the love interest was around in the start of this book.

Read Lucy Checks In if you like books featuring an older woman with an interesting career, taking on a daunting project in a beautiful, atmospheric setting … with a little bit of romance thrown in.

Ahh this one was such an interesting read for me. I really loved the MC and her journey for self discovery. I was rooting for her from the very start. Also, I really loved how relatable the MC was. However, I felt that the writing was bit too descriptive, despite that I thoroughly enjoyed it. So, it’s a 4 star read for me.

I'll admit that the title -- "Lucy Checks In" didn't really grab me. But when I read the summary of the story, I was intrigued.

It's about a 40-something women who was and up and coming manager of one of NYC's hottest boutique hotels, until her boss and boyfriend pilfered millions of dollars from the hotel's accounts and employees' retirement funds, and disappeared.

Lucy is investigated by the FBI, and although she's eventually exonerated from any wrongdoing, she's still blacklisted and no other hotel will hire her. Then she gets an offer to manage a small hotel in France.

This caught my interest, because I love all women's fiction set in France. But then I discovered that Lucy's position was in northwestern France, in a city called Rennes. I visited this city in the 1980s, and fell in love with its Breton culture and its medieval old town. Naturally, I had to read this book and re-live some of my wonderful memories of northwestern France.

But I not only re-discovered my memories of Brittany, but discovered a new favorite author -- Dee Ernst. I loved Ernst's style of writing. It's down to earth and casual. Her characters are very relatable, and you begin to feel like their are your friends too (or you yearn for friends like them!) I could relate to Lucy, for example, who struggles to rebuild her confidence and life in a totally new place. I loved her new neighbors living within the French hotel complex -- including Claudine, the hotel owner, Vera, Colin, Marie Claude and Karl. Then of course, there's Bing -- the fifty-something children's book author and artist.

Lucy has a huge task in front of her -- take a run down, 1700s hotel that's never been restored, and turn it into a profitable boutique hotel. As we walk through the challenges she faces, we see her tackle the overwhelming job with growing confidence. She even overcomes the objections and cynicism of Bing -- the handsome 55 year old artist and children's book author who doesn't quite believe she wasn't involved in the fraud at her NYC hotel. But even he begins to see Lucy as the strong, capable woman who knows how to turn a dilapidated hotel into a successful and profitable venture.

This really isn't a romance book, although Lucy finds romance in addition to friendship in Rennes. It's more about a woman's ability to overcome all obstacles and recreate herself. I highly recommend this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for a fair and unbiased review.

it wasn’t my favorite but it was definitely cute and i think a lot of people would like it but it just wasn’t what i’d thought it would be

Thank you for the ARC copy of this book! I couldn't wait to read the story of a woman my age, in her 40s, who is starting over. Books about women in this age group, especially women who have made mistakes, such as Lucy, are rare! I thoroughly enjoyed the French setting, great to daydream about future travel! The descriptions were romantic and fun to read. I recommend this book if you want some light escapism with likable characters.

This book made me want to drop everything and move to France and live in this world. Refreshing to have older protagonists rather than millennials..

Lucy Checks In was a novel with a promising premise that failed to deliver. From the very start of the book, I struggled to continue, there wasn't anything to really draw me in. I expected a cute Emily in Paris vibe but everything that makes Emily in Paris charming (if incredibly annoying) made Lucy and this book insufferable. The plot was slow and there wasn't much going on, and the writing, while nice at points, didn't manage to keep me interested.

Loved the cultural story line! A heartfelt rom com that was an easy and nice read during the holidays. Recommended to friends.

Delightful.
So much about Lucy Checks In is, as a former coworker of mine, a damn delight.
The older protagonist is a delight. I love that Lucy is ultra-competent at her job, despite the challenges it poses. I love that she doesn't take anyone's shit.
I love the setting. France is already lovely but as someone who's recently moved from the US to Europe, Lucy's journey of finding a place to fit in had some extra resonance for me.
I liked that the romance was a slow burn but didn't have unnecessary drama. The conflicts were human but adult. And solved like adults.

It wasn't a perfect book, but it was a damn delightful one.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ebook ARC. All opinions are mine alone.

This sweet book is a slow-build, but shapes a charming tale of friendship, love, and the magic of rebuilding. How refreshing to read a French story that does not take place in Paris!

Thank you for the eARC!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this.

I thought this was a nice refreshing read. You could definitely put it in the romance genre but it’s almost more of a contemporary fiction than anything. There’s only some slight romance near the end.

I loved the French setting and all of the characters. Everyone was likeable and you could really tell they cared about getting this boutique hotel up and running. If anything they all did it for their love of the owner.

The characters are older, which is something new to me. I don’t think I’ve read a book, let alone a romance, that’s centered around characters 50+. It was a nice change to read about well developed characters and how it’s never too late to start something new.

Definitely a fun, quick little read.

Thank you Net Galley/St. Martin’s press for the ARC of this novel.
Lucy Check’s in caught me a little off guard. I thought it would be more romcom, but it comes off as more of a fiction novel with a splash of romance. I like that Lucy was a more mature woman, but I wish she didn’t come off as whiney so often. I love the idea of starting over in a new place and the French “scenery” was fantastic.
I really wanted to like this book more as it made me think of ‘Emily in Paris’, but it just wasn’t for me

Great book with a wholesome story! I wanted to Lucy to succeed the entire story. Her character felt like someone I wanted to be friends with. Great read and will definitely recommend to friends and family!

It took me a bit to get into this story but once I was hooked I couldn't put it down! I absolutely loved the French setting and the large cast of characters added so much to the story! I couldn't help but root for some of the relationships. The ending was a bit of a surprise twist but tied the whole story together perfectly! I would love for there to be sequels to catch up on the other characters lives and see what happens next!