Izzy and Lucas work side by side at a boutique hotel. Work has become their life and family, since Izzy’s parents passed away and Lucas’ family is in Brazil. It would be perfect if only they didn’t hate each other.

This was such a cute and fun enemies to lovers rom com! I loved the alternating chapters between Izzy and Lucas, the comical pranks and funny banter. The boutique hotel at the holidays was a charming setting and it really enhanced the story. Sometimes I felt Izzy and Lucas were a tad immature, but other times I thought their antics were hilarious. I enjoyed watching their relationship change and evolve too!

This one was a miss for me. I'm not really sure what I was expecting from it but whatever it was, it just didn't click. That doesn't mean someone else wouldn't enjoy it though!

It's confirmed: if Beth O'Leary writes it, I'm going to love it. No exception here with The Wake-Up Call. I loved the setting of an old quaint hotel, the characters (both main and side), and the plot of a rivals to lovers workplace romance. Even the miscommunication trope (not usually a fave of mine) was done in a way that felt fresh and took me by surprise. Looking forward to sharing this one with my audience post-release.

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

“Some of us fall in love the straightforward way, and some of us have a more . . . winding path.”

There is nothing better than getting lost in a Beth O’Leary book. It is always a fun and romantic storyline, wonderful and unique characters, and beautiful and impeccable writing with words that fill your heart to the absolute brim.

You can’t help falling for both Lucas and Izzy, complete opposites and employees of the beautiful but struggling Forest Manor Hotel and Spa. After a major misunderstanding has made these two intense enemies, they are at odds with one another on a daily basis. They both love their jobs but love annoying one another even more. However, saving the hotel becomes a priority as their beloved home away from home is on the brink of having to close. As Lucas and Izzy continue to work together and try everything possible to save the hotel they start to realize that maybe they aren’t enemies at all.

This book is such an honest look at love, kindness, courage and most importantly how family isn’t always blood. I loved all the quirky and delightful characters and the sweet and chemistry filled romance. It ticked all the boxes for my romance loving heart.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really liked that this book’s setting is perfect for the fall/winter, taking place at Forest Hotel and Spa over Christmas. I loved the dual POV, alternating between Izzy and Lucas.

Honestly, I think Beth O’Leary might just not be for me. The beginning of this felt really slow, and hard to get into. I just couldn’t get invested in either of these characters, as they just didn’t feel really to me. Izzy felt immature. I really dislike the miscommunication trope— they just needed to have a conversation! However, if you’re a fan of Beth, you may have an entirely different experience with it!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

3.5 Stars!

The Wake-Up Call is a fun enemies-to-lovers romance that’s sure to get readers in the holiday mood!

It’s the busiest time of year for the Forest Manor Hotel, but unfortunately, it will take a miracle to keep this hotel afloat past Christmas. But when Izzy returns a hotel guest’s lost wedding ring, she comes up with an idea that just might save the hotel. The only problem is that Izzy will be forced to work with her enemy, Lucas. But the more time these bitter rivals spend with one another, the more complicated things become. Will Izzy and Lucas be able to save the hotel and their jobs? Will these bitter rivals be able to put their differences aside? There’s only one way to find out….

I thought this book was a fun read. I love, love, love enemies to lovers romances, so once I read the blurb, I just had to get my hands on this book. Izzy and Lucas did not disappoint and gave me the enemies-to-lovers vibes I was hoping for.

Izzy was bright and full of sunshine. She could be a bit over the top and frustrating at times. Meanwhile, Lucas gave off some very grumpy vibes. I loved seeing that there was more to him than what most people got to see. Together, these two did have some great chemistry, I just wished they would have communicated with one another better. A lot of frustration could have been avoided if they would just talk.

Overall, I thought this book was a fun and light read. It did frustrate me at times and I wasn’t a fan of the slow pacing. However, the plot and the characters made up for it and in the end, I was happy to have given this book a chance.

Enemies to lovers, a lovable hotel that needs saving, and a supportive cast of characters. What more could you want from a romance? Beth O'Leary's latest is sweet and heart warming, with a spicy Brazilian twist. I loved the setting of the hotel - I could just picture it! - and the added characters of the guests and other staff gave it romance series vibes. Can we get a Mr Townsend spin off!? I was rooting for Lucas and Izzy till the bitter end, and though miscommunication drives me crazy, I'll make an exception for this one because it was so well executed!

Izzy and Lucas hate each other. They are rival workers at a charming old hotel that is on the tip of disaster….including a huge chunk of the second floor falling into the lobby. Izzy has found her “home and family” with the hotel owners, other staffers and long time guests after losing her parent as a teen. Izzy id charming, outgoing and everybody loves her. Lucas is from Brazil and in Great Britain to study hotel management. He’s very unemotional, stoic and, Izzy says.he’s a Brazilian God. Last Christmas, Izzy got up her courage to tell Lucas that she liked him but confessing in her Christmas card to him. All she got from him was a basic “Merry Christmas” sentiment and Izzy was hurt and embarrassed. To make matters worse, Izzy sees Lucas kissing Izzy’s bitchy roommate under the mistletoe which leads to a huge screaming match between them. Since then, Izzy has done everything that she can to make Lucas crazy and he’s retaliated in kind. But, they have a spark that can’t be denied. Will they get together and overcome their mutual hate to find love?

I really wanted to like this enemies-to-lovers romance but I had a few problems with it. I will start off with something that I did like and that was the dual points of view. Each chapter alternated with our main character’s (Izzy and Lucas) POV. The location of Forest Manor Hotel and Spa was wonderful, especially for a Christmas time plot. The hotel sounds like a place I would like to visit, an old (emphasis on old) manor house turned luxury hotel. I also loved the eclectic group of guests the hotel has.

Maybe it is my age (57) showing but why the hell can’t adults just sit down and talk and be honest about their feelings? They’re nearing thirty years old and they let a whole year go by without discussing what happened. Izzy was way too immature for my liking and the bubbly facade grated on my nerves. I don’t suffer fools very well and if she was my friend or family member I’d be clipping her upside the head (Yes sometimes violence IS the answer!) and telling her to grow the feck up. And the way she used Louis to get back at Lucas made me angry, that’s a terrible thing to do. Is twenty-eight too young to expect someone to say “Hey, I think you’re cute, smart, funny and I like you, wanna go out?”

The whole Ring Thing was just plain stupid. They should have kept the rings, sold them, used the money to fix the hotel and moved on…Problem solved. If they loved the hotel so much why wasn’t that plan put into place right away? Bottom line, this was just too cutesy for my personal taste but I am glad I finally gave this author a go…it is my year of thinking outside the box as far as reading different genres go, and I can’t expect all of them to work for me.

3.5 stars Solid read

This was sort of an enemies to lover plot. However it was all based off miscommunication. I guessed what happened (minus to the correct person) from the start. Did not change anything for me though.

Lucas was an interesting character. I liked how some people thought he was rude and heartless while the majority of people knew he was reliable and caring.

Izzy…I liked her because she was relatable in a way. How she thought she had to always be upbeat for people and always living in the moment. Never letting someone down, so never relaxing and being herself.

My favorite part was the hotel and the hotel staff. Minus Louis. He was horrid all along. You just knew he was fake.

4.5 Stars

Oh my gosh. What a great enemy-to-lovers rom-com, that while it had some of the traditional tropes, still felt refreshing and new. I absolutely loved the dichotomy of Izzy and Lucas’ personalities, and the side characters provided such depth too the story, I never minded when they stole the spotlight from the main plot.

The story takes place around Christmas, but even for a grinch like me, it was enjoyable and created the right atmosphere. Izzy and Lucas both work at Forest Manor Hotel, a whimsical but ramshackle hotel in England. The hotel is in dire need of renovation and money, so Izzy and Lucas have to find a way to work together even though neither can stand the other. What begins as competitions and minor subterfuge, slowly turns into something else as they both start showing more vulnerable sides and their physical attraction mounts. There was such a perfect mix of comedy and deep moments. Izzy’s upbeat and gregarious attitude matched Lucas’ more somber and introspective demeanor. I fell in love with both of them.

The Wake-up Call is an accidental enemies-to-lovers romance between two competitive hotel front desk co-workers. This was a sweet, slow, romance written in the manner Beth O'Leary does so well.

Ah, I had such high hopes for this one! I quite enjoyed The Flatshare and (especially) The No-Show, but this one fell a little bit flat for me. I think the fact that just a grown-up conversation between the two main characters would've resolved it all rubbed me the wrong way. Just TALK, people!! I know that was the whole premise of the book, but it just drove me up the wall, honestly, as they were acting like children. I never really grew to love any the characters, unfortunately. It did keep me all gripped, but it was a little too much like a Hallmark movie for my liking, and I would've enjoyed some more depth instead of constant pranks and arguments. But I think that's just me as people who act like that can be somewhat triggering for me.
Nonetheless, looking forward to what O'Leary comes out with next!

The Wake-Up Call is a delightfully steamy, cozy, and romantic read that will have you laughing out loud with this unputdownable rom-com that offers everything you could ask for.

Beth O'Leary is a favorite contemporary romance author for me - however this didn't quite hit the nail on the head. Situated at a small inn, struggling to stay afloat, two employees who love to hate each other compete to find the owners of many years of lost rings.

Misunderstandings are a trope I am not a fan of. Family problems meant to add depth but feel awkward and underdeveloped. Silly side characters that don't manage to steal the show. And the setting just didn't make sense to me.

Sad to not love it

I am a big fan of Beth O'Leary so I was very excited to see she had a new book coming out. This book hits a lot of romance tropes - enemies to lover, misunderstandings, failure to communicate - but she has a fun writing style that it still pulls me in. The book is humorous and is set around the Christmas holidays which adds to the cozy romance for me. If you are a fan of O'Leary or just love a light, funny romance, this is the book for you! Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Sulking, grump of a man with an accent - sign me up! Full of pep, Izzy, and her coworker Lucas are always at each other’s throats because of an incident that occurred last Christmas. Forced to work together to try and save the hotel they begin to realize maybe there is something more between them.

A wonderful cast of characters, a boutique hotel as the setting, and an enemies to lovers trope, this book has it all. I laughed and smiled my way through this novel. Great if you are looking for a light read, good banter, and very little spice.

Beth O'Leary creates such exciting and beautiful worlds that feel so real. I could see these characters so clearly and I can absolutely imagine these perfectly flawed characters working in this perfectly flawed hotel. I loved getting to know each of these characters and thoroughly loved this book!

3.75

I thought The No-Show was one of the most unique and surprising romcom plots, so with that, I dove into The Wake-Up Call with very high hopes. As Beth O’Leary writes in her acknowledgments, she’d had no intentions of writing a book any time soon. Therefore, with those caveats, I was a bit disappointed.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a cute romcom. It’s been a while since I read The Switch, I believe the only other as Beth O’Leary book I have read, but I think it was more on par with that and some of the same small-town, family-isn’t-always-related settings. Incidentally, I tried to listen to The Flatshare once, but the narration bugged me so much and I couldn’t get very far.

Izzy and Lucas are rivals, so you know immediately this is a enemies-to-lovers trope. The first thing we read is a profession of love by Izzy, followed by a generic holiday greeting by Lucas. It is with that that Izzy’s abhorrence grows. Not only did Lucas’ response not mirror her interests, but he was seen laughing at the time, and then kissing her roommate under the mistletoe. The roommate knew full well about Izzy’s feelings. Now they are mortal enemies, although I think Izzy is the only one who thinks that and Lucas is just responding to her spitefulness. Poor Mandy, that’s the characters name, is stuck in between them. She’s a fun character and gets her do at the end.

Wouldn’t you know it, disaster, strikes this old manor shortly before the holidays, and all of the upstairs rooms and the staircase are out of commission. There is a lot of cuteness and, if it weren’t for the sex (not too terribly steamy), and the grittiness some of the characters, this could, and probably has been a Hallmark romcom. This is one to have on hand when you need a good romcom escape, but it wasn’t anything that bowled me over or left me impressed like the creativity like The No-Show.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for providing an unbiased review.