A fun and cute rom-com with an enemy to friends theme. The setting is around the Christmas holiday season in England at a dilapidated, but wonderful hotel. The hotel employees and guests were like a close-knit family the way they supported each other, creating a warm atmosphere.

Description:
It's the busiest season of the year, and Forest Manor Hotel is quite literally falling apart. So when Izzy and Lucas are given the same shift on the hotel's front desk, they have no choice but to put their differences aside and see it through.

The hotel won't stay afloat beyond Christmas without some sort of miracle. But when Izzy returns a guest's lost wedding ring, the reward convinces management that this might be the way to fix everything. With four rings still sitting in lost property, the race is on for Izzy and Lucas to save their beloved hotel - and their jobs.

As their bitter rivalry turns into something much more complicated, Izzy and Lucas begin to wonder if there's more at stake here than the hotel's future. Can the two of them make it through the season with their hearts intact?

My thoughts:
A light, laughable read that is pure enjoyment. The main characters, Izzy and Lucas, both work for the same hotel which they both love. The story is told in two points of view: Izzy's and Lucas's. I liked both characters. While Izzy is warm and friendly to everyone, Lucas is more brooding and serious. There's a perceived betrayal that has to be addressed. Also, the hotel's finances are in trouble, so both of them are facing possible job loss soon. I liked the competition between the two characters and their banter. The 'Ring Thing' was fun too.

Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on September 26, 2023.

The Wake-Up Call is an enemies to lovers romance between two employees at a flailing hotel. The plot hinges on a large miscommunication, so if that’s not your thing, move on!

Izzy loves her job and her customers ay the hotel, and she pours herself into her friendships. Since she lost both of her parents in a freak accident, she tries to spend everyday making the most of her life. Lucas is her Brazilian coworker, and his style is more reserved. While trying to save the hotel from going under, they drive each other crazy since an incident last Christmas.

I always love Beth O’Leary’s writing and her characters, but this one didn’t have as much heart or clever twists as her other books. I found this one to be a little more predictable and tropey. Still a nice romance, but not her best.

Gah, The Wake-Up Call is so good! I read it in one sitting and can’t stop thinking about the characters, the story, and the brilliance that is Beth O’Leary’s writing. Now, I know she has several other books, but I’ve only read this The Wake-Up Call and The Flatshare (which I also loved).

The Wake-Up Call is a mix of quirky hotel guests, two rivals-to-lovers, a failing hotel (which means these two need to either a. find new employment or b. help find a solution (ie. a lot of money) in saving the hotel.

The story is fantastic and the romance achingly sweet. You’re constantly trying to figure out if there was a huge misunderstanding or if these two actually really do despise each other, and more importantly when they’ll set that aside to get their happily ever after.

With a big grand gesture, some very cute flirty moments, so many great romance tropes, romance readers will eat this one up like it’s their favorite dessert.

There’s so many great aspects of this book I want you to discover, so mark your calendars (September 26th)😉, and make sure to add this book to your cart, because it’s one you really shouldn’t miss.

O'Leary says in the acknowledgements that this book was an accident and that she didn't even have one scheduled for release this year. If this book was an accident then she is even more of a genius than I expected her of being after reading The Flatshare.

Enemies to lovers is not one of my favorite tropes, but this book was so delightfully adorable that I didn't even feel the twinges of discomfort that I usually feel when two people go from hate to love. What a fun read!

Co-workers Izzy and Lucas are complete opposites. She is the ray of sunshine and he is the rule oriented grump. Last Christmas Izzy put her heart out there and admitted her crush on Lucas and he laughed about it and kissed his roommate. Since then, he has been enemy number one. Now the hotel they have been working at is trying to find a way to survive, and they are trying to work together to save the hotel. They are tasked with going through the "lost and found room" and trying to make some money off it. When Izzy founds some wedding rings, and returns one to its owner with a reward, Lucas and Izzy make a bet on who can find the rightful owners of the other rings. Now with Izzy and Lucas spending more time together, they are slowly starting to realize that there is a fine line between love and hate.

I struggled to get into this book. It was very slow at the beginning and not at all focused on the romance. I also hate the miscommunication trope that could be solved with a single conversation and that's what needed to happen here, they just needed to talk to each other! This book had a lot of heavier topics, but I thought they didn't get explored enough. Both characters had things going on in their lives, and we knew about it, but I wanted more of both their stories.

I did love the setting of Forest Manor and all the guests that were staying there, as well as the staff. Each character added to the story and were welcome additions. I also thought the competition aspect between Izzy and Lucas was fun too. They were both uber competitive and you could see that even though they said they hated each other, there was major chemistry there.

If you like a hate to love, opposites attract romance, this may be a good book for you to check out! Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.

This book was everything! The banter! The side quest to find the owners of the rings! I loved every bit of it.

✔️ Enemies to Lovers
✔️ Opposites Attract
✔️ Grumpy/Sunshine
✔️ Workplace Romance
✔️ It's Just Sex
✔️ Holiday Setting
✔️ Found Family

This one is about Izzy and Lucas, coworkers at a hotel close to going out of business. They haven't gotten along since a terrible fight at a work party and have been been snippy with each other since. However, both want to save the hotel and kind of have to work together to so it.

I find Beth O'Leary books delightful and this was no exception. She can make the quirkiest characters feel like real people though it took a little while for me to warm up to Izzy. It took me a few chapters to like both her and Lucas. It was kind of fun, being in that same trajectory with them - neither were my enemy but I was sort of lukewarm about them in early pages. I grew to appreciate them especially in moments outside the hotel when it was just the two of them.

I did like the setting of a hotel during the holidays. It felt cozy yet there was also a lot of mayhem with all the guests and the renovation and the rush to raise funds and the party planning -all hallmarks of being home for the holidays. I'd give this 4⭐️

Steam 🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕💕💕

This book is hard to review. It was an interesting read, but it wasn't the lighthearted romcom it was billed as. Not with one of the overarching plot points being how the two main characters might be out of work come Christmas. The pacing was also off, with the plot dragging in bits and speeding by at others, leaving the reader caught in the middle. It was an enjoyable read, and I really liked the stories behind the rings left behind, be it someone who has spent years looking for the ring, or someone who immediately replaced it so their spouse would never find out.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the the free Electronic Advanced copy.

This will be a viral book. So cute and fun! I loved every minute of it! But of course Beth never misses!

I am a HUGE fan of BEth O'Leary. I will read anything she writes, and have been faithfully reading each release after The Flatshare become so very popular a few years ago.

Dare I say this may be my favourite book of hers yet? I was hesitant to read it now, wanting to maybe save it for the festive season, but this way I can loudly and proudly recommend it to anyone looking for a somewhat "holiday-ish" read filled with some of my absolute favourite things. Cute and colourful cast, grumpy/sunshine, enimies-to-lovers, one room/one bed, found family.... gorgeous setting in the New Forest in England. Spectacular. Definitely a must read romance this fall.

This book started out a bit slow but in the end you were rooting for the 2 main characters and the Forest Manor Hotel. Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy. #NetGalley #TheWakeupCall

I think my expectations were too high after reading The No Show. This book wasn't bad in anyway I just didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. I had a hard time connecting with the characters and for some reason kept forgetting it took place at Christmas time.
Overall, It was a cute read and some serious enemies to lover vibes.

Oh this was so great! I just love Beth O'Leary books; they've got such a sweet combination of romance, angst, characters working through trauma or hurt, and great supporting characters.
Now, was the issue that caused all the drama between Izzy and Lucas really obvious to me? Yup. Did I care? Not really. Their back and forth was kind of epic, and the slow burn of hate to love was delicious. The background of the hotel renovations and ring search were cute too, and I'm glad there wasn't toooo much drama about Louis.
I think some people will definitely call this predictable, but to me, that's kind of the point of these books. I like the comfort of knowing everything will turn out ok, and this warm hug of a book really hit the spot.
Definitely recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a requested copy to review. All opinions are my own.

izzy and Lucas are part of the front desk staff at a hotel that has hit hard times and seems to be falling apart. A misunderstanding makes it nearly impossible for them to be around each other. In order to try and save the hotel they embark on a challenge to sell the things in the lost and found, except the weeding rings. Those they have decided to find the owners of . As they follow the clues to try to find the owners they begin to question what they believe to be true about each other and their future. Will they figure each other out before it is too late?

For me, this is Beth O'Leary back to her best and it felt to me like she'd gone back to her roots. An eccentric female lead, a Portuguese handsome man, a misunderstanding, and a crumbling hotel are all the perfect ingredients for a great enemies to lovers read.

Lots of fun. giggles and a couple of surprises along the way, its fair to say that I absolutely loved this.

Entertaining, and heart warming.

I’ve liked other novels by this author, but this one fell flat for me. I tried but could not warm up to either of the main characters.

The Wake-Up Call by B. O'Leary, published by Penguin Randomhouse, Berkley Publishing Group is a slow burn, workplace romance. Izzy, quirky and flirty Izzy and rather somber Lucas are co-worker at a hotel. And so it begins.
A beautiful read with great characters, a sweet story, 4 stars.

Another darling book from Beth O'Leary. I went into this book expecting great characters and a nice English setting. She sure did deliver. Our two main characters are both complex, but lovely. The fighting that goes on between them adds to their whole dynamic. Reading this book I knew there would be wonderful writing and a beautifully written plot. I can't wait to read it again once it comes out.

Thanks to NetGalley for my advanced reading copy of this book.

This is possibly my favorite Beth O'Leary book just for the pining alone. Izzy doesn't like Lucas, for the plain and simple fact that she did like him, tremendously, and then he went and kissed her roommate. You see, she gave him a letter telling him to meet her under the mistletoe last Christmas, but when she got there, she saw him kissing someone who wasn't her. Worse, it was her roommate who knew she liked him. So, no only having her heart crushed but she had her friendship ruined too.
Lucas has no idea why Izzy made such a big deal out of him kissing this girl. It wasn't like it meant anything, but he can see that she is going to hold this over his head forever. She is prickly to him, but he sees the softer side of her with everyone else and can't help wanting to have some of that directed at him.
This is an enemies to lovers workplace romance, which, let's face it, is the best kind of romance. I loved that we got Lucas's POV here because he was such a genuinely fantastic guy under his grumpy exterior. They are trying to save the hotel they work at because after shutdown they never really recovered and this place is the only family they have. While working together (and against one another) they learn so much more about each other and begin to fall fast. Will Izzy be able to get over Lucas ignoring her letter and kissing her roommate? Will they be able to save the hotel? Will they live happily ever after? Those are things I just had to know and I loved the whole journey.
Thanks to Berkley, Beth O'Leary and Netgalley for an early copy.

As a big Beth O'Leary fan, I'm not entirely surprised to find I flew through this story. It's the perfect escape, with characters I adored (including the hotel's guests) and a romance I could easily root for. I'll want to reread this one as we get closer to the holidays. (Of course, The Flatshare will remain my favorite of O'Leary's books.)