Beth O Leary writes such great romantic fiction. Her books feel cozy and comforting. Her character feel real and relatable. This is no exception.

If you like books featuring…
Holiday love stories
Charming inns
Enemies to lovers

Great for fans of…
White Christmas
The Matchmaker by Cat Walsh
You’ve Got Mail

A delightfully fun read. A struggling hotel over the holidays with guests like family, and staff who are working hard to ensure the hotel survives the year. Coworkers Izzy and Lucas make the workplace difficult with their constant fighting but could they be hiding feelings for each other beneath the insults and perhaps a misunderstanding. The characters were quirky and enjoyable to read.

Beth O'Leary's books are the literary equivalent to a cozy blanket, a warm mug of coffee, and soft PJs on a super cold morning- perfection. "The Wake-Up Call" is no different and is just about perfect.

The Wake-Up Call offers a cozy setting (minus, of course, the destruction), enemies to lovers, workplace romance and miscommunication vibes. I feel like this is a fun choice to read on a cool fall/winter day. The overall concept was cute but I liked the contrast between Izzy and Lucas the most. This sadly isn't a new fave, but I know some people that would really love it!

Izzy is a spunky hotel desk clerk who calls Forest Manor Hotel her home. Sadly, this hotel is falling apart and she has to work with nemesis Lucas at the front desk. Lucas, the man who kissed her "ex" roommate last Christmas after writing a letter professing her feelings. Forest Manor won't last another season if Izzy and Lucas don't do something. Finding unclaimed wedding rings, the race is on to see who can reunite the rings and make money to save their workplace. What they don't understand yet is that this race may also give them the "wake-up call" they needed to hash out the past and come clean with true feelings.

Beth O'Leary never disappoints with storyline and plot! The Wake-Up Call is a missed communication second chance (ish) enemies to lovers tale that those who enjoy Sophie Kinsella and Abby Jimenez books will delight in! While I wish the chapters were shorter and better paced in the middle, this story kept my attention and I adored getting able to have both Izzy and Lucas's points of view!

Izzy and Lucas do not get along, but they are forced to work together to save a seriously failing hotel. I loved their chemistry and banter, but the whole misunderstanding storyline had me wanting to pull out my hair.

Cringey

The Wake-Up Call is an enemies-to-lovers romance about a failing hotel and the employees working to save it from going out of business.

Izzy Jenkins loves working at the Forest Manor Hotel. She considers it her second home. The one flaw is her co-worker, Lucas--a hot buff Brazilian whose rigid demeanor turns her off. Izzy hates Lucas over an event that happened last Christmas. Lucas hates the way Izzy treats him. However, when the two join forces to save the Forest Manor, they find themselves fighting their true feelings for each other.

Chapters alternate between Izzy and Lucas. I couldn't stand Izzy's character. She is close to 30 years old and incapable of having an adult conversation. She is over the top, hyper, and all-out annoying. Mix in her childlike behavior--she was just too much.

Lucas' character is more mature than Izzy's. I enjoyed his chapters more because he is calm, controlled, and at least has adult-like thoughts.

The two have some chemistry, and I found Izzy less annoying after they got together, but she was still annoying.

There are several cringy scenes, and perhaps the clingiest is the grand gesture.

What was most enjoyable was the bulk of the novel takes place during the winter holidays, with a focus on Christmas, and it was nice to escape brutal summer weather and fantasize about the cold!

Overall, this is a pretty standard enemies-to-lovers romance, but I have higher expectations for O'Leary. Still, this would make for a fun Christmas holiday read.

Thank you to Elisha Katz of Berkley Berkley and NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

Beth O'Leary is one of my favorite authors and this latest work didn't disappoint. Her creative storytelling is full of longing, poignancy, tenderness and hope. Her stories always leave me a with a smile on my face and hope in my heart. This latest love story about two employees and the magical hotel keeping them together was such a delight! Perfect fans of forced proximity, enemies to lovers with a splash of second chance romance thrown in. I'm not typically fan of the miscommunication trope but it really worked for the plot here. This author continues to surprise me with unique love stories!

Thank you Berkley Publishing and Netgalley for my copy.

I couldn't put this enemies to lovers workplace romance down!! Set over the holidays two boutique hotel receptionists compete to find the owners of four missing rings. The tension, the banter, the chemistry, the found family and the utterly charming New Forest setting all worked to perfection.

This was my first holiday read of the year and it definitely set the bar high! Feel-good and heartwarming without being too over the top Christmas-y. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!!

Steam level: closed door, fade to black

The Wake-up Call is a cute romance that’s sure to please anyone looking for a light, fun read. To me, it’s not Beth O’Leary’s best work (The Flatshare and No Show are my favourites of hers), but it was still a lot of fun.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
#TheWakeUpCall #NetGalley

Izzy and Lucas work together at a boutique hotel. Last Christmas, Izzy confessed via Christmas card, that she had feelings for Lucas, but we discover almost a year later, nothing has come from the confession. They are assigned to work together on a work project, and through it, we are introduced to the quirky world of the Forest Manor Hotel with all of its side characters, as well as Izzy and Lucas as we learn about their pasts and vulnerabilities that they both need to work through not only to work together, but also get together.
I always recommend Beth O’Leary to fans of Emily Henry as well as Taylor Jenkins Reid’s contemporary books, and this book is no different. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.

Absolutely loved it! Beth O' Leary has become an automatic buy/read for me. This enemies to lovers trope is a favorite of mine, and I laughed out loud at some of the dialogue. Great story

In the Wake Up Call the fractious relationship of Izzy (who is very like Bridget Jones) and Lucas (who seems like a modern Fitzwilliam Darcy) kept me questioning almost to the end of the novel if these two belong together. The story follows Izzy and Lucas, along with other various guest and staff members of the struggling Forest Manor Hotel. At every turn in the story I felt I was rooting more for the hotel than the main characters. All things considered The Wake Up Call is an engaging and entertaining read, with fun characters.

4.5 stars. Izzy and Lucas are sworn enemies, which would be easier if they weren’t also colleagues forced to work at the same reception desk of a stately but shabby hotel in the New Forest. As Christmas approaches, things are getting dire at the hotel, and the two may be forced to work together to save the place they both love.

As usual for Beth O’Leary, the story is filled out with a cast of lovable, quirky characters. The plot twists weren’t shocking, but they also weren’t really the point in this sweet holiday read.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

I always seem to enjoy Beth O'Leary's works. This was another sweet story with alternating viewpoints. I think that our patrons will enjoy it and we will definitely be purchasing it.

This was a cute, Christmas-y read with a lot of popular romance tropes (sunshine/grumpy, enemies to lovers, one bed, workplace romance). I really enjoyed Lucas’ character, and how much effort and patience he continually put into the relationship. Izzy really annoyed me; she seemed petty and immature for a lot of the story, and her ‘rules’ led to so many frustrating miscommunications. I also struggled with the one night stand/hookup feelings for a lot of their relationship.

I didn’t really feel drawn in to the Ring Thing storyline until we got to the story of emerald ring towards the end. I felt like both Izzy and Lucas had really complicated pasts that I wanted to go more in depth on. Jem was one of the best characters; I loved her honesty and loyalty to her friend, through all the hardships and physical distance. I was also glad to see demisexual representation play an important part of her character. Give Jem her own book!!

This has such great holiday vibes and will be a super cute, light read around Christmas. It felt a little cheesy at times, but sometimes you are just in the mood for Hallmark movie romance and this book will be perfect for that occasion!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first ever Beth O’Leary read and although I loved the premise of the book, I just didn’t enjoy it that much.. I didn’t really love the characters and the first part of the book kind of dragged on for me personally. Also, It took me so long to finish.

Reasons I gave this 5 stars:
- Beth O'Leary is without a doubt my favourite author and I love (and will buy) anything she writes
- Dual perspectives are my fave!
- Enemies to lovers and grumpy meets sunshine (not my favourite tropes, but Beth wrote them SO WELL!)
- I love reading the perspective of main characters who find themselves living away from home and adjusting to a new culture
- The pranks Izzy and Lucas play on each other along with the witty banter was so fun to read
- The underlying mystery of the lost and found rings HAD ME. It was such a unique sub-plot that had me hooked.

The relationship between Izzy and Lucas and their shenanigans at the hotel made this one of my favorite lighthearted books I've read this year! O'Leary is already a must-buy/read author for me and this only continues that trend.