I absolutely loved this book! Work-place, enemies to lovers is always top tier. Beth O'Leary does no wrong! I love how her books have romance but there is always something else there. The Wake-Up Call is an amazing novel with Christmas cozy vibes that everyone will enjoy!
5 stars!!

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy and to PRH Audio for the complimentary audiobook. These opinions are my own.

Izzy and Lucas have both found their family and their place at Forest Manor Hotel. But coming out of the pandemic, it's in danger of closing. The two of them don't get along, ever since the previous Christmas. But they agree to work to find money and keep the hotel open. One of their schemes is returning wedding rings from the lost property room to their original owners.

This brings together workplace romance, forced proximity, enemies-to-lover, and a bit of grump/sunshine. But there is so much miscommunication.

I enjoyed reading about the hotel and their quest for the rings. But I kept finding myself annoyed that the main characters didn't have a simple conversation about why they didn't get along. And my annoyance only increased as the miscommunication persisted.

I really liked Jessie Cave's narration. I didn't find Lino Facioli's voices quite as strong.

Beth O'Leary's writing and characters are as wonderful as always. But the miscommunication means this wasn't my favorite from her.

Rounded up to 4 stars

The Wake-Up Call is an enemies to lovers, coworker, (dare i say holiday?), romance!

Izzy and Lucas are polar opposites at work. Izzy is colorful and empathetic and a bit chaotic whereas Lucas is organized and detached. After a disastrous fight the holiday previous, Izzy and Lucas can never see eye to eye. The hotel they work at is going under and they need a way to save their home. When Izzy discovers a set of rings in the lost and found, she makes it her mission to find their rightful owners. Her and Lucas strike up a competition of sorts, placing bets and wagers on whoever finds the owners the fastest. As they compete they realise their sparking 'animosity' might be the spark of attraction.

I thought Beth O'Leary paints a really vivid and engaging cast of characters, both side and main characters here. I love opposites attract romance. The 'enemies' component here is that Izzy confessed her love Lucas last Christmas in a card, asked him to meet her under the mistletoe, just to catch him kissing her roommate there instead. As you might guess, it was all a misunderstanding. I think that's the only place where this started to fall flat. I loved their chemistry, I loved their banter, but after learning (from Lucas' POV) that her barbs are always hurtful to him, completely confused as to why she blew up on him last Christmas and her teasing that he's unfeeling hitting too close to home (a cheating ex), I found it hard to read their fighting. It was starting to hurt. In addition, because of this knowledge, Izzy's stubbornness and inability to even breathe a word about the incident last Christmas, reads very frustrating.

I understood the rationale when in Izzy's chapters (her fear of getting her feelings hurt again), I was finding myself a little annoyed at how harsh she is on Lucas repeatedly. Especially because many of the 'banter' moments always felt more mean on her end.

This was a problem for me during the middle chunk of the book. Despite this! I did find the story overall enjoyable. It made me want to read more Beth O'Leary though I don't think this story will be entering the ranks of a favorite of mine.

Izzy and Lucas work for Forest Manor Hotel, they love their jobs but hate each other. In an effort to raise some much needed funds for the hotel they decide to go through all of the lost and found left over the years and sell it. They come across a collection of wedding rings. Izzy finds the owner of one of the rings and receives a sizable reward for the hotel in return. Four unclaimed rings are left and Lucas and Izzy decide to make it a competition. Who can find the owners first? With the hotel and their jobs on the line they find themselves setting aside their differences and working together. Can they do that and fight the attraction that they have towards each other?

This was a cute story. Lots of great banter, sabotage, steamy chemistry and of course love! The No-Show will still be my favorite but this was good in its own right. It is one of those frustrating stories that I just wish that the characters would just communicate!! Talk to each other and be honest!! That is what makes these romances fun though is the path they travel to find love and possibly each other.

3.5 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

#NetGalley #BethO’Leary #TheWake-UpCall

Highlights:

Enemies-to-lovers
Workplace romance
Miscommunication
Christmas miracle
Found family
TW: parental death, grief

Izzy and Lucas work in a picturesque Forest Manor Hotel. The hotel has fallen on tough times, so Izzi and Lucas have to team up to save the hotel. The only thing is, they can't stand each other. Of course, The Wake-Up Call is a romance novel, so, while working together, their enmity turns into something else. I liked the premise of the book. A historic manor hotel with quirky characters is a perfect setting for a Christmas-themed book. But I struggled with Lucas and Izzy's relationship. For me, enemies-to-lovers work when there are high stakes, such as in fantasy or paranormal romance. In contemporary romance, especially workplace romance, it can turn into childish pettiness and sabotage that I don't particularly like. This was the case with this book.

I recommend The Wake-Up Call to readers who enjoy the mentioned tropes and holiday-themed romance.

I always look forward to a new book from Beth O’Leary. While The Wake-up Call was not a new favorite for me, I did still find it enjoyable.

I’ll start with what I liked. The characters were fun and witty and provided some great banter. I loved all the quirky people at the hotel and wish there was maybe even a little more from them. Izzy and Lucas were both pretty likeable most of the time (even though I often wanted to strangle Izzy) and I obviously shipped them. The romance was cute, if a little too far on the sappy side towards the end.

There were a few things that brought my reading experience down, though. One of my very, very least favorite things in books is when one, short conversation could solve all the conflict, but the characters wait way too long to have that conversation and that is the case here. There are even multiple times where Izzy willfully works against having that conversation and it drove me insane. Another one of my very last favorite things is the whole “friends/enemies with benefits” trope. When you know both characters have feelings, but they think they can hide them and just have a physical relationship without any strings. It doesn’t work and it makes me respect them less.

I also thought the Ring Thing would play a much larger role in the story. It ended up being just a small part of the overall narrative and the whole thing was far less adventurous than I was expecting. There wasn’t a whole that really happened in the story, to be honest, but it was still enjoyable to read about Izzy and Lucas and watch their relationship develop.

Overall, I enjoyed The Wake-up Call. While there were some things that brought the story down for me a bit, it was still an entertaining read and I’ll look forward to O’Leary’s next books.

I have read all of Beth O'Leary's novels and really liked them, but I didn"t find this one as good as the others.

Izzy and Lucas are hotel receptionists who hate each other, all because of a misunderstanding. Essentially, I thought they were both immature and they could have easily cleared the air. But I get it. Sometimes, because a certain amount of time goes by, the situation becomes worse and a mountain is created from a molehill, and then it's hard to know what exactly started it all because now each action is a rivalry.

It's a rom-com, and out of all of her books, this one is the most typical rom-com. It bothered me that although they claimed to hate each other, they still had lots of sex. I finished the book because O'Leary has a way of drawing you in, but I was not a fan of the story.

This was a cute story, but I had mixed feelings about it. While I adored Izzy's perspective, I couldn't quite connect with Lucas and his reasons for being upset with Izzy didn't entirely make sense to me. Both characters came across as somewhat immature at times, which was a bit off-putting. I liked the setting as a character and the hotel seemed like one I would want to visit. However, I found it a bit hard to fully buy into the ring plot. Overall, The Wake-Up call was an entertaining read, but didn’t surpass my favorite, The Flatshare.

Head over heels!

Thanks Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC! What a great honor to read this!

Synopsis –


Lucas & Izzy work at the front desk of Forest Manor Hotel, in the quaint little town of New Forest. Sounds very peaceful? Brace yourselves! Not only are they arch-nemesis, but the hotel is literally falling apart with a caved ceiling & distressed financials. When a bunch of old wedding rings are found in the lost-found property room, they get on a mission to find their rightful owners. Will they discover their love for each other along the course & manage to save their beloved hotel?

Review -

O’Leary knows exactly how to win her fans' hearts and she has done it again with some agonizing enmity and impossible contention between her characters.

Lucas and Izzy cross each other's tolerance limits of annoyance. Oh how I enjoyed their maddening pranks, spiteful yet humorous bickering as they drove each other crazy in the beginning! Lucas - the perfect, handsome grumpy to Izzy's cheerful, bright sunshine.

The quest with the lost rings is what gradually shifts their dynamic. It was such great fun and entertainment to watch these two compete. In the process several things occur - they begin to realize their feelings, expose their vulnerabilities, share their pasts, work hard to impress, discover their sizzling hot chemistry – all the while still simmering with hatred and bitterness on the surface.

The setting is another highlight. I loved that for all the staff of Forest Manor and its regular guests, this was not just a hotel but a home - a place of joy where they feel like family and a strong sense of belonging.

These were all such delightful, endearing characters that added so much spirit to the book, making us laugh until our stomachs hurt as well as bringing out the best and worst of Lucas and Izzy. Poor Mandy especially! What a remarkable woman!

With the hotel’s closure looming by the New Year, there is so much anticipation for the ‘miracle’ that could come to the rescue – the culmination of the ring project, the festivities, the party on Christmas Eve and most importantly the ‘typical’ rom-com style climax to the love-hate story of Lucas and Izzy.

I hereby guarantee that you will jump with joy😃, cheer, swoon and ‘aww’ at the sheer adorability as the ending unfolds.

Your heart will finally melt for Lucas and Izzy 😍❤️– their once cold hearts filled with pure warmth, ecstasy, boundless love and mind you, a pinch of ‘healthy competition’😉!

A flawless execution of enemies to lovers that a true romance lover shouldn’t miss!

This is a great and fast read if you're a fan of enemies-to-lovers romance novels as well as grumpy-sunshine tropes. It has great modern and relevant references. The book is joyful and fun to read.

Izzy in all her ‘clip-in highlights with baby pink trainers and a fondness for supernatural teen dramas’ has a penchant for love and grumpy Brazilian men… especially the front desk Lucas who drives her crazy.

But underneath it all is the fact that he doesn’t reciprocate the same feelings… competition over shared tasks. Snippy comments over kind words. But is that self protection on both their parts … and what’s it gonna take to dig deep into their secrets….

Maybe some wedding rings?!

Cue the cozy romance feels of a British love story. The grumpy troupe of “enemy to lover” match that begins with a failing hotel business and ends with the HEA we all want in our contemporary romance.

It was sweet and fun. Gave my British loving heart the feels of Cotswold.

Not my fav of the authors (the flat share was 5 stars!) but still charming

3.75 stars rolled up to 4. Recommended for readers who enjoy light, happy romance books with a little heat

Delightful second chance romance from an author who never misses--wonderful holiday rom, I just adored it.

The Wake-Up Call by Beth O’Leary is a lovely romcom perfect for getting you in the holiday spirit. Thank you to @berkelypub for an e-arc and to @prhaudio for the free audiobook.

Izzy and Lucas have been rivals at the Forest Manor Hotel ever since a misunderstanding last holiday season, but they this year the hotel is close to going out of business. They have to work together to save the place they both love. After Izzy gets a reward for returning a wedding ring from the lost and found, she and Lucas make bets on who can locate the owners of other lost rings.

I generally love Beth O’Leary’s books, and this was no exception. The story is told in the alternating POVs of Izzy and Lucas, and they were both super endearing, deceptively deep characters. The plot wasn’t as twisty as her last book, but it was a delightful, cozy read with a lot of laugh out loud moments and a slow burn getting to an end I was dying to reach.

The backstory is built on a big bit of miscommunication that had me screaming at the two characters to just talk to each other about it, but I get how it could happen and the resolution and why it happened was ultimately really satisfying and something I didn’t predict. I also wondered why the hotel hadn’t tried to return the wedding rings when they were originally found. It seemed like it would have been much easier to do when the guests were fresh in the staff’s mind, but this is a minor point.

Ultimately, I loved this one because of the rich characters—even supporting players got lovely arcs, the witty writing and banter, the themes of found family, and the pining. Oh my goodness the pining was amazing.
The audiobook was delightful. It was really easy to get wrapped up in the story when the performances of both narrators were so great, and there accents grounded me immediately with a sense of place.

I’d definitely recommend this one to romcom fans, especially the British variety.

Izzy was developing feelings for her co-worker Lucas however when her attempts to reach out to him went awry she will be polite while they are working but that is where it ends. With the hotel in financial trouble and in jeopardy of closing down Izzy is determined to do what she can to help even if it means working with Lucas on an unlikely project to reunite lost rings with their owners.

Lucas isn’t sure how the situation escalated to the point where they can barely co-exist however he is willing to put that aside for the sake of the hotel. As they find themselves spending time together on a unique project it will force them to not only face the past but the escalating feelings between them as well.

The premise of this story is unique and is the perfect mix of fun and feelings. I enjoyed seeing them evolve from each others nemesis to working as a team and seeing each other for who they are and not just the one event that created the distance between them.

So this is painful for me to write.
I absolutely love Beth O'Leary.
I just didn't love this book.
I almost DNF'd a few times because I simply wasn't enjoying it.
I kept pushing through telling myself - this is going to get better.
I didn't find the characters to be interesting and I wasn't invested in their romance.

I did enjoy the dual POV.
The Setting. I loved the hotel and that the MC's wanted to save it.
The premise of this book was very promising.

Al of that being said I still very much look forward to the next Beth O'Leary. Her books are usually a hit for me.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Pub for my gifted copy. ❤

The Wake-Up Call is another fantastic romcom from Beth O’Leary. It’s an enemies-to-lovers workplace romance, with ridiculous levels of sexual tension and some great humour. It’s my favourite Beth book since The Flatshare, which is high praise indeed!

Lucas and Izzy work at the Forest Manor Hotel, and they hate each other. Or, they think they do. This hate provides many a humorous scene, not to mention some truly leg-kicking chemistry. I loved Lucas and Izzy, and I really enjoyed learning more about them as their stories progressed. I was rooting for them right from the start, which should indicate just how likeable they are.

The hotel setting is fascinating and entertaining in equal measure, and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all the quirky characters who work and stay there. It’s like a character in itself, and it’s integral to Izzy and Lucas’s lives. It also allows for a couple of brilliant sub-plots, involving lost wedding rings and smarmy investor guests. What more could a romcom need?!

I recommend The Wake-Up Call if you like enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, only one bed (yesss), a snowy wintery setting, memorable characters, and a swoon worthy romance. Existing fans of Beth O’Leary will find everything they’ve come to expect from her books, and new readers will hopefully find another favourite author to add to their shelves.

4.5/5.

Beth O'Leary's books never fail to tug at my heartstrings, and this was no exception. I absolutely loved this! The concept of returning lost wedding rings to their owners made for such a romantic setting, and adding in the fact that it was enemies to lovers was the cherry on top. Their chemistry was amazing from page 1, and getting to see Izzy and Lucas slowly realize their feelings for each other was super satisfying. I can't wait to read whatever Beth puts out next!

This book starts off slow but I recommend keeping at it…it gets fast and it gets soo good! Two motivated main characters who work in a historic hotel with financial problems. They race to solve the problems so the hotel can stay afloat and they can stay employed. All the things they get into meanwhile..the hate and competitiveness also start to smudge the fine line and they start liking each other with the same intensity.

4.5 Stars

At first this one was a bit of a slow read for me. I don’t know if it was the facts that I just started school again and couldn’t plow through the book as quickly as before, or if it was because my brain kept thinking “is this the hating game???” Either way, it quickly picked up and once I got to know our two main leads better, I was sold.

The Wake-Up Call (which at first I was like “wow, that title is kind of loosely related to hotels, but omg the end and 😍) was an incredibly well told romance between two people who have more than just different personalities…they both have trauma that has given their already strong personalities an edge that the other cannot stand.

There was a lot of miscommunication in this book and normally I hate that in a trope, but it worked and I’m not sure if that’s because I just let it go or if it was Beth’s intention in making the male lead Brazilian so there was a bit of a language curve that allowed for it. We had a competition between the two to save their beloved hotel and a LOT of tension.

The dual POV (and dual narrators who were PERFECTION on audio) was a delight and I love when we get in the male leads head.

If you haven’t added this to your TBR, do it! I think it’s the perfect book to read as we head into the cozy winter months. And if you have the opportunity to listen, pick up the audio! I truly loved that version.

I’ll confess that I was a little nervous going into The Wake-Up Call. Workplace romance is not typically my favorite trope, but I love Beth O’Leary’s writing and wanted to see how she would approach it. I’m so glad I gave the book a chance too because it turned out to be such a wonderful and heartwarming read for me.

When we first meet Izzy, we can tell right away that she is not a fan of Lucas, her coworker at the Forest Manor Hotel, and that he doesn’t appear to be a fan of hers either. They are a classic grumpy-sunshine duo and they have a fierce rivalry, always trying to one-up the other. Additionally, there appears to be some history between them. Well, it turns out that Izzy used to have a major crush on Lucas and poured her feelings for him out into a letter that was delivered to him at last year’s Christmas party and invited him to meet her under the mistletoe. Something clearly went wrong for her feelings to have taken a drastic turn, and I was dying to find out what, especially since it’s so clear that the two of them have major chemistry between them no matter how much they are trying to pretend they don’t. When they learn the hotel is in trouble and might not make it, Izzy and Lucas are forced to work together to try to save it.

I loved the direction this story took as soon as Izzy and Lucas teamed up. They are tasked with helping to sell off some items, including what’s in their lost property room, to raise funds for hotel repairs. While completing the task, they come across a collection of wedding rings that have been lost there over the years. Both Izzy and Lucas are competitive at heart and make a little wager as to who can find and return the rings to their rightful owners. The romantic in me became very invested in seeing these rings returned to their owners. The ring competition was probably my favorite part of the story as the banter between Izzy and Lucas starts to shift from snarky to playful, and you can just tell their feelings for one another are starting to shift as well. While some of the story is focused on more dramatic and emotional themes, this ring challenge gave all the rom com vibes and was so much fun to read!

I also really loved the whole vibe of the hotel. It’s clearly an important place to both Izzy and Lucas for different reasons and they have both come to think of it as home rather than just a place of employment. Their attachment to the place added a sentimental touch to the story and had me rooting for them to save the hotel as much as I was rooting for them to work through their issues and find their way to a happily ever after together.

I alternated between the e-book and the audiobook for this one and really enjoyed both formats. The audiobook is narrated by Jessie Cave and Lino Facioli and they both do such an incredible job of capturing the chemistry between Izzy and Lucas.

If you’re looking for a laugh out loud funny story that is also quite moving, be sure to check out The Wake-Up Call.