Izzy and Lucas both work the reception desk at the Forest Manor Hotel. This season, after a collapse of the upper floor, the hotel is starting to show its age. The pandemic also brought a lot of hardship for the boutique hotel and this upcoming holiday season may very well be its last.

Well, not if Izzy and Lucas have anything to say about it. The two fight like cats and dogs but they can both agree that Forest Manor is like family and they won't let it go down without a fight. Doing everything they can, they begin to sell off any extra items the hotel has acquired over the years, including tackling the lost-and-found room. But when Izzy stumbles upon a box containing people's lost rings, she's determined that they find their rightful owners. After one such owner gifts the hotel with a reward for the return of the rings, everyone else gets on board with trying to find the other owners with hopes of similar outcomes.

Of course, this is the perfect opportunity for Izzy and Lucas to engage in a little competition, but as the hotel cannot afford to hire extra help at the moment, Izzy and Lucas find themselves working nearly every shift together and also find that maybe they've been operating on the wrong impression with one another.

I think this is my favorite book by Beth O'Leary to date. I found it very fun and quirky. It's like the feeling of a small-town romance, but with the hotel standing in for the small-town part and with the bonus of it taking place during the upcoming holiday season. It checks all the boxes.

Even though I figured there's more to the story than readers realize after we understand the setup of Izzy and Lucas's disdain for one another , I was still absolutely glued to the page watching them try really hard to stubbornly avoid their feelings for one another. I like the idea that truly Izzy and Lucas are two different people who do things differently, but that doesn't make either of them wrong, and sometimes their strengths fill in the other's weakness. So they're a perfect pair for one another. Seeing how they each interact within the hotel and how the job and the co-workers mean something different to each of them - but they are all still essentially found-family - was one of the best parts of the book.

I thought the Beth O'Leary did a great job of making the book about Izzy and Lucas but also equally making it about the hotel. Because no matter how far you get into their relationship there is still this looming cloud of potential closure over the entire story as the clock winds down to the New Year.

I think it's one of the more straightforward books I've read by Beth O'Leary. The idea of the rings is catching, but it's not as big of a hook as some of her previous books. But I'm good with that. I sat down with this book and I wanted to be friends with Izzy, I wanted to also work at the Forest Manor Hotel, and I could feel the snap, crackle, and pop of chemistry between Izzy and Lucas jump off the page, they absolutely simmered. Such a comfort read, I'm sad that it had to end, I could have just kept reading this book infinitely.

If you're looking for a feel-good story leading into the holiday seasons, I don't think you need to look further than The Wake-Up Call.

Beth O’Leary’s books are so good. If you haven’t read any of them, go get one right now. My favorite was The Road Trip. Her newest is called The Wake-Up Call and it was just published!

Here’s what you need to know:

It’s the busiest season of the year, and Forest Manor Hotel is 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 the lost & found, 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?

You have to read this book, especially if you are burnt out on heavier fiction like thrillers and historical novels. This was a much-needed light story that was the perfect read for an afternoon. Even if you aren’t into romance or women’s fiction, READ IT NOW!

I always enjoy a good enemies to love and O’Leary does a great job with it! Izzy and Lucas both work at the gorgeous Forest Manor Hotel but they are also enemies.
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They can’t stand each other but when they are forced to work together to go through the hotels lost and found, while trying to find a solution to saving the hotel they find their own love story. This is a cute one and I could totally see it playing out as a movie!
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Huge thank you to @berkleypub @berittalksbooks @thephdivabooks @dg_reads @prhaudio and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Crushes to rivals to lovers is honestly underrated. Lucas and Izzy are both people who are adrift, who've experienced loss, and let it shape who they are and how they approach the world. It's made them into two very different people. Lucas is reserved, controlled, ambitious but ultimately trying to do the right thing. Izzy wants to grab every scrap of life possible and enjoy it because it's precious, and can be gone in a moment. Both of them are exhausted. After an unpleasant event at the previous year's holiday party, the two spend the next year constantly sniping at each other and undermining one another.

Then the hotel where they work is at risk of going out of business, and in the course of trying to sell unclaimed property they come across wedding rings. It becomes Izzy's goal to return them to their owners, and Lucas turns it into a competition.

It brings them closer in ways they never imagined. Lucas can no longer deny his feelings, and Izzy is set on ignoring hers. It's extremely high tension with mostly closed door spice once it gets going. I absolutely melted reading from Lucas's perspective - he is SO emotional but has gotten so good at hiding it or denying himself the freedom of feeling it.

Overall, super cute, a little bit Christmassy, and a few solid laughs.

Last Christmas, Izzy confessed her crush on her coworker Lucas in a note, his response was to kiss her best friend right in front of her. After a year of having to work together, and barely getting along, Izzy and Lucas must team up to try to save their hotel, otherwise it might not be open past the New Year. When Izzy finds a collection of lost rings from over the years, she gets an idea that might save the hotel - she and Lucas team up and compete to reunite the lost rings with their original owners, and hope to save their jobs in the process.

I love Beth O’Leary’s characters and the stories she writes, and this one felt so special. Maybe it was the holiday adjacent setting, maybe it was the mystery of the rings, or even the magic of a quaint British hotel that needs to be saved, whatever it was, there was a magical and special feeling to this story that made it extra sweet and cozy. I didn’t love either character at first, but they grew on me, especially in the second half of the book. I also adored the side characters and felt they really made the story. Overall, this one was sweet and left me feeling all the warm fuzzy feelings.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for the advance copy.

3.5 Stars

Izzy and Lucas both work at the Forest Manor Hotel. Izzy definitely has feelings towards Lucas and decides to put it all on the line and send him a card inviting him for a kiss. She finds herself humiliated when Lucas kisses her roommate instead.

It’s the holiday season at the Forest Manor, and everyone is trying to keep the hotel afloat. Izzy and Lucas are now forced to work the front desk at the same time, which causes friction between them. Izzy is sweet and kind to all of the staff except Lucas, and it infuriates him that she can’t be that way with him. He doesn’t even know why she is angry with him.

At first, the story moves very slowly and doesn’t pick up until halfway through. The saving grace, in my eyes, is that we get both Lucas’s and Izzy’s POV. The readers are not just left to “hate” Lucas as in a typical enemies-to-lovers romance. In true romance fashion, this could have been avoided if she had told him what he did to offend her. Obviously, we need the tension to move the story along.

Lucas and Izzy have a lot in common. I love the banter between them. There are definitely a lot of pent-up emotions. The secondary characters at the hotel bring flavor to the holiday romance. They all had huge personalities. I really like that the holidays didn’t take over the story. I’m just not that ready to get into the holiday season yet.

The ending is a bit too rushed and tidy for me since the beginning dragged. I didn’t really care for the mystery of the rings. Yes, it was a nice way to draw Izzy closer to Lucas, but it bogged down the story. I would have also liked a little more spice in my romance.

Overall, this is just a light romance for fans of chick-lit.

~ Samantha

I enjoy a good enemies to lovers story set in the UK, especially during the holiday season. This one was extra special because both main characters are employees at a countryside hotel and it took me back to one of my first jobs in hospitality and reminded me why working at a hotel is fun and no doubt chaotic at times.

Izzy has had a crush on her Brazilian coworker Lucas for a while and at their hotel’s holiday party she decided to put herself out there and declare her feelings for him in a card. Lucas read the card, laughed out loud, and Izzy decided to hate him from there to eternity. But not before screaming at him in front of everyone.

Now a year later the hatred is still alive and well but the hotel is failing and both of them are worried about losing the jobs they love along with the found family they have with the other hotel employees. In order to save the hotel the owners decide to start selling items. Izzy comes across rings that were left behind and project RingThing takes off. Izzy makes it a competition with Lucas to find the original owners of the rings and return them. In the midst of this Izzy realizes that Lucas isn’t the jerk she saw at the holiday party last year and Lucas takes notice of Izzy and her kind heart.

As much as I dislike the miscommunication trope I will say that by the end of the story I really enjoyed it. Izzy and Lucas were so frustrating but once their truths were revealed I loved them individually and as a couple. Now I wish this was a holiday movie because I’d def watch it!

Many thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. As this was my first book by Beth I'm looking forward to reading her other books.

I love a good Beth O'Leary book and this one did not let me down. Sometimes a problem that could of been solved if either love interest communicated would bug the hell out of me, but I loved Izzy and Lucas so much I just suspended belief for this one. It's got enemies to lovers, found family, the only one bed trope, and grumpy/sunshine. All of it put together just made for an instant must read!

3.5 stars because I guess the miscommunication bit did bug me just a smidge.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Read if you like:
😤 Enemies to Lovers
🏨 Workplace Romances
💍 Forced Proximity
💋 Hooking up to More
⛅️ Grumpy x Sunshine
❤️ He Falls First
😆 Banter
🏠 Found Family
🔀 Opposites Attract

I absolutely love Beth O’Leary’s writing and how she writes with a depth that truly makes me feel like I know her characters.

I truly loved the set up with Lizzie having a crush on Lucas and writing him a note confessing her feelings to not turn around to see him kissing her roommate under the mistletoe at their work Christmas party and quickly turning to enemies because of that moment where Izzy took out her feelings of rejection on Lucas over the next work year by being absolutely a brat to him when their paths crossed at work.

Then, when the hotel falls upon hard times and they are forced to work together on shift as well as on a project to try to raise money to save their beloved workplace where they have found family in their coworkers and guests seeing their grumpy and sunshine demeanors clashing was quite the tension filled treat.

I also really loved the growth in their relationship and breaking down of their walls as they were forced to come together for a common goal.

Their love story was definitely a fun one and if you love all the tropes listed above, I highly recommend checking this one out!

Thank you Berkley for my ARC in exhange for my honest review!

3.5 stars

I work in a hotel so I was really excited to read this story set in one. I loved the setting of Forest Manor Hotel, and it sounds like a place I’d like to visit especially for the holidays. There was a sense of magic when O’Leary was describing the setting, and Christmas was the perfect time of year for this book.

Izzy was a delightful character, and I loved Lucas’s grumpy side. The competition between them was so much fun, and I enjoyed their chemistry. But, miscommunication is one of my least favorite tropes, and this book started with a misperception that didn’t get figured out or resolved until nearly the end of the book. Throw in a few other misunderstandings and this book was full of a trope I don’t enjoy.

I listened to the audiobook, and struggled with it. I don’t normally mind accents, and was fine with Jessie Cave as Izzy. Where I struggled was Lino Facioli’s accent. I get that Lucas was Brazilian and wanting to choose someone from Brazil to narrate his character, but I found him hard to understand at times. Normally when an accent is tough for me, I just slow the audiobook speed down, but that didn’t work for me so I recommend skipping the audio for this one if you have another format.

Overall, I loved the setting and enjoyed the competition aspect of the story, but not necessarily the romance between Izzy and Lucas. If they just communicated with each other I probably would have enjoyed this one a bit more.

Thank you Berkley Publishing, PRH Audio, and NetGalley for advanced copies in exchange for my honest review.

The Wake-Up Call might be my new fave of Beth O’Learys books. This was a damn delight. I love that her books have a good mix of fun light moments and emotional ones that have my heart in a chokehold.

Izzy Jenkins and Lucas da Silva both work at the Forest Manor Hotel at the front desk, usually on different shifts but when the hotel starts to have financial issues, they are both forced to work together at the same time. Izzy is a free-spirit type of person, while Lucas is more all about organization and rules. Their different personalities cause for many disagreements, especially after what happened last Christmas. When Izzy and Lucas start cleaning out the lost property room, they discover a container of rings....some expensive looking. Izzy decides she wants to try and track down the owners. When Izzy finds the first owner and they give her a reward, Lucas and Izzy decide they should try to find the rest of the owners because they may get more reward money to help the hotel. Of course these two have to make a contest out of finding the owners and that is when the fun begins. As Izzy and Lucas spend so much time competing with each other, they start to realize that maybe they see the other in a different light and feelings start to emerge. Once these two can finally get over the past, they find themselves in a real happy ever after.

I enjoyed this enemies to lovers story. Izzy was such a fun, sweet person. Lucas was the perfect type of man to offset Izzy carefree attitude. Together these two were so fun.

To save their struggling hotel before Christmas, rivals Izzy and Lucas call a truce. As their relationship grows more complex, they wonder if more is at stake than the hotel's future. Will their hearts survive the hectic holiday season?

This is a fast-paced novel with interesting characters. It's a bit farcical, so you have to let go of any expectation of logic. If you like rivals-to-lovers rom com, this book is for you.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

While this isn't going straight to the top of my favorite Beth O'Leary books, this one is fun. There are delightful characters, particularly the secondary characters and hotel guests, and Izzy's deep love for the hotel and her passion for stories and connection really makes the story.

Beth O’Leary has a really easy style of writing that makes connecting with the characters simple, which I really appreciate. The Wake-Up Call had one of my favorite tropes, enemies to lovers, and two main characters that were easy to like and root for a happy ending. The conflict of the plot between those two characters took a little while to resolve but by the time it did, I knew backwards and forwards the who, what, when, where, and why’s of their disagreement and/or miscommunication. The author did a good job of allowing the reader inside the character to help understand their perspective.

The plot to save the hotel was fun and I really liked the side characters, both good guys and bad. They helped create that feeling of a well-rounded story and sometimes gave the main characters a push in the right direction towards their final romantic conclusion. I appreciated all the drama and humor that went into creating the hotel setting and the strange characters you’d probably find in in true life were definitely inhabiting Forest Manor Hotel.

If you’re interested in a quick plot and interesting characters, you may want to give Beth O’Leary’s newest novel a try! I enjoyed it!

After Izzy disastrously attempts to confess her feelings for her coworker Lucas, things get pretty tense at the hotel where they both work as receptionists. With the hotel struggling financially, they have to get creative to keep the hotel open. They are forced to work together to track down the owners of lost wedding rings at the hotel in the hopes of earning rewards. Will being around so many love stories influence Izzy and Lucas?

What I loved:
-enemies to lovers and grumpy/sunshine
-the storylines with the rings
-all the supporting characters at the hotel!
-the setting of the hotel. SO cozy

This was a really precious book. I was rooting for Izzy and Lucas from the very beginning, while also mentally yelling at them to grow up and communicate with each other. This was such a cozy read that I enjoyed immensely!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the advanced reading copy!

Beth O’Leary has done it again with another great story in The Wake Up Call.

I love Beth O’Leary’s books. She’s a go-to author for me because I know it’s going to be a great read, and The Wake Up Call is yet another example. She’s the perfect comfort read author for me. I can count on Beth to deliver a perfectly balanced book. Just enough conflict to keep things interesting, but not so much that you feel lost or agitated. The right kind of depth that ensures the story doesn’t feel fluffy, that it has some weight and feels genuine, but it’s expertly balanced with humour and funny moments that make me laugh out loud.

Another thing you are guaranteed in Beth’s books is great character development. She is a master at crafting characters that feel real and relatable, characters you want to cheer for. The story is told from the point of view of both Izzy and Lucas in alternating chapters, allowing the reader to really get to know both characters well. I really enjoy dual POV books. I like knowing what’s going on in both character’s heads and seeing how their perspectives clash or match. I loved both Izzy and Lucas in this story, and even better, I loved their dynamic together. Izzy is a blur of sunshine with her colourful sneakers and her love of fairy lights to Lucas’ buttoned up, broody Brazilian grumpiness. I loved all the pranks they pull on each other and how they rile each other up. This one has a lot of tropes we know and love: grumpy/sunshine, enemies to lovers, and workplace romance, all packed in a heart-warming story.

There are a lot of other great characters to love in this story. One of the things I liked best about this book is the setting. Forest Manor Hotel is much more than just a hotel. It’s a family-run business that feels more like a family, and I enjoyed all the characters that make it great. The owners, the grumpy on the outside, but cinnamon roll on the inside chef Arjun, the put-upon staff like young Ollie and Poor Mandy. Even the regular guests are terrific and add to the story. I love how everyone banded together to try and save the hotel and the plotline of returning rings from the lost and found to their original owners is just delightful.

Overall, another great read from Beth O’Leary. If you are looking for something heartwarming and reliable, this would be a great choice.

4 A Fabulously Wonderful Read Stars!!

This was my first book by Ms. O’Leary and what a delightful introduction to her writing. I loved this book being set in a hotel that is literally falling apart and the hatred, at least they think it’s hatred, between Izzy and Lucas.

From the get-go I was captivated by the hotel and all the secondary characters. Especially when the roof collapses the day before a major event and these two front-desk staffers must find a way to work together. Their witty banter had me laughing out loud so many times.

There’s a tension just underneath the surface every time Izzy and Lucas are in the same room. When they’re tasked with cleaning out the Lost & Found closet at the hotel, things begin to change for them. There’s lost wedding rings that need to be returned to their owners the first of which leads to a generous gift to the hotel that just may help them salvage this historical place. And so begins Izzy and Lucas’s quest to return the other rings but they turn it into a competition… trust me the moments that I was chuckling can’t be counted.

As this story moves along, their friendly competition heats up as does the chemistry. These enemies soon find themselves feeling differently about each other. It was a fun read to not only go on the journey of saving their hotel but also them finding their way to each other.

Overall this was a great read and it was just what I needed to brighten a couple of days of downtime after a few stressful weeks.

I have yet to read a Beth O'Leary book that I do not like. The premise of this one was phenomenal. Workplace rivals competing to return wedding rings left at their hotel was so fun. The chemistry between Izzy and Lucas was off the charts despite how much they both denied it and swore to loathe each other. I'm not a big fan of the miscommunication trope but I feel like it worked in this instance. Izzy wrote a Christmas card confessing her feelings to Lucas and asking him to meet under the mistletoe, only to arrive and find him kissing her roommate. She proceeds to yell at him and that is when they become enemies. A year later and the 2 are forced to work together to find the owners of the rings. As things start to heat up between them, Izzy is determined to protect her heart. But the more they get to know each other the more it becomes clear that perhaps neither of them fully know what happened at last years Christmas party.

Review: This was a lovely read! I really enjoyed the plot. I thought Izzy and Lucas were wonderful! The ending was my favorite part! Overall, I would definitely recommend this adult romance!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.