Don't want to rate because I found myself unable to finish. I think I've outgrown a certain type of book, which I take as evidence my depression is lifting.

First of all, this might be my first ever rom-com novel, so if this is your sort of thing then go for it. It was chosen by a book group I am in and so took me out of my comfort zone. It has a festive christmas feel which I liked for reading in December. Izzy and Lucas work at a country house hotel that is struggling to survive as receptionists. They love the hotel but appear to hate each other. She is lively and spontaneous. He is cautious and likes spreadsheets. To make some money for the hotel they start going through the room full of lost property. Goodness knows why this has allowed to build up so much. The lost property includes half a dozen wedding rings in a tupperware box and finding the owners becomes competitive between Izzy and Lucas and takes them on some adventures. The will-they-won't-they and prolonged misunderstandings went on for a bit too long for my liking and I wanted them to get on with it! There is lots to like though with a strong group of friends, some long-term hotel guests and other staff, including Poor Mandy, who turns out to be much more accomplished than anyone guessed. ( )

Izzy and Lucas work the front desk of a resort hotel. Izzy takes a chance and sends Lucas a note to meet her under the mistletoe at the Christmas party. When she shows up, he is kissing her roommate. So, Izzy decides that she despises Lucas. Meanwhile, the hotel is falling apart. When they find abandoned wedding rings, they compete to find the owners, and hopefully save the hotel by returning the rings. As they compete as rivals, they can't ignore the attraction - although they claim not to like each other.
Ultimately, as with any romance, they finally realize that there was a big mistake - and they put their differences aside.
Cute - but honestly, talk to each other instead of assuming things! ( )

I loved Ms. O'Leary's previous books, but this one was just okay. I almost DNF'd it as it seemed so slow and contrived, but I persevered to the end because I remembered not liking The No-Show for most of the book, but the ending made it my favorite of the author's books. I put this one down several times but finally finished it.
The setting is cute, but the enemies-to-lovers trope, especially with Izzy and Lucas having sex while still insisting they hated each other, didn't feel good to me. It was pretty obvious right from the beginning that this was all about miscommunication over Izzy's Christmas card, which honestly felt kind of stupid. I'm giving this a very generous 3 stars because I do like the author so much. ( )

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. ( )