A review by elothwen
Hotel Laguna by Nicola Harrison

4.0

This was a light book that, although extremely frustrating at about the 3/4 mark, did its job and told a nice story. I liked Hazel most of the time, despite her plethora of constant mistakes and habit of thinking everything is her fault and refusing to listen to other people. Hanson was so real, but besides those two the other characters were so-so. I wish Hazel had more relevant girl friends; Scarlet was interesting but you'll see where that goes once you read. Additionally, all of the townspeople needed a little more flavor, but Jimmy was a decent love interest.

Spoiler

I almost want to give 3 stars simply because of how much "Jeanene" (what is this spelling?) annoyed me. Not necessarily her as a character—yes she was a horrible girlfriend best left behind in teenagerhood, but still—but that situation... Just irritating problem-causing stuff. I know a book is all about problems and solutions but that felt so unnecessary. Her guilt over Bobby should have driven her desire to keep away from Jimmy instead of the fact that he had a girlfriend. And then he just dumped her! I wish there had been more conversation about how they had completely different goals in life.

I genuinely was saddened (and excited) by the ending, even if I saw a lot of it coming. I don't mind seeing what's coming; in fact sometimes you better do what I see coming or else you aren't a decent fluffy historical fiction novel. The setting was whatever to me. I don't care much about California or the Pacific Coast or the beach, but it was an okay backdrop. The 1940s part was more of my interest, and the sprinkle of Old Hollywood was very much me. I really liked it, and I look forward to more books from this author.