This is Kelsey Patterson with the Sioux City Public Library and you’re listening to Check It Out.
Today I’m recommending Trish Doller’s The Suite Spot.
One of the few bright lights in Rachel Beck’s life is her job at a Miami Beach luxury hotel—until she’s fired for something she didn’t do. As a single mom, Rachel knows she needs stability, and fast. On impulse, she inquiries about a position at a brewery hotel on a tiny island in Lake Erie called Kelley’s Island. When she’s offered the job, not even the grumpy voice on the line can dissuade her from packing up her whole life and making the move.
What she finds on Kelley’s Island is Mason, a handsome, reclusive man who knows everything about brewing beer, but nothing about running a hotel. Especially one that’s barely more than foundation and studs. It’s not the job Rachel was looking for, but Mason offers her a chance to help build the hotel—and rebuild her life—from the ground up.
Trish Doller has a real gift for devising characters that are a perfect combination of strength and fragility, they have a “realness” and an authenticity to them that can be hard to come by in romance novels. I couldn’t help but get invested in these characters and root for them as they dealt with past traumas and personal tragedy, all while navigating their budding relationship. And don’t even get me started on the immersive feeling her idyllic settings inspire! I wanted to drop everything and move to Kelley’s Island by the end of the book.
As a librarian, I’m a little embarrassed to admit I didn’t know The Suite Spot was part of a series until after I read it. Not sure how I missed that, but Doller’s wildly popular The Float Plan kicks off the Beck Sisters series, and her recently published Off the Map is the latest entry. Having read all three now, albeit a bit out of order, I’d recommend reading in order to get the richest reading experience possible.
Check out The Suite Spot at the Sioux City Public Library.
Support for Check It Out on Siouxland Public Media comes from Verde Outdoor Media.
