Audio Book Review: The Hotel by Pamela M. Kelley

 GOODREADS SUMMARY

The Whitley was Nantucket's most exclusive hotel. It was a sprawling collection of pristine white cottages and an elegant main building on a long stretch of private, white sandy beach. The list of famous celebrity guests that had visited over the years was top secret and a matter of pride to the Whitley family. If you worked in the hospitality industry, landing a job at The Whitley was the ultimate goal. Many of the staff had lived and worked there for years. There were strict rules about the staff keeping their distance from both the guests and the family. But sometimes, rules were broken.

No one is more surprised than Paula Whitley when her grandfather, Wynn Whitley, the founder of the hotel and many other business holdings, makes two big announcements. He is promoting Paula from her quiet behind-the-scenes role handling the accounting, to being in charge of everything. The rest of the family, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and parents, are stunned and not everyone is happy about it.

And the second big announcement--she's expected to work closely with a newly-hired consultant, a turnaround expert in luxury hotels. Paula dislikes David Connolly immediately. He's arrogant and bossy and annoyingly right most of the time. She'd be loving her new role if it wasn't for him. And everyone, family, and staff are wondering--what is grandfather's goal? Is he looking to sell The Whitley?

TEE'S THOUGHTS

Well, the summary up there makes the book seems much more exciting than it really was...

I listened to The Hotel by Pamela M Kelley on audiobook and enjoyed the narration, Leslie Howard, the narrator had a very easy voice to listen to, it was clear and soothing, and she did not try to speak in voices that sounded off-key while differentiating the characters.

I love the island of Nantucket, and when I can’t get there, I love to read stories that take place there. I love a book that can easily transport me to a place and give me a summery feel even if I am reading in the dead of winter.

I have never read one of Pamela Kelley’s books, but from what I understand they mostly take place on Nantucket, so I am sure The Hotel will not be my last one to fall into my hands.

As for the story itself,  it takes place on the island where the luxury Whitley hotel is located and deals with the family that owns it. There is a lot of family dynamics in the book as the grandfather switches family members out of jobs and replaces them with others, but it never gets too angsty with bad feelings, as with all families, there are hiccups that are worked through.

The author made it easy to visualize a big luxury hotel with her descriptions, as well as transporting you to the island of Nantucket. She was also very good at making your mouth water as she would describe the food that played a side part in the book. The characters in the book, and there are many of them, all had their place and brought substance to their parts of the story.

The author’s writing was good, it made sense and was easy to follow. The book was a quick read, or listen as it where. However, the book was not one in which much happened. I at times found myself drifting off thinking of other things while I listened. I would have enjoyed it much more if it had a bit more excitement to it.

This definite has Hallmark movie vibes to it…a hotel or inn, love that was not easy to come by, a great setting... It has a cozy feel to it, so if you are looking for a quick read with clean romance and summery vibes, I would definitely suggest The Hotel by Pamela M Kelley