The Suite Spot

I’m afraid my experience with The Suite Spot was a touch more sour than I’d have liked.  

I just finished this and, while it had some genuinely cute moments, to be honest with you I was just a little … bored.  It felt a bit like being at a restaurant and anticipating a decadent dessert, only to have the waiter bring me a plate of saltines. *sad face*  Not dissing those reliable little salty squares of goodness, but they don’t quite compare to sweet, yummy chocolate lava cake, right?

Rachel Beck is a single mom to young daughter, Maisie, living with her mom and working for an upscale hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, until she gets unfairly fired.  When an opportunity arises to manage a brewery hotel on Kelleys Island on Lake Erie, she and Maisie make the big move, leaving behind her man-child boyfriend/baby daddy, Brian, and her mom. In her new home, she meets the hotel owner, Mason, who comes off guarded and grumpy for reasons the reader finds out later.  It’s pretty run-of-the-mill rom-com, Hallmark movie stuff … just with a little dirty talk and a couple “hungry” *cough, horny, cough* adults.

Rachel was nice, Maisie was sweet, the Kelley’s Island community members were fun, and Mason was an honorable, supportive man/boss.  Everything was just TOO … perfect. Even the requisite rom-com “trouble comes to paradise” moment was remedied in blink-and-you'll-miss-it speed, and the ending felt so abrupt.

I liked it well enough, but it lacked the zing I hoped for.  Perhaps those who met Rachel in the previous book of the series, The Float Plan, felt more invested in her as a character.  I just didn’t connect much with her or Mason, though they did grow on me.  The best characters were minimally seen side characters like yoga instructor, Avery, and Rachel’s sister, Anna, and Anna’s boyfriend, Keane.

Having said ALL that, much of the problem is that I listened to this on audiobook while reading along on my Kindle, and the narrator’s voicing of Mason just made him sound too robotic and stiff to be very likable as a love interest.  Perhaps if I’d only read this, I would’ve imagined his dynamic with Rachel differently, so perhaps print is the way to go with this one? 

Bottom line:  The writing and humor is pretty cute, and if you like slightly spicy, minimal drama rom-coms with a grumpy/sunshine trope, this might hit the spot for you! 

★★ ½ (rounded to 3)

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and author Trish Doller for this ARC.  I’ve given my opinions freely and honestly.  This is now available.