Review of 'Christmas at the Little Paris Hotel' by Rebecca Raisin

Review of 'Christmas at the Little Paris Hotel' by Rebecca Raisin

Release date: September 26th, 2024

Publisher: Boldwood Books

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REVIEW

What an enchanting novel for book lovers and writers! I absolutely LOVED Christmas at the Little Paris Hotel. Everything about this story charmed and inspired me. I enjoyed chasing the literary mystery of the secret library and unknown author from page to page. The characters were distinct and delivered a good portion of humour, wit and wisdom. I was mesmerised and pulled into the gorgeous descriptions of Paris—particularly the lovely lead up to the city’s activities and appearance towards Christmas. This is such a well-written fun and festive story and I was so immersed in it, the world outside my imagination just rolled on by unnoticed.

Anais acquires a rundown hotel in her divorce settlement. Her ex-husband who has cheated on her and cleaned out her funds, trades off the old Paris Hotel they purchased for their fancy apartment. It would appear on the surface she got the short end of the stick but we soon see that this is not the case at all. Yes, she has to pour a cart load of money into remodelling it, but once it is up and running, she plans to quickly sell to recoup her cost. She has no experience in running a hotel. She is a best seller romance writer and must now write a Christmas novel. Yet she is struggling after dealing with betrayal and all the work she must focus on in getting the place ship shape and ready for a Christmas opening. With cousin Manon’s help, though, and some tradesmen and good friends, they pull the place together. Her writing, though, is another story. What will spark her ideas and get the magic words flowing again?

I love that this novel focuses on books - the endless mentions of literature and excitement shopping for special copies to fill Anais’ guest library. There are lots of literary references delivered between Anais (a romance author) and Noah ( a literary scholar and critic / pub owner). Plus we get to see so many true aspects of a writer’s life: complete with writer’s block that can be caused by emotional upsets, procrastination on getting a story written, killing darlings during the editing process, stressing over pressing deadlines, and being inspired when you get lost in the zone and forget the hours that seem to whip by! Of course, there is Margaret the literary agent who keeps pulling Anais back into reality. She is a mover and shaker with lots of zing!

As for the topic of Christmas, initially I did not think about it so much at the start of the novel. I was too focused on wondering about Anais after her divorce and how she was going to manage the old hotel. But then little sprinkles of holiday magic kept appearing in my vision until gradually the increase in festivities (like the countdown dates at the start of the chapters) made me more aware of the season. One of the joys for me is the priceless gift Anais finds hidden in her hotel that has the potential to rock the literary world: a very special manuscript written by an even more special author. This intriguing mystery was so much fun to unravel that I was glued to all activity relating to it.

The mystery serves a ‘romantic relationship’ purpose, too. It draws Anais and Noah into a peaceful truce. Allows them to get to know each other and solve the book author mystery together. They have more in common than they think: including a past broken relationship.

As mentioned, there are some great characters both likeable and irksome. Cousin Manon is a strong, feisty woman who becomes a great asset to Anais. The ex-husband was easily disliked for his arrogance and bad behaviour. Noah is a charm, (after his initial grumpiness!) full of literary knowledge and a pleasant surprise in many areas. Anais is a lot of fun to follow through her writing and mystery solving adventures. She has a passion for preserving history and is dedicated to her vision of completing the hotel project despite all the challenges she faced. Her literature focus ideas for the hotel are brilliant and any bookworm would love to stay there for a holiday! I was glad to see her relieved of her horrible ex-husband and happy that she found love again with someone who shared many of her interests.

All in all this was a riveting, fun and mesmerising plot and I loved every second of it. There are some lovely Parisian Christmas scenes that will put a sparkle in your day but this novel can be read any time of year as the mystery to me was the main focus which centred around the wonderful world of books and those who write them. And, of course, there are a number of special romances in there, too! 5 Glorious Stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for the ARC.