The Book Club Hotel by Sarah Morgan Published by Harlequin on September 19, 2023
Genres: Fiction / Family Life / Marriage & Divorce, Fiction / Friendship, Fiction / Holidays, Fiction / Women
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
Source: Bookstore
"The Book Club Hotel is a gift...the perfect escape-and-find-yourself novel."—Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author
This holiday season, USA Today bestselling author Sarah Morgan returns with another heartfelt exploration of change, the power of books to heal, and the enduring strength of female friendship. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Jennifer Weiner.
With its historic charm and picture-perfect library, the Maple Sugar Inn is considered the winter destination. As the holidays approach, the inn is fully booked with guests looking for their dream vacation. But widowed far too young, and exhausted from juggling the hotel with being a dedicated single mom, Hattie Coleman dreams only of making it through the festive season.
But when Erica, Claudia and Anna—lifelong friends who seem to have it all—check in for a girlfriends’ book club holiday, it changes everything. Their close friendship and shared love of books have carried them through life's ups and downs. But Hattie can see they're also packing some major emotional baggage, and nothing prepares her for how deeply her own story is about to become entwined in theirs.
In the span of a week over the most enchanting time of the year, can these four women come together to improve each other’s lives and make this the start of a whole new chapter?
Don't miss Sarah Morgan's next cozy beach read, The Summer Swap, where a widow's plan to spend the summer in Cape Cod is upended by an unexpected guest and a secret that could change everything...
Get lost in more captivating stories by Sarah Morgan:
- The Summer Swap - Coming May 2024!
- The Island Villa
- Snowed In For Christmas
- Beach House Summer
- The Christmas Escape
My Review
I am not going to lie to you Reader this book was an absolute cover buy and the blurb on the front from Susan Wiggs sealed the deal for me. I am a huge fan of Susan Wiggs and this is what she wrote about The Book Club Hotel ” The Book Club Hotel is a gift…the perfect escape-and-find-yourself novel.” I was sold and honestly, I am so glad I picked up this book one day when I was wandering the bookstore. Oh, and I have to say the floppiness that came with the softcover is also a bonus. If you are a reader then you absolutely know what I am talking about.
This story is told in multiple POVs. We are following four different women all at different stages in life. I say they are at different stages in life which is true but you may take that to mean something completely different than what I am trying to say. You see one woman is in her mid to late twenties while the other three are thirty-nine and turning forty. The stages that I meant are not their ages but their backgrounds and simply how they are living their lives.
In this story, we meet Hattie a recently widowed mom of a young girl and owner of Maple Sugar Inn a cozy bed and breakfast in a rural Vermont town. Her busy season is fast approaching at the inn and some of the help well lets just say are not who she would have chosen to employ at the inn. All of the help was hired by her late husband. He had dreams of making the inn into a fancy well-known establishment whereas Hattie preferred it to be a small and cozy home away from home. Hattie is running on fumes she is beyond overwhelmed with running the inn and being a single mum to a very small child. Her mother passed away when she was born and her father died about seven or so years ago which means other than her daughter she has no family. Well, none that she knows but she does have some friends in her community and one of them well lets just say has caught her eye.
Erica is a woman who knows what she wants out of life and has no guilt about taking it. She is a career woman who makes loads of money, travels the world on a regular basis, and has a man that she sleeps with regularly but has no commitments with which she likes. She has no interest in being tied down with a man, children, pets, or really even houseplants. She is a woman who was raised by a single mom. Her father left them a mere eight minutes after she was born and never looked back or so Erica believes. Her mother has recently passed away leaving Erica with all kinds of questions that can not be answered leaving Erica to feel off balance. Erica is a woman who is not good with emotions and does not often express them except with her close friends and that is only sometimes. She is the woman who however that finds their meeting place for their week-long yearly book club. This year it happens to be over the holiday season.
Claudia is a woman who has recently lost her job as a chef in CA due to cutbacks and not her lack of skills. Other than losing her job she has been down on her luck since her relationship of ten years rapidly ended due to her boyfriend stepping out on her. Of course, he did not choose a woman of his age but one that is years younger than himself and Claudia. The woman also happens to work in television. Now Claudia is stuck in an apartment she can no longer afford and jobless. Her confidence has been beaten down and losing her job has confirmed in her mind that she is just not enough. She is really at rock bottom and fears that she has lost her love of cooking. What is she if she isn’t a chef anymore?
Anna is a happily married woman of twins who are almost ready to leave home and head off to college. This will soon make her and her husband empty nesters. The thought of this terrifies Anna. She has never wanted to be anything but a mother and a homemaker and now the time is fast approaching when she will become unemployed due to her children being grown. She is not terrified of being alone with her husband because after all these years they are still very much in love. The fear is more of a fear involving what she is going to do with herself once her children are gone. What does her next chapter hold? I very much enjoyed getting to know Anna in this story because I found her fears to be so relatable.
Erica, Claudia, and Anna decide to take a week in December and head to Maple Sugar Inn where they will meet for their book club (involving just the three of them), hang out, and catch up. Sometimes talking on the phone does not relay completely what each woman is going through in their life. They have been friends for years. They have been there for each other for all the ups and downs that life has tossed their way. The week they head to the inn may turn out to be more life-changing than any of them are expecting including Hattie. Will Erica get all of her questions answered that she is so desperate for but maybe a bit too fearful to ask? Will Claudia discover that she is worth more than what she has been led to believe by her ex-boyfriend and past employer? Oh and what about Anna will she come to grips with the fact that she is more than just a mother and a homemaker? Let us not forget though about poor Hattie will she finally stop trying to live her deceased husband’s dreams and make the inn something that she wants rather than what he had envisioned?
This is a story about female friendship, love, family, and finding one’s self. If you are looking for a book that will have you rooting for all the characters while also giving you all the cozy winter vibes then please pick this one up. I know that Christmas is mentioned in this book but really it is only a very small part of the story. To be honest I felt this book was more about the winter season and all the coziness it can provide than it was about Christmas. I truly enjoyed this story and I am happy to say that it will not be the last book I pick up by Sarah Morgan. Until next time Reader Happy Reading.