I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — I love reading books that feature protagonists who work in industries I’m not that familiar with. It’s even better if the work is a good part of the focus of the story, so I can feel like I’m learning something new.

Though I’ve stayed in decent number of hotels and hostels in my day, I know very little about the inner workings of the industry. Naturally that means that I got pretty excited to read the synopsis of Lucy Checks In, which is about a woman who once ran a prominent hotel but has been blacklisted in the United States hospitality industry after a scandal. She gets an offer from a hotel in France and moves there to start over, sight unseen.

Naturally, not everything is as she imagined it would be, and she has to decide whether to stay and make the best of what she’s got or run home in defeat. 

(Full disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin. Book links in the post are Bookshop.org affiliate links).

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What I Liked

This book has a compelling opening that really draws you in as you arrive in France with Lucy and watch her discover that her new job isn’t quite what she expected. 

The quirky cast of characters living in the future Hotel Paradis were one of my favorite things about the book. It has a lovely found family feel as Lucy gets to know them and tries to learn to trust again. 

Lucy has to relearn her confidence in herself and her abilties after the events that led her to lose her previous job. I enjoyed going on this emotional journey with her and watching her slowly remember how capable she really is. 

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What I Didn’t Like

At times, the pacing felt a bit off to me. There are a number of brief time jumps throughout the book, which does make sense in some places but did leave me feeling like things slowed down quite a bit after the exciting beginning. 

In particular, I thought the end wrapped up really quickly and with a pretty big event that really felt rushed and skipped over. That ending left me with a weird feeling about the book and I’m not sure I love how it was handled. 

I also wasn’t sold on the romance element of the story. I rarely say this because I love a love story, but this one felt a bit forced and I think I might’ve liked the book better without it. 

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In all, Lucy Checks In is a cozy story about starting over, found family, and remembering to trust yourself after someone violated that trust. 

For some reason, I kept thinking about Emily in Paris while I was reading, so I’m going to go out on a limb and recommend it to fans of the show, with the caveat that Lucy isn’t quite so alarmingly confident and prone to faux paus. Something about the American living in France and trying to navigate a complicated work situation makes them feel similar, I think. I also think anyone who enjoys reading a cozy story about building a life and discovering new relationships would like this book.