My enormous thanks to the author Lilly Bartlett for allowing me to read The Big Dreams Beach Hotel. I always enjoy her books and this was no exception. You can read my review of Lilly’s previous two books, The Big Little Wedding at Carlton Square here and of The Second Chance Cafe in Carlton Square here.

The Big Dreams Beach Hotel was published by Harper Impulse on 18th August and you can purchase it here in the UK and here in the US.

I also have an extract that you might like to read here, although the giveaway is now closed.

The Big Dreams Beach Hotel

This is a brand new standalone novel from the author of the Carlton Square series with a whole new cast of characters to fall in love with!

Wriggle your toes in the sand and feel the warm breeze on your face when you check into the hotel that’s full of dreams…

Three years after ditching her career in New York City, Rosie never thought she’d still be managing the quaint faded Victorian hotel in her seaside hometown.

What’s worse, the hotel’s new owners are turning it into a copy of their Florida properties. Flamingos and all. Cultures are clashing and the hotel’s residents stand in the way of the developers’ plans. The hotel is both their home and their family.

That’s going to make Rory’s job difficult when he arrives to enforce the changes. And Rosie isn’t exactly on his side, even though it’s the chance to finally restart her career. Rory might be charming, but he’s still there to evict her friends.

How can she follow her dreams if it means ending everyone else’s?

My Review of The Big Dreams Beach Hotel

When a stint in New York doesn’t quite go according to plan, Rose finds herself back in Scarborough in a hotel just ripe for development.

Having loved Lilly Bartlett’s previous two novels I approached The Big Dreams Beach Hotel with trepidation because I knew I was going to meet a new set of characters and I didn’t know if I would like them as much as I have those in the Carlton Square. I needn’t have worried. I loved The Big Dreams Beach Hotel and its inhabitants even more.

The Big Dreams Beach Hotel is unashamedly light, romantic and chick-lit in style and Lilly Bartlett writes this genre with consummate skill to perfection. I find her books effortless to read. That doesn’t mean they are insubstantial, but that the writing flows so well that I am totally absorbed in the story. I love the direct appeal to reader at times as it makes me feel I am actually part of the narrative too.

The Big Dreams Beach Hotel has humour that never feels contrived and comes through the wonderful characterisation. I rarely laugh aloud when reading but I did during this book. It was a delight to meet Rosie, Rory et al and apart from a couple of characters whom I won’t name for fear of spoiling the story, I loved them all – especially Barry. Lilly Bartlett manages to convey what makes us human so emotionally that I admit to shedding the odd tear too.

I absolutely loved The Big Dreams Beach Hotel. It has everying I want in a book of this genre. There’s a great and believable plot. There’s an exploration of community, friendship and love. There’s a colourful range of characters who feel real and human. Above all, there’s a hugely satisfying and entertaining read. I cannot recommend it higly enough.

About Lilly Bartlett

Lilly Bartlett is a pen name of Michele Gorman. Michele writes books with heart and humour, full of best friends, girl power and, of course, love and romance. Call them beach books or summer reads, chick lit or romcom… readers and reviewers call them “feel good”, “relatable” and “thought-provoking”.

She is both a Sunday Times and a USA Today bestselling author, raised in the US and living in London. She is very fond of naps, ice cream and Richard Curtis films but objects to spiders and the word “portion”.

You can find Michele on Instagram and on Facebook . You can follow her on Twitter and visit Michele’s blog and her website. There’s also a Lilly Bartlett Facebook page here. There’s more with these other bloggers too: