Publishing year: 2012
I love Veronica Henry’s books, which tend to focus on several characters and different stories that interweave.
On this occasion the common point is a five-star hotel in a town in Cornwall. The hotel is owned by Claire and her partner, Luca, who is the chef. Claire and Luca don’t have a very happy life as Luca is indolent and drinks too much, which means that most work falls on Claire’s shoulders. The thing is that many people come to the hotel for Luca’s food, and in a way Claire feels shadowed by Luca.
Apart from here, there is Angelica, a young woman who works in reception. Angelina’s life is not easy as she is part of a dysfunctional family. Her mother doesn’t care about much other than sleeping, and all her siblings has a different father, and Angelina is the one who looks after her little brother, Drill, who has Down syndrome. Working for Claire is her big success as she started as a chambermaid, and now she has been made assistant manager. The problem with Angelina is that she feels a strong attraction to Luca, and even though she doesn’t like the man emotionally, there is something in him that makes her yearn for him. Angelina swears she will never let herself do anything with Luca because she respects and owes Claire too much.
Then there are the guests that come to the hotel that three-day weekend. There is Laura Starling, a young woman who thinks that a local artist might be her father. Her mother has always refused to tell her who her father is, but encouraged by her boyfriend Dan, she snooped around and found a painting of her mother and the painter in their youth. So Dan convinced her that she could join a painting session with the man, Tony Weston, and that is why they are staying at Claire’s hotel.
And the second guest we have seen so far is Nick Barnes, who as soon as he turns up at the hotel causes a great stir for Claire. Nick was Claire’s boyfriend, and she tells Angelina that she did something terrible to him, and now she feels horrible. We don’t know what it is; maybe she got pregnant and aborted their child without telling him? Whatever it is, we can see that neither Claire nor Nick are indifferent to each other, and there is still attraction there. The problem is that Claire is in a relationship with Luca, and Nick is getting married in seven days. Actually, he is staying in Claire’s hotel for her stag weekend. I am curious to know more about this subplot and what will happen between Nick and Claire as I am sure something will happen.
I already love the book. Interesting characters and plots so far, and I haven’t seen all of them yet!!!
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