The Haunted Hotel by Vawn Cassidy is a crazy mix of wacky and heartfelt emotions that makes you want to check into said hotel. Told in the author's usual fun manner, it'll keep you entertained from beginning to end.
From the blurb:
Morgan Ashton-Drake hasn’t given his ancestral home in Yorkshire a second thought in decades. He has a great life in the States, running his stepfathers hotel empire with his brother. So what if he’s all work and no play. He’s not missing out on anything important.
But when a suspicious death and rather public scandal at his childhood home forces Morgan to return to England for the first time in years, he’s not keen to confront his past. What he didn’t count on was the seriously cute little blonde disaster who seems to be single-handedly running his eccentric grandfather’s hotel.
Ellis Sparks has worked at the Ashton-Drake Manor House Hotel since he was sixteen and he loves it from the bottom of his soul. Always the eternal optimist, he’s never met a frown he can’t turn upside down; that is, until he meets Morgan Ashton-Drake, the grumpy grandson of his employer.
With the hotel in danger of closing, and convinced Morgan is the only one who can help to save it, the resident ghosts decide to try their ghostly hand at a little matchmaking as an incentive to get him to stay. After all, how hard can it be to get a grumpy workaholic to fall in love with a twinky ray of sunshine?
From the creator of Dead Serious comes this hilarious grumpy/sunshine spin off which will leave you wanting to book your own room at The Ashton-Drake Manor House Hotel.
Rogue's Review:
- grumpy/sunshine
- found family
- paranormal
- age gap
I know I'm supposed to be objective when writing a review, but I just can't be here, for reasons of my own. I adored this book, I had such high hopes for it when I found out Vawn Cassidy was writing a spin off series from Dead Serious based on the haunted hotel, and I was not disappointed. Grumpy/sunshine is my absolute favourite trope, and Ellis is sunshine personified. I can't say it any better than Ellis' best friend does:
“I wish my glass was more like yours.” She sighs. “Yours isn’t just half full, it’s overflowing with
rainbow glitter, fluffy clouds, smiley face emojis, and Care Bears.”
The whole story is a delight, and there are 3 points of view. Ellis, Morgan and Bertie. Bertie is one of the ghosts that have stayed around at the manor, and the manor and the ghosts are the third protagonist of the story. It does revolve so much around the manor house and Ellis trying to save it, and it's brought to life so well I could almost see it. Ellis and Morgan are adorable too, it's a joy to see Morgan loosen up as the story goes on, and get closer with Ellis. I'd say it's more a 'Happy For Now' than an HEA and I'm here for it, if it means getting more from this world and its' inhabitants.
This made me laugh, and cry and I couldn't put it down. I'll leave the last word with Ellis as this meant a lot to me too. More please!
"I also get a strange sort of comfort knowing that death isn’t the end. That life goes on, just in a different form."
Molly Otto's Review:
"Remember the Ashton-Drake Manor House Hotel and their loveable staff from Dead Serious #4? Well, this is their story in the aftermath of those events.
Ellis has been with the Hotel his whole life and will do anything to stay at his home with his found family, including dealing and catering to pesty ghosts. Morgan hasn't been back to his family, Manor, since the untimely death of his father. When he returns, he doesn't expect to fall for the charms of this unique mix of people. The ghosts make a huge part of this story and appreciate what Vawn does with them in showing how important they are to the manor and the history that makes it such an amazing place. A beautiful combination of humor and emotions that makes you just want more from this world and can not wait for Warren to visit. He is going to fit right in with this bunch."
Jacqueleen the Reading Queen's review:
"In that one moment, I know without a doubt that I will lose something important when he leaves. He'll be taking a little piece of my heart that I didn't mean to give but did anyway."
I was so happy when Vawn Cassidy announced this book and I realized that Ellis was the MC! After meeting him in Dead Serious book 4, I was firmly in the Ellis needs a book camp. You can't help but love the adorable man. He's so sweet and bubbly. I don't think he's ever gone a day without smiling in his life. He's had his share of struggles, but he hasn't let any of it dampen his light.
The same cannot be said for our other MC. Morgan is a workaholic and a major grump. Just as Ellis is often seen with a smile, Morgan is known for his scowl. But just like everyone else, he cannot help but be charmed by Ellis' sunshiney nature. The problem lies in the fact that Ellis lives at the hotel while Morgans home and life is an entire continent away back in the states.
"He's everything I never knew I needed and the one thing I can't keep."
It killed me to know that a potential heartbreak was on the horizon for Ellis while he was also dealing with the possibility of losing his home. The hotel is all he's known for most of his life. He's created a family there with all it's quirky staff. Even the resident ghosts consider him one of their own.
We end this book with a HFN for the couple, but more to come in regards to the hotel. I'm pretty sure Morgan's younger brother is on his way, and based on the few bits of him in this book, he's definitely going to be shaking things up a bit. It's gonna be fun!
The Haunted Hotel is currently available as an e-book and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription
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