In Lucy Checks In, Dee Ernst (Maggie Finds Her Muse) delivers a delightfully eccentric story of midlife reinvention.
Broke, single, heartbroken and childless, Lucia "Lucy" Gianetti feels kicked to the curb by fate and her own bad choices. The 49-year-old, who was once the successful hospitality manager of an upscale New York City hotel, mixed business with pleasure to overwhelming detriment. Her boss and beau swindled millions and pinned the blame on Lucy, forcing her into unemployment. She moves back home with her parents while trying to clear her good name. Two years later, downtrodden Lucy is offered a job managing the historic Hotel Paradis in Rennes, France. She jumps at the chance to ditch the detritus of her woeful life, picturing a posh setting that will rescue her. However, when she arrives, she's confronted with a run-down, centuries-old hotel in as dire need of a rehabilitative makeover as she is. Faced with the Herculean task of transforming the haunted, family-owned Paradis into a charming tourist attraction in six months, Lucy dives into the challenge. It is fraught with quirky, exasperating contractors, hotel staff and long-term residents, including a handsome--and self-important--artist who is as willful as she is. Can he make her believe in love again?
Witty, snarky romantic comedies set in France--fast-paced stories that feature strong female protagonists steeped in the throes of midlife--have become Ernst's specialty. In Lucy Checks In, she takes readers on another exciting and heartwarming adventure, reminding them that it's never too late to start again. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines