Another Nicola Harrison historical fiction novel that I quite enjoyed. I don’t think we got into Hazel’s time on an aircraft as much as I thought it would but I enjoyed the time we spent with her as an artist’s muse. I have been pretty burnt out on WW2 fiction but this provides enough of a unique perspective that I didn’t mind

This was another wonderful historical read by this author. I truly felt like I was living the main characters life and being in the hotel Laguna seemed like it would have been so fun in that time. I would love to see this adapter into a film.

I wish there had been more about Hazel’s time working on the aircraft’s as a riveter during WWII but we did get to understand how hard it was for women to go back to before the war. I think it was especially hard for single women who had found their place in the working world only to be pushed aside. I liked the relationship between Hazel and Hansen, how it grew from wariness to a trusting friendship.

If you're looking for a quick, compulsive, bingeable historical fiction novel, this is it. I loved Hazel as a character, I thought the setting was so iconic. The dual storylines really kept me engaged. It's definitely not your average WWII book. Pick it up for the fun cover, stay for the amazing story. I think I'll pick up MONTAUK next!

HOTEL LAGUNA
Nicola Harrison, St. Martin’s Press, 2023, $29.00, hb, 288pp, 9781250277381

Hazel Francis is a heroine for any woman who has been told, “Well, no, you can’t do that.” She’s an intrepid soul whose headlong sense of adventure leads her to her first sexual encounter, with a boyhood friend who now assumes they will marry. He leaves for war, she writes him a Dear John letter, he is killed, and the sense of it being her fault (another thing many women will empathize with) haunts her.
The war offers a chance to flee Kansas to do meaningful work in California. In Los Angeles Hazel builds airplanes and regains a sense of self until the war ends and all the women are shooed home to have babies and keep house, the jobs saved for returning men. Rootless, jobless, and penniless, she lands in the artists’ colony of Laguna Beach, with work as assistant and model to a crusty artist with another long-ago death on his conscience.
With engaging characters and a romance to complicate things, Hotel Laguna is a spirited tale of a woman who insists on being her own person without putting overly twenty-first century ideas in a mid-twentieth-century head. A missing painting and a Hollywood starlet fallen out of favor add mystery to the mix. The first-person prose is skillful and the dialog deft. A reader who enjoys a well-drawn sense of place will appreciate settings like the Laguna Beach art scene of the late forties and the wartime aircraft plants where women built the planes the men would fly, until they were told they were no longer needed.

Amanda Cockrell
This review ran in the August 2023 issue of Historical Novel Reviews

In this historical novel set mostly in 1946, main character Hazel escaped her ordinary life in Kansas during the war to go to California and work on building airplanes. When she loses her job after the war is over, she doesn’t want to return home to an ordinary life, and ends up in Laguna Beach where she gets a job as an assistant to a (fictional) famous but difficult artist. Along with Hazel trying to figure herself out, there’s a little romance, and a little mystery about a scandal in the artist’s past and a missing painting, along with a portrait of life in this quirky artistic town where they put on an annual Pageant of the Masters (a live tableau of famous paintings).

This was on the lighter side for historical fiction, but yet also was a very slow read for a book that’s under 300 pages. I enjoyed the story, but in addition to the slow pace, it felt a tad underdeveloped at times. Nonetheless, I would definitely read another book by her. And think fans of authors like Beatriz Williams and Melanie Benjamin would enjoy this one too.

I will say I was disappointed that my ARC did not include an author’s note or historical note as I would have liked to know more about what into the historical backdrop for this one. This came out in June so is available now but was checked out at all my libraries or I would have borrowed it just to look for an end note!

3.5 stars

I don't read many historical fiction books from this time period, but I truly enjoyed it. The period following World War II was definitely a time of adjustment for many, including Hazel. Having spent World War II fixing planes and suddenly losing that job when the war ended, finding a new place in this world is especially difficult.

I loved the grouchy employer. I don't know why, but attempting to soften someone who is grouchy is always a troupe I enjoy reading. It helped there was also a love interest to keep Hazel's spirits up during this uncertain time. The setting was fun and flirtatious and filled with so much possibility.

Anyone looking for one last beach read before winter, this is definitely a book to pull off the shelf.

In HOTEL LAGUNA, Nicola Harrison creates a strong female protagonist in a time when women were expected to go back to being wives and mothers when the war ended, and the men came home to reclaim their jobs. Hazel was alone and wanted more from life than marrying the hometown boy, so she joins the women doing their part for the war and heads to California to work on planes. She loves the job and when the men return, she’s determined to find a way to continue. Her money is low when she hops a bus from LA to San Diego, getting off in Laguna Beach. Homeless, she befriends a bartender and by sheer guts, becomes a model/assistant for a reclusive artist.
I love watching the relationship between Hazel and Hanson evolve from boss and employee to friends and confidants. It was also interesting watching Hazel grow and become more confident and an integral part of the community. The setting sparkles as another character, even more interesting because the Hotel Laguna, Laguna Beach, and the Pageant of the Masters all still exist. I will have to plan a day trip down the coast to visit all the sites Harrison has immortalized in the novel.
This is the third novel I have read by Nicola Harrison and I enjoy the way each has given me a perspective on history that I had not considered before.
Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of the novel. All opinions are my own and freely given.
#HotelLaguna #NicolaHarrison #StMartinsPress

I really enjoyed this somewhat historical fiction story set in Southern California. I loved the setting, the imagery on the cover and the characters were well drawn out and very interesting. The ending kind of didn't ring totally true for me but overall this was an enjoyable visit to days past in SoCal. Thanks for a copy of this one!

First, the cover is so pretty and definitely eye-catching! As soon as I saw it, I wanted to know more about this book!
And the book itself... completely surprised me (in a good way!). I tend to avoid historical simply due to not being able to stay interested but this book got my attention with the "Rosie the Riveters" aspect and I found myself fully immersed in the story. A fun read, great characters, definitely recommend picking this one up.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC copy.
All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the early copy.

This book was hard for me to rate because the art scene and the settings were full 5 stars. I loved the beach, the references to older buildings and businesses, and all the talk about art and paintings. I appreciated the backstory and how Hazel came to be in Laguna Beach. The story itself was captivating and interesting to follow.

However, the ending was where the stars from that rating dropped. The way Hazel just "knows what he is thinking" was absolutely infuriating and the few scenes at the end were completely unnecessary. It made me dislike her on a whole new level and it was a miscommunication plot which while is very real. is very cringe to read on paper. I wish the book had a short epilogue "10 years later" instead to give it a full-circle ending.

In the end, I think this book would be a perfect vacation read and a fast easy historical fiction.

Gorgeous cover, excellent on audio, interesting HF on post WW2 life, and amazing setting! This is my first book to read by Harrison, and I look forward to reading her other books!

Hotel Laguna was a delightful journey that transports readers back to post-war Sothern California. As a former resident of SoCal (and a visitor to Laguna), I very much enjoyed the setting. The characters were well drawn and nuanced, the plot moved quickly, and all in all, it was a delightful read.

I really enjoyed the setting of Laguna Beach. This was just the type of feel good read with tons of depth and the hotel, as well as the artistic elements were wonderful throughout the book.

Thanks to #NetGalley, the publisher and the author.

3.5 stars.

This is my first book by her and I have her others on my to read.

I enjoyed this book set in the 1940s in Laguna Beach, CA, where Kitty Francis was looking for a job and ended up as an assistant to a famous artist Hanson Radcliff. She becomes very attached to him and the people there. When she finds out that he was "shunned" years ago about a painting and it's model and her demise, he started painting seascapes and landscapes. She falls for Jimmy, the bartender at the Hotel Laguna bar where she ends up staying on her first night when Hanson hired her.

It was good historical fiction.

I absolutely adored this! I loved every single character and the story. The romance was a plus. Hazel embodied the strong woman who craves freedom persona and I loved her relationship with Hansen. Everything came together perfectly and the setting and timeline were fun to read about.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

I had high hopes for this book, and the first couple of chapters were really intriguing, but the rest of the book was very meh. I liked the character of Hazel but disliked pretty much every other character, and the book just dragged on and on and ON. I normally fly through this type of books but this one took me 4 days to finish.
I probably would not recommend this to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC!

This is an amazing book, set after the was when women who had helped by doing Mens work were relegated back to womens work and how lost some felt. The description of Laguna Beach made it sound so appealing…and it he afterword told me that the art show story is based on a real event that occurs yearly in laguna beach.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. I was also gifted the audio version and I left my review on there.

Hazel left Wichita Kansas in 1942 because she wanted to do her part for the war effort. She became 1 of the Rosie the riveters and ends up really enjoying her work However when the war was over they wanted her to go and get married and live a normal life as a woman should.Hazel had no desire to conform so she heads to the beach town of Laguna. Although she has no experience she ends up becoming the assistant to a very popular artist who has a secret in his past. The town of Laguna ends up growing on Hazel and she is very happy with where she's at. However she's not sure she wants to give up her dream of working on planes.
This is an incredible Historical Fiction choice for summer reading. I really love the fact that we got to see Hazel and 2 different timelines as well as get some information of how people lived after the war. This is a time that is not usually written about. The characters were captured excellently of how life was post war for many women. I adored Hazel, she was so beyond her time in her decisions and what she was yearning for.