Hotel of Secrets was an intriguing romance/mystery with a ton of plot and very enjoyable characters. Diana Biller is great at writing atmospheric, captivating reads about different time periods and locations in history.

This story is set in Vienna, Austria in the 1870s, and ball season is in full swing. I loved the opening scenes of this book. It completely set the mood of a glittering, extravagant society. Maria is the manager of her family's hotel, Hotel Wallner, a place that is slightly past its prime. Maria has big plans to bring it back, but forces seem to be working against her. Eli, a taciturn American, is visiting Vienna on official government business, and is trying to figure out who has been selling American information. When they are continuly thrown together time after time, sparks begin to fly. They also will have to solve the mystery of who is trying to sabotage Maria and the hotel.

I loved the setting of this book. Anything other than Regency England is welcome! Diana Biller completely brought this setting to life with the description of the balls and Vienna culture. Both Eli and Maria had well developed backstories and were characters that I wanted to root for. The story was interesting, but complicated and may have had a few too many aspects. I can think one or two of the story lines could have been cut, and I still would have felt like I had a complete story. Despite that, I was happy with the wrap up of the book.

Diana Biller continues to impress me and I can't wait to read more from her. She is a historical author who is doing unique things.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Great book that keeps you Enthralled. Wonderful characters that will capture your heart. I love the way the story unfolded . I highly recommend to fans of historical fiction.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Where do I even start with this book? It was everything. This was my first Diana Biller book but since reading it I've gotten my hands on all of her other novels. Yes, it was good enough for me to abandon all reason and get everything else she's written. Let me get into why this book caused me to create sentences of absolute chaos:

-All of the characters in this book are multifaceted and complex. Each one is written like they are the protagonists, which is so hard to find in books done in this beautiful of a manner. Eli and Maria are easily some of the best main characters I have read. Both are so perfectly flawed and wow did they feel like real humans. The story arcs for the characters too?!? I am FLOORED.

-The plot was everything I love: part romance part mystery with political undercurrents. This is my catnip, especially when it's based on real events with serious issues. Add in international politics? Perfection.

-I'm going to be quite honest with you, Eli Whittaker may be in my top two fictional men ranking. He's smart and his competency is an ongoing bit in the book. And for good reason. The man goes and reads literature to learn how to make sure Maria is pleasured... like omg. Seriously, Eli could take me to a linen closet any day.

-The writing itself is compelling with surprising lyricism. There are enough descriptions to make you feel like you're apart of the scene in the book, but not bogged down in all of the details. It moves quickly enough through the plot. It's a perfect balance.

I'm probably missing a million things that make this romance a must read novel. But it truly is. While I got the ARC I also pre-ordered a signed copy because it is a NEED. I want to reread it already. This is an absolute stunner of a historical romance novel and I highly recommend it. Perfect for those who like Meredith Duran or Emily Sullivan.

OMGosh! This was such a fun and riveting read! Going into it based off the description, I did think it was going to be more mysterious and have darker elements, but it turned out to be quick lighthearted and -literally- FUN. The characters were so ECCENTRIC and hilarious-pulling stunts that were so slapstick and random, I felt as if I was watching a funny sitcom. I LOVED the dynamic between Maria and Eli- and how the *roles* were reversed! (If you've read the story you get my meaning, spoilers!) I adored Josephine SO much (and can we say representation!!) I also really enjoyed how the author incorporated the meaning of family into her novel.
I can't say much for the plot, since I felt there really wasn't much of one. To be honest, Eli's mission confused me. It felt a lot like she just threw in a little mystery for suspense, but didn't really follow through with it. Even the ending was hurried and sudden.
This was definitely more of a romantic comedy with historical elements, as opposed to a historical fiction mystery.

Who is trying to kill Maria Wallner, and why? The uptight Eli Whitaker tries not to involve himself with the pretty, independent hotel manager, but he has a nagging suspicion she’s a missing piece to the larger puzzle he’s been sent to figure out by the U.S. Department of Treasury.

More mystery than historical romance, this is a solid three-star read. If you’re looking for something out of the ordinary, then this book is for you. It’s set in Vienna, Austria during the 1870s right before the Russo-Turkish War. There are lots of historical tidbits within the book that history lovers will enjoy.

I personally enjoyed reading about two MCs in their 30s + the virgin MMC with the more experienced FMC trope. It’s a nice reversal of what’s usually found in HR. The steamy scenes were perfection. I will definitely be following the author for future releases.

Some readers may not like the storyline of Maria’s mother, as she’s been the mistress of Maria’s father for over 30 years. The way this plays out in the end is great, so maybe keep an open mind.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. The expected publishing date for Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller is March 28th, 2023.

Honestly, we asked for this book because of the cover. And in this case you can most assuredly judge a book by its cover. LOVED THIS STORY.

Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller takes place in Vienna. Our heroine, Maria, is the 4th generation to manage a once magnificent hotel brought close to ruin by a government financial collapse and the less than stellar management skills of her mother. Maria comes from a long line of independent and fierce women. Eli, our hero, is an American, an agent with the secret service sent to Vienna on an investigation. He’s not entirely sure why he’s been sent to Vienna and is frustrated. Eli was raised by a very strict father and it’s eventually made clear he holds on to rough moments from his past.

The two meet when Eli pulls Maria out of the way of a runaway carriage. They soon discover he’s a guest in her hotel and their love story begins.

It’s a mystery, a love story, and a story about making piece with your family and your found family.

We want to highlight Biller’s approach to her sexually experienced heroine. It is judgment free, humorous, and refreshing. Maria is much more experienced that Eli and the reversal (from a typical histrom) is dazzlingly well done. The consent, respect, and honor are moving.

Honorable mentions to Eli’s stern mouth and his sexual research, along with the diary entries at the beginning of each chapter, a glimpse at the women who came before Maria.

Since I have previously been a big fan of Diane Biller's work, I was so excited to read this book. Hotel of Secrets did NOT disappoint. In this novel we follow Maria, who is a hotelkeeper for her family's former famous hotel (the Hotel Wallner). On the flipside Eli, our other protagonist, is currently in Vienna as a spy to recover some missing codes. Biller does an amazing job bringing both these characters and their stories together. I loved the twists and turns, which makes sense considering I finished this book in one day. Biller makes it impossible to put down!

The romance is top notch (which is to be expected). I found this to be the steamiest of Biller's novels (no objections here!) but in addition to the fun scenes, you could tell how the characters really grew to care about each other throughout their predicaments. The differences between the characters both in personality and romantically had be squealing.

One of my favorite parts of this novel outside of the excellent characters was the description of Hotel Wallner and 1870s Vienna. Her ability to create an environment to immerse the reader in is really one of Biller's best talents and what keeps me coming back.

5/5 stars, another A+ work. I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next.

This novel started out grabbing my attention immediately.. our main characters Eli and Maria are thrown together as Eli saves Maria from a runaway carriage.. This is the first of a string of assassination attempts Eli foils. tpThey head for the third main character, the Havner Hotel, Maria is in the middle of renovating the hotel to its prior glory but has run out of money. Her mother, Elizabeth, has let this place deteriorate into calamity during the eight years she was in charge using money on herself and not the business. , during her reign the banks collapsed and the wealthiest residents lost their money. The hotel was handed to her by her mother Josephine, handed to her by her mother Theresa. One daily habit the original owner practiced was to always take a moment to write in her journals the daily activities some of which could be used as bribes in the future if necessary. News such as which married man had a mistress in tow. Eli, an American has been sent undercover to find who has been stealing the secret codes.. The only clue he has to go on is that a message was sent from that hotel on their letterhead so he must get in there undercover and investigate. Maria as the central criminal. She has gone to at least five banks all telling her no. Maria pushes forward and plans to host the ball of the century which will place her hotel back into it’s rightful place. I felt like Vienna, at that time, everything moved in three quarter time. I thought it got bogged down in waltz time until thesecrets littering started falling out of mouths in the end. I would still recommend for a worthwhile read.

Thanks to the following for allowing me to review early in exchange for my personally honest review.:
#NetGalley
#macMillanPublishing #StMartinsPress
#Diana Biller
#HotelofSecrets
Pub. Date: 28 Mar 2023

Lovely storytelling and descriptive - I felt like I was in Vienna during Ball Season. And the found family that Biller created within the Hotel Wallner was superb. I loved all the supporting characters, but Maria and Eli were obviously the stand outs. Their romance was meet-cute, while also being very passionate.

The Hotel Wallner has been in Maria’s family for four generations, gifted to her great-grandmother by the Emperor himself. However, in recent years, it has fallen to disrepair, but Maria wants to return it to its former glory. This is hard, however, when it seems Vienna itself is conspiring against her. But Eli, an American foreign agent, seems to be there to help her at every turn. They both have reasons for avoiding relationships, though and despite the clear chemistry they each strive to push each other away - until that becomes impossible. Will they be able to overcome all the obstacles in their way?

I wish to thank NetGalley and St Martin’s Press – St. Martin’s Griffin for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A beautiful setting in Vienna in the 1870’s during the festive Ball season when an American Treasury Agent is tasked with solving the problem of who is stealing the US codes. When he arrives in Vienna he stays at the Hotel Wallner where he meets Maria the beautiful hotel keeper. Maria is trying to rebuild the hotel to its former splendor and gain back its elite status. The hotel has been in the family for several generations and was allowed to fall in disrepair by her mother. This is an enjoyable read for the most part. The author includes lots of intrigue, flirtations, family dynamics and clever bantering. The book has lots of explicit sex scenes which I must admit I found myself skimming through. The descriptions of life in Vienna at the time are really lovely and the work involved in reinstating the hotel to its former glory on a limited budget is well described. The author includes humor, mysteries and lots of great characters to keep you reading to see what will happen next.

Romance, intrigues, spies, assassination attempts, all set in the gradiosness of the late 19th century Vienna. Occasionally it felt like a comedy of errors but it kept me wanting to read further. Various plots and intrigues, trying to figure out if they were separate incidents or some how connected. The only thing I didn't like was the sex scenes.
I received an ARC copy through NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

This was my first read by this author and I really enjoyed it!

Maria, the main character, was easily like-able and I really admired how strong and hardworking she was (without being annoying like how so many female MCs can be when written as “strong”).

I was really charmed by this book and will definitely check out other works by this author.

𝘗𝘭𝘰𝘵 - This was the perfect blend of romance and mystery. Who wants Maria dead? How did she get involved in some grand political scheme? When will Eli admit he had fallen for the independent and sassy hotel owner? I loved the blend of genres and felt that the two main plot points complimented each other perfectly. I had some unanswered questions at the end, but all in all I think the mystery was wrapped up nicely.

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴/𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴 - Maria and Eli were great together. I loved the role reversal in terms of the sexual relationship between the two. One of my biggest gripes with historical romance is that the female is always this innocent, inexperienced virgin while the man is a rake, but Diana Biller took that stereotypical trope and turned it inside out. Maria got to teach Eli the ways of the bedroom, but don't worry. Eli is very competent and a fast learner 😏

𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦 - Diana Biller's writing style could only be described as quirky and fun. Her way of writing from both Maria and Eli's perspective both drew me into the story and added a fun and lighthearted element. Was the writing historically accurate? I couldn't say, since I'm not sure about the events and societal expectations of 19th century Vienna, but it was still enjoyable to read.

𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘖𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 - All in all, I really enjoyed this book! It was a fun, quick read and a solid historical romance that I'll be recommending to my friends.

Diana Biller took her work to a high and unachievable level, this one written definitely with love for the period era. Her piece gives the reader something they were not expecting in the most precise and perfect way possible; she carried her characters with flawless authority, which made me want them here in 3D. This one is definitely for the shelves.

This is the first book I've read by Diana Biller and I was impressed! The storyline is intriguing and engaging, the descriptions of the Carnival are so vivid, the characters are well crafted and interesting and the romance is spicy!

Maria is a hotel keeper trying to bring her family hotel back into positive views after her mother ran it into the ground. Eli is an American sent to Vienna to help solve a crime. While he is staying at the Hotel Wallner, he learns there is a much more going on than he expected - and meets Maria.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review. It's a wonderful historical romance that I enjoyed reading.

Oh the romance, sophistication and intrigue of 1878 Vienna. This book does a wonderful job of setting that scene. Maria is the latest in a line of female owner/managers of the grand Hotel Wallner. Well, it was grand, Now it is Maria's task to restore it to glory. As she embarks on this mission, secrets, spies and intrigue get in the way. Particularly an extremely competent but clueless American treasury agent on a mission of his own.
This is a review on an eGalley provided by NetGalley.

I most definitely enjoyed Hotel of Secrets. It's the story of the Wallner family, specifically Maria, her mother Elizabeth, and her grandmother Josephine. They owned the Hotel Wallner. A man named Eli went from the United States to Vienna to the Hotel Wallner to solve the mystery of stolen codes. He met Maria when she wandered into the street half drunk and he saved her from being hit by a carriage. And he saved her life on three different occasions.

Maria, her mother, her grandmother and her great grandmother had kept journals of all of the happenings in the hotel. They were a security blanket and could be used for blackmail if need be. Elizabeth was in a 30 year relationship with Count Heinrich who was married and happened to be Maria's father. He found himself in financial trouble with the Russians. He stole the journals in hopes that the contents could solve his problems. He'd set fire to the hotel's kitchen to create a ruse. Maria realized he'd stolen them and went to his home to retrieve them. But the 1875 journal was missing.

The Hotel Wallner was commissioned to do host the ball of the season. The hotel had been going downhill when Elizabeth had taken over, but with Maria in charge she was working on a revival and the ball was just the ticket.

During the ball, Count von Kaufstein told Maria that there was a problem in the fourth floor bathroom. When she went to inspect it she was accosted with chloroform. She was kidnapped and taken into the woods. It was the count who'd taken her. It turns out that the 1875 journal had information that was detrimental to him.

If I say anymore it will give everything away. But suffice it to say that Maria and Eli had agreed to a love affair with no strings attached. To learn the end of the story you'll have to read the book. There's a bit of suspense and intrigue. It was somewhat difficult to put down. It is worth the read.

Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller

Thanks to @NetGalley I received an eARC of this book.

Hotel of Secrets provided hours of delightful escape to the Vienna of the late 1800s, of which I knew nothing about! Likable characters combined with an intriguing storyline of returning a faded hotel back to life despite numerous & daunting challenges added to the intrigue!

This was my first introduction to Diana Biller. I enjoyed her combination of historical mystery with romance added in for extra enjoyment. I suspect that I will be checking out other titles by Diana Biller!

#NetGalley

I had a difficult time trying to get into the writing style here given the time the story takes place. The behavior and attitudes in the novel was so foreign to my limited knowledge of this time period and this is what most affected my enjoyment.

I wanted to enjoy this one more than I did but it just never engaged me.

Genre: historical romance
Vienna, 1877

Maria Wallner, manager and owner of Hotel Wallner, has been slowly revitalizing the hotel her mother drove into near oblivion over the last ten years while caught up more in her own affairs than the management of their beloved property. But 1878 will be their year. Maria has the opportunity to host one of the grander balls of the winter season, and she’s determined to make it perfect. Eli Whittaker works for the American Department of the Treasury, and is stationed in Vienna to track down stolen codes. He’s worked his whole life to create order out of chaos and to rely on no one but himself. Their paths cross on New Year’s Eve when Eli saves Maria from an assassination attempt…and then from another attempt on her life shortly thereafter. Unsure of the source or motive of these attempts, Eli sticks by Maria’s side, only increasing the attraction between the two.

It’s always a refreshing delight to step outside of England in historical romance, and VIenna during Ball Season is a magical delight. While Hotel of Secrets got off to a little bit of a slow start while Biller lays out the genealogy - which is important! - by about halfway, I could not put the book down. I was swept off my feet by both continental political intrigue, spies, secrets, and as utterly romantic relationship between Eli and Maria. The atmosphere felt bright and sparkly, shining under a glistening chandelier and with a glass of champagne in hand.

I love a competent hero. Eli is competence-manifested in a gorgeous male form. He’s starchy, cold, and determined to do his job and move back to America and on with his life. Maria is also incredibly competent - the hotel is beginning to thrive under her creativity - but she’s also warm and friendly, which provides a beautiful balance between our main characters. Their connection to one another, the way they begin to rely on each other, and the way they communicate really worked well for me.

This was my first book by Diana Biller but you can be sure I’ll be going to pick up Widow of Rose House and her other books soon, too!

Thank you to @stmartinspress and netgalley for an eARC for review. Hotel of Secrets is out 3/28/23.

4.5 stars
3 flames