Sadly, this book just didn't work for me. It was too long and the couple just didn't have any chemistry. I was hoping that the Vienna setting would be refreshing, but instead it left me confused.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars
Maria is trying to bring her family hotel back to the renowned hotel It used to be, before her mother’s negligence made what it is today. Hotel Wallner is located in Vienna during the late 1870’s under the rule of Emperor-King Austria-Hungary and war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Maria is walking down the street when a carriage careens toward her and Maria is saved from death my American Eli Whittaker. Eli is in Vienna to find who is leaking American secrets. Free spirited Maria and serious Eli keep bumping into each other and through a series of events the two of them start to get closer to one another. Kidnappings, fires, espionage, illegitimate children, and possibly love will bring together two people from different continents together.

At first the book didn’t grab my attention but about halfway through I started to get more invested in the story. The respectfulness and open communication these two characters shared was nice and wished that happened in real life. I was enjoying the ball scenes and was imagining how they looked and sounded. This is more of a thriller than a romance. The romance is on the upper warm scale, there are sex scenes with some detail but not totally explicit. Grandma had me laughing, I just really loved the character.

The narrator was fine and clear. I understood why they did the accent but when you think about it the whole book would not be spoken in English but German and the American would be the one with a possible accent. I started listening at normal speed to get a sense of the narrators tone then sped it up to 2.5

✨When he cites his sources during sex✨

Hotel of Secrets was everything I was anticipating and more. I mean if you tell me there’s going to be a large and stern and competent virgin hero I’m all yours, but I also loved the plot and complex family drama all housed within Hotel Wallner. It was such a cozy read—I mean there was definitely murder but like…all is fair in love and hoteliering.

Hotel of Secrets balanced the somber with the sparkling. The Hotel Wallner and the varied guests and mishaps made a wonderfully lush backdrop for such a fluffy romance. I’ve always been a fan of how Biller writes heroes, but she really pulled out all of the stops for Eli.

Overall, this was the book I’ve been waiting for from Biller. I’ve loved the writing in all three, but everything came into place for me in Hotel of Secrets. I think it would make a great book club read and a solid addition to my “stranger has asked me what to read and I need various recommendations” arsenal!

Note: From what I could tell, this book has no relation to the characters or world of The Widow of Rose House and The Brightest Star in Paris.

As for the audiobook, I’m so happy I waited to read until I received a copy! I adored the narrator and all of her voices, but especially Eli’s voice. For some reason I’ve got no fondness for the American accent until the hero is the only American to be found in a foreign land. (Hello Matthew Swift’s impact.) The narrator also performed the book’s humor and cheek so well.

My only quibble is that there were a lot of character names and a pretty tangled web of family relationships, which made it a bit hard to follow while listening. Never fear, I got there eventually.


*Mild spoilers below for plot things unrelated to the mystery or anything like that…basically just things that Eli did that I loved. They could be spoilers just because you may prefer to discover them for yourself!*

My favorite running theme was the dark-haired man fated to be Maria’s future husband. (Her family had a long line of women marrying and producing one daughter, so all do Vienna speculates on who her man will be.) The book opens with characters speculating that the man will be dark haired. So naturally Maria runs (literally) into Eli (handsome)(large)(dark haired) on the street. Hijinks obviously ensue.

My second favorite running theme was the bit about linen closets and equipping them for elicit entanglements. Maria really just wanted to get ravished in a linen closet and she was so real for it. Eli, ever a man of duty and service, was quick to assist. God bless America. 🫡

But the rest of the book was just as fun. Like when Eli thought he was being a sneaky spy who spies but literally everyone knew he was an unsneaky spy who spied. I simply had to laugh. Or when he walked in on Maria touching herself, only to ask her to continue… Yeah that was iconic. Or when he said she didn’t touch herself efficiently. Or when Maria’s family did anything. Oh and the curse, naturally. And I can’t forget the third act non-breakup as it was more of a hiccup and totally worked for me.


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶️🌶️.5*/5

*There were around three open-door scenes where both characters orgasmed, all in various locales and situations. I wanted one more scene to round the book out at the end.


CW: Eli’s backstory revolves around an abusive father who used religion as punishment and a severe moral code.

Thank you, Net Galley, for an audible copy of Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller. This is a historical fiction novel that, I thought, had a whimsical quality to it. I liked it. It is an interesting romance with a mystery.

I read the eARC of Hotel of Secrets last year and loved it with my whole heart so when the ALC became available, I couldn't help myself. I loved revisiting Vienna with Maria and Eli and their friends and family.

This is narrated by Carlotta Brentan who does an excellent job with the Austrian accents and really brought the story to life though narration! I highly recommend both versions of this book and will be purchasing both the physical book and the audiobook for myself because I love this book that much.

Eli is the starchiest and most competent hero to ever exist and just seeing his and Maria's relationship grow is so lovely.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Another hit from Diana Biller! I loved the setting (Vienna) and the focus on the 'ball season' where hotel owners compete to host the most elaborate balls for Vienna society. In this book we get to know hotel manager Maria Wallner who's trying to save her family's crumbling hotel. What she didn't need was to have someone apparently out to get her.

Curses, assassination attempts, an unexpected romance from Eli Whittaker, an American Treasury Officer who's been sent to Europe on a case. Add in all the glitz and glam of the time and some great cameos from characters in past books and I couldn't put this book down. Great on audio too and I so enjoyed how eager Eli was to learn to please the much more experienced Maria!!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for early digital copies of this book in exchange for my honest review!

4.5 stars

I had a difficult work week and this escape into 1870s Vienna made me immeasurably happy. As a devoted fan of Eva Ibbotson, I’ve always adored historical Vienna as a literary setting. The waltzing during the winter Ball Season! The shocking social scandals! The political intrigue surrounding the chaotic imperial dynasty! I love the drama of it all, and this book is nothing but drama.

In HOTEL OF SECRETS, Maria Wallner is throwing a grand ball for her hotel’s comeback into society, but keeps getting distracted by an American agent investigating leaked codes (and her). The hotel sabotaging incidents and assassination attempts on Maria’s life are, however, more troubling than some leaked codes. Something is afoot, and it’s clear that the scandalous Wallner family is knee-deep in imperial intrigue. There are three generations of Wallner women, and each secret is more shocking than the last.

HOTEL OF SECRETS is a standalone but I hope the author considers writing more books set outside England and the United States. I was incredibly impressed by the depth of historical research regarding the 1873 financial crisis and political uprisings neighboring the Austro-Hungarian empire. If I had one criticism: there are a couple plot points that I didn’t totally grasp due to confusion. I also didn’t care at all because I was so swept up by the rest of the story.