Entertainment reporter Alix has finally gotten her big break writing the memoir of famed former boy band member, Sebastian Green. Infamous party boy, known for his rivalry with bandmate Jett Beckett until Jett's disappearance eight years ago. Struggling to write in her Manhattan apartment with her sister crashing with her, Sebastian puts Alix up at a fancy ski resort in Vermont to finally get some peace and focus on her work. And Alix does finally make progress on her writing... and in getting closer to handsome ski instructor, Tyler. But they each have secrets that may destroy their budding romance.

I loved this book! It was adorable, yet intriguing. Essentially, it had romantic, wintery moments, fabulous first dates, and a whirlwind romance, while also having an undercurrent of mystery. As a reader, I assume we're supposed to know the answer to the big mystery from the beginning, while our protagonist Alix is in the dark, but I didn't mind it that way. But just in case it's a secret to some, I'm not going to spoil the big reveal! I love celebrity romances and celebrity fiction (like TJR or Ava Wilder), so this book fit right in and was a great follow-up to The Reunion! I can't wait to see more from this author, preferably in this universe. A love interest for River, perhaps??

Thanks to the publisher for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

Wonderful story, great character development, great writing! Highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it

I liked Alix and Tyler!

Alix is a ghostwriter struggling to focus at home when her client offers to send her to a secluded ski resort to work on the book. Though uncertain what to expect, she accepts the offer. Her best friend Chloe encourages her to have some fun while there, leading Alix to sign up for ski lessons. Her instructor turns out to be Tyler, a quiet soul who has made the resort his home and found peace in teaching skiing.

Their first encounter happens in the elevator on their floor, where Alix discovers they're neighbors for her stay. There's an immediate connection between them. When Tyler invites her to take a lesson, Alix finds herself truly relaxing and enjoying herself for the first time in years. This leads to more lessons and meetups.

Soon they fall into a comfortable rhythm—Alix rediscovers her writing flow, Tyler teaches his lessons, and they spend their free time together. I found myself cheering them on as a couple. Tyler's charm is infectious, and it's delightful to watch Alix balance both fun and professional success.

While the mystery's resolution was predictable, the journey remained engaging. Both characters showed emotional maturity and depth, and I particularly enjoyed watching their relationship develop through their sweet dates.

Puffin the cat and Chloe brought wonderful energy as side characters! We also meet Alix's sister Lauren—whom I struggled to warm up to throughout most of the book—and several people from Tyler's past who left me with mixed feelings.

In the end, this proved to be a cozy and quick read. The characters and the ski resort setting created the perfect winter escape!

Loved this one! Alix is a ghostwriter for a guy that was a member of a boy band. She has been sent to Vermont to stay in a ski lodge so she can get the book written. There she meets Tyler and begins to spend time with him. The boy bands two lead guys were always at odds with each other thanks to their sleazy manager who pit them against each other. That is until one of the members just disappears. This one was fun and I really enjoyed it!

Themes: ghost writer, former boy band members, ski resort, hot neighbor/ski instructor, hidden identity, close proximity, closed door & hot chocolate

Audiobook: I started reading this book & then finished it on audio. I loved the narration! Great voices & easy to listen to.

My Thoughts: This was the perfect book to read last weekend as it snowed 10” here. I just loved this book and had a smile while reading it. I mean skiing, boy bands, a spunky cat & a ski instructor who cooks….what more do you want?!

"The Lodge" by Kayla Olson is an enjoyable blend of romance and mystery set in a picturesque Vermont resort. Alix Morgan, an entertainment journalist, takes on the job of ghostwriting a memoir for Sebastian Green, a former boy band member, while staying in a cozy penthouse. Along the way, she meets Tyler, a ski instructor, and their relationship adds a warm, lighthearted touch to the story.

The setting was beautifully described, making it easy to picture the snowy lodge and its inviting atmosphere. The mystery surrounding the boy band’s breakup added intrigue, though the resolution felt predictable. While the characters and their relationships are cute, some moments could have been developed more deeply.

Overall, "The Lodge" is a cozy and enjoyable read, perfect for a quiet weekend. It might not be groundbreaking, but it’s a charming story with just the right mix of heart and suspense.

I’m so excited about this new release! Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC for this amazing book by Kayla Olson. It was such a fun, unique, and cozy book set in Stowe, VT. Absolutely perfect for this winter season after the holidays!

3.5 stars

While the book was a bit predictable, I did enjoy the story. I liked the found family aspects, and was definitely rooting for Alex and Tyler. It was the perfect cozy winter romance and I would recommend it if that is what you are looking for.

While I did guess the mystery aspect early on, I still enjoy watching it play out in the story and am glad there was resolution between old friends as well as a sweet love story.

I would be interested to read more books from this author. Overall, this story fell a little flat, as I felt myself wanting a bit more in some aspects of the story, but did find it to be an entertaining read with good pacing.

Great read. Alix is in Vermont working as a ghostwriter when she meets Tyler. A great setting and you want everything to work out for them.

Interesting and thought provoking inside look at the toxicity of celebrity culture enhances this sweet rom-com. Entertainment writer, turning ghostwriter, Alix Morgan contracted to tell the story of one the members of a famous boy, a band where one of the members mysteriously disappeared, is offered a luxury apartment at a Vermont ski resort for seclusion as she writes. Cozy and entertaining story.

I enjoyed Kayla Olson’s first book The Reunion, so was delighted when I saw she was releasing a second book. The Lodge was such a cute and sweet one!

Set at a cozy Vermont ski lodge, this book follows
Alix as she struggles to ghost write the memoir of one of fictional broken up boy band True North’s (One Direction reference, anyone? 😆) volatile lead singers. While at the lodge, she decides to be adventurous and learn to ski... enter sweet, funny and hot ski instructor, Tyler.

You’ll enjoy The Lodge if you like:
❄️ cozy winter vibes
❄️ boy bands
❄️ cute kitties
❄️ ski lodge romances
❄️ a dash of mystery
❄️ friends to lovers

Thank you @atriabooks and @netgalley for the gifted copy of this book.

4.25⭐️ | 1🌶️


My thoughts:

Kayla Olson’s The Lodge is a heartwarming, snow-kissed romance that perfectly blends humor, intrigue, and cozy winter vibes. Alix Morgan, a ghostwriter escaping to a Vermont lodge to focus on a secret project, gets more than she bargained for when her charming ski instructor neighbor, Tyler, proves to be an irresistible distraction. Their flirtatious banter and his thoughtful, swoon-worthy dates (seriously, where can I find a Tyler?) will make you smile, sigh, and believe in love on the slopes.

The story also dives into deeper themes as Alix works on a memoir for a former boyband star caught up in a mystery involving his missing bandmate. The mixed media elements—emails, interviews, and articles—add a fun twist, keeping you hooked.

With cozy fireside moments, sweet romance, and a nostalgic nod to ’90s boyband mania, The Lodge is a delightful winter read that will warm your heart and leave you craving cocoa and adventure.

Thank you @atriabooks for the ARC ♥️

Loved:
- The setting - there really is something about a wintery, New England ski lodge that is so charming
- The whole plot and backstory of the boy band True North. A very obvious reference to One Direction in name, but the characters do not feel like caricatures or rip-offs of the 1D boyz
- The side characters (for the most part). They were full fleshed out characters with unique personalities and relationships to the Leads
- Both main characters were charming. The FMC (Alix) felt very grounded and sure of herself while the MMC (Tyler) was intriguing and adorable
- The inserts of previous articles, text exchanges, etc. They added backstory without exposition weighing down the prose of the chapters and helped flesh out the world/bit of a bubble that these characters existed in
- The pacing. Usually pacing is really tricky, but I think this book was really successful in pacing its beats. I never felt like it was unbelievable how long secrets were kept, because they weren’t hidden for that long. These characters communicated

Loathed:
- The sister, Lauren. She was supposed to be, I believe, in her early 20s, but acted like she was 13 and it was *infuriating*. I know this is the point, and I knew she was going to be a huge pain, but, I’m sorry, some of her actions were just too much for me and they legitimately made me angry, ha
- How many times she broke her DNA after saying in the beginning that she couldn’t. I feel like that would absolutely blow up in her face if she did that, but such is the fantasy of fiction
- The formatting of the texting font. It was really hard to differentiate between the texting and regular prose, since the “texts” were integrated directly into the prose and the “texts” were simply a smaller font size. But I found it bizarre that Alix’s text’s font size was slightly bigger? Than whoever she was texting? It was an odd choice

Longed For:
- This is a bit nitpicky, but I would have loved just a *bit* more delving into the two leads getting to know each other and build that relationship. It was by no means an insta-love/lust situation (thankfully), but I thought that he fell for her just a *smidge* fast
- A stronger start. The first 3-5 chapters were just kind of throwing you in, which can be fine, but these dragged a bit from nothing really (sorry) interesting happening until Alix met Tyler and we learned more about True North, Sebastian, etc.
- Kind of an extension of the last point, but this book needed just a *tiny* boost of energy & urgency in some of the moments. The last Act had this the most, for sure, but the first two acts just kind of felt like everyone was just existing and meandering at points.
- More details and exploring of the lodge! I wanted the lodge to be more of a character than it was. We still got to learn a bit about it, but I wanted to really feel like I knew it and understood it, if that makes sense. It all felt quite cursory

Will I read the next one? : Probably. I’m adding The Reunion to my TBR, most likely going to listen to it on audio when I get around to it

The Lodge is a perfect read for anyone who spent their teen years obsessed with boy bands and magazines like J-14 or Tiger Beat. It made me reminisce about my poster-filled walls as a teenager! 🤣

Kayla nails the nostalgia with a fun, romantic story that’s both light and sweet! I loved the author’s note at the start, and the media elements, like blog posts, added a modern touch. 💻

The FMC, a journalist turned memoir ghostwriter, is grounded, while the male lead, a former boy band member in hiding, is thoughtful and romantic. The picturesque Vermont ski-lodge setting made for a charming escape!!! ⛷️🚠🏔️ (my Google search history may or may not reflect just how badly I want to visit now!!!)

This book is a quick, enjoyable read with a satisfying conclusion—perfect for anyone in the mood for something light and romantic!!

Read if you 🤍:
🏔️ Cozy settings
🎤 Boy bands
🎶 Nostalgia
🍬 Sweet reads
❄️ Winter Vibes

The Lodge is a super cozy and dreamy novel with a little mystery mixed in a budding romance. I loved every minute of this cute book. It flowed perfectly. I love the mixed media in the book as well!

Alix Morgan is an entertainment journalist who lands the chance to ghost write a memoir for Sebastian Green, a previous member of the boy band, True North.

Ironically, she was the last one to interview the boy band’s lead singer, Jett Beckman, before he disappeared 8 years prior.

Alix stays at Sebastian’s penthouse in snowy Vermont to write. She doesn’t expect to fall for a handsome ski instructor named Tyler who lives next door. Alix discovers more details about True North’s past as her chapters and romance unfold.

This is the perfect book to read while snuggled up with a blanket & a mug of hot chocolate {and maybe soft pretzels 🥨} during this week of winter storm warnings.

I really enjoyed this novel!

The pacing kept me going, so I read most of it in one day. Once I got into the novel, I did not want to put it down.

This follows a writer who has traveled to a ski lodge in Vermont in order to make progress in her book. She is ghostwriting the novel of a former boy band member. Not long after she arrives, she meets her neighbor across the hall, a ski instructor at the lodge. He encourages her to take lessons with him, and a romance begins to blossom.

I thought that the relationship was sweet but honest, and it was nice to see it unfold. I guessed the reveal ahead of time, but that did not change how much I enjoyed this novel. The book did not affect my emotions enough for 5 stars, but it was a lot of fun.

Set at a ski lodge in Vermont, Kayla Olson’s new romance is the perfect read for this time of year. I read it while curled up next to a roaring fire, watching the snow fall, and loved how perfectly this book’s vibes fit with my own cozy setting.

Alix Morgan is an entertainment journalist who used to cover the famous boy band True North and has now been hired to ghostwrite the memoir of one of its former members, Sebastian Green. When Sebastian offers up his penthouse at a luxurious ski resort in Vermont as a quiet place to write, Alix jumps at the chance. Not only is it a wonderful alternative to her noisy, crowded apartment, it’s also an opportunity for Alix to have some much needed fun in her downtime, especially since there’s a super cute and charming ski instructor named Tyler who lives in the penthouse across the hall!

There’s a bit of a mystery that unfolds surrounding Alix’s ghostwriting gig, the boy band, and a missing lead singer that made for an interesting read, much of which is given to us via Alix’s research, through the use of mixed media elements.

I of course was all about the budding romance between Alix and Tyler. From their very first meeting, you could just feel that Alix and Tyler had a special connection. They were adorable together and I loved all of their cute, flirty banter over ski lessons and lattes, but I also felt like things quickly became more than just a good time for both of them, like they recognized something in each other they had been missing. Yes, maybe it moved quickly, but somehow it still just felt right and I just really liked that for these two characters, especially after learning more about each of them and what they’ve been through.

4 1/2 stars

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!

Cute story with wintery vibes.

There was a major “plot twist”, which I immediately got lol

The romance was cute and the MMC, Tyler, was so swoony!!

My one issue with the book is how the text messages were formatted. This book had A LOT of texting in it and I think they messaged should be formatted differently to make it easier to understand when they’re texting.


All in all the book was a cute, quick and easy read! A perfect “pallet cleanser”.

What a perfect winter read! This was a unique take on a celebrity/rock star romance and after a little bit of a slow start I was hooked! The way they came together naturally and fell for each other before even know that they were somewhat connected was so romantic. Tyler is such a great character and book boyfriend material for sure. I loved Alice as well and how she had sort of forged her own path and I appreciated the maturity in their relationship. Her sister was the worst and I wanted to smack her....but I know that was the point! Amazing read!

FULL REVIEW
The cover is what drew me to this book and the story was just as beautiful! The Lodge swept me away with its perfect mix of romance, mystery, and a touch of nostalgia for the golden age of boy bands. I loved Alix as a the FMC, she was so relatable, balancing the thrill of her big break as Sebastian Green’s ghostwriter with the lingering mystery of Jett Beckett’s disappearance. The Vermont resort setting was pure magic, from cozy cabins to snowy ski slopes, and Tyler, the charming ski instructor, was the perfect opposite to Alix’s focused determination. What I loved most was how seamlessly the story wove Alix’s work on the memoir with the unraveling of True North’s secrets, and the slow-burn connection between Alix and Tyler had me swooning from their very first meeting!

TROPES
🧲Opposites Attract
📝Ghost Writer
⛷️Ski Instructor
🚡Ski Resort
🎤Boy Band
❤️‍🔥Slow Burn
🔎A Bit of Mystery
❄️Snowed In

When Alix Morgan heads to Vermont to ghost write for a former boy band member, the last thing she expects is to be completely taken with the local ski instructor.

Set in one of my favorite places on earth during my absolute favorite season, this super cute romance with emotional depth was just what I was craving in my post holiday blahs. While the story took the ultimate journey of your typical romance, there are some crazy fun twists that make this story unique, as well as a few wholly relatable characters who could exist off the page as easily as on it. And while this book is closed door/low spice, it is not short on swoon-worthy romance or character chemistry.

🎧 Andi Arndt, Graham Halstead, and Gilli Messer absolutely bring this story to life with their narration. I highly recommend checking this one out on audio, especially because of the mixed media nature.

Read if you like:
▪️forced proximity
▪️boy band drama
▪️insta love
▪️books about books
▪️mixed media (texts, gossip, news)
▪️Vermont setting

Thank you Atria and Simon Audio for the gifted copies.