Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was an absolutely delightful read! I was surprised by how quickly the story hooked me. The writing was very compelling right from the start — descriptive, but not clichéd or cloying. Typically, stories that involve mental health can be tedious to get through and often very heavy, but the storytelling here felt effortless and personal, like the author really understood these relationships and challenges. It was easy to get inside Lou's head and empathize with her regret, her shame, the anxiety she feels about her career path, and her relationship with her family. Much of her story hit very close to home, particularly Lou navigating a family dynamic that was borne out of mental illness and childhood trauma; it's no wonder I stayed up until 4am finishing this and cried no less than five separate times. (The tears are worth it, though, I promise.)

I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed the romance — part of the reason is because all of the characters in the novel seemed really fleshed out, including the love interest, Henry. Everyone has a voice, and the characters were all incredibly charming — Quinn, of course (!), but also Lou's best friend Mei, all the tenants who flit in and out of the story, and Henry. I found that the author handled Henry's grief with a lot of sensitivity, as they did with everyone else's; the story is driven by heartbreak, but there is love and community that endures, too. Lou and Henry were very sweet together, and Henry is a winning love interest — I found his quiet amusement and his gestures of care toward Lou really lovely. Here's a man who deeply cares about the woman he's in love with and wants her to feel good!

The only things I wished for more of in the story were for Lou's feelings towards Goldie — particularly near the end of the novel — to feel more resolved, and to see more of the aftermath (for lack of a better word?) of Henry and Lou's conflict at the end, after they reunite. I felt that the story moved quickly from setting to setting — which, for the most part I had no issue with because in the following scenes the author would fill the gaps and the transition didn't feel abrupt at all. But I would have liked to see Goldie and Lou process their upbringing together a little bit more at the end, somehow, and I definitely would have liked to see Henry and Lou basking in their new relationship some more to recover from all the grief they went through trying to figure out each other's feelings. The epilogue did help, though.

Will be following this author for sure!

This book was so sweet & so healing. It’s the exact kind of book that opens wounds, but stitches them back together with love, a warm cup of tea, and a cozy blanket by the fire. I feel in love with the house and the characters who stayed there. From Nan and Rashad to Pauline and her dog, they were all so unique and stood out. The ambiance was stunning and I felt truly immersed in the Estes Park setting. I loved Lou and her character arc throughout the story. She was brave & strong, but also broken and weak. She learned to let others help her, even when she didn’t know how. I loved how she was able to stand up for herself with the situation between her mom and her sister, it showed true growth. Most of all, I loved Henry! I love when an author can write a man I can easily fall in love with. His kindness and chivalry swept me off my feet and made me love him deeper as he shared parts of himself he hadn’t been able to before Lou. Loved their storyline and how he never gave up on her. Such a sweet read, would easily recommend!

From the first page I couldn't put this book down!! The writing, the setting, the inn, the found family.. I adored 🥹 This was heartbreaking and healing and is a story about love and loss. Emotional depth, heartwarming friendships, yearning! The trauma our main characters went through had me crying and wanting to give them the biggest hug. The pacing was a bit off for me at times but still highly recommend 🫶🏻

Thank you so much Berkley for the arc!

This is a must for fans of Jessica Joyce. The writing style and story reminded me of the Ex Vows in the best way possible. This book follows Lou, who is going through a break up. All that she wants is the house she’s grown to love so much. She has turned this place into a home and has put her time and love into making her safe space. She gets the house in the break up but there is one problem and that is she doesn’t have a job which means she cannot afford the rent. In comes Henry Rhodes, who is her landlord. She comes up with a plan to turn her house into a hotel for the broken hearted. She tells this plan to Henry and he sees something in her that makes him say yes. Except with a hotel for guests that means Henry has to come around a lot more to fix things that go wrong. Which also means that Lou and Henry will be spending a lot more time together. This book dealt with topics of grief, not only of breakups but of losing a love one as well, family problems, and mental illness. I loved seeing both of the characters not only grow as individuals but as a couple as well.

the comeback inn aka the heartbreak hotel is a safe place for people going through heart breaks of every kind, whether that is about the loss of a romantic partner or something more. i appreciated that our main character lou is an aspiring therapist, someone who has gone through graduate school and her clinical hours, but just needs to take her accreditation exam in order to be officially licensed. it's often easy to view therapists as people who have their lives together. however, that's not always the case and people who provide support also need support themselves. the discussion around bpd was a good foundation, but i just wanted more on that front. the handling of grief was a bit better (although the pacing around this heavy plot point could've had more time in order to be fleshed out more). overall though i can't wait for everyone to read the heartbreak hotel this fall so i can get friends to discuss this with.

Unfortunately I couldn’t get into this book, it started off slow for me and never really picked up. I had to DNf around the 25% mark.

I was truly captivated by The Heartbreak Hotel. The stories, the writing, the characters all drew me in and I felt comfortable in the Colorado home. I loved all the elements of grief and romance tied together as you uncover both Louisa and Henry’s stories. The slow burn and yearning leaned more women’s fiction over romance but there was enough romance (and a little spice) for me that I was satisfied. I found the story very visual and easy to imagine. The people who stayed at the inn became mostly dynamic yet minor side characters which I found impressive. Lots of found family and emotional maturity going on here. I wanted to keep reading beyond the end, I truly will miss these characters! Can’t wait to check out more of Ellen O’Clover’s writing.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Get your tissues ready!! This book was so emotional, tender, heartfelt, and all together sweet. I loved all the character dynamics. But most of all sweet Henry and Louisa. ❤️

I have to tell you that these cute romance book covers deceive us all the time. I am always thinking that I am going to read aute rom-com book. Instead, I am emotionally getting shredded endlessly.

Do I hate it? No, I literally love an emotional romance story that breaks my heart and yet makes my heart swoon as well. I just wish that we all got a warning when we picked a cute romance book cover. This is why I am warning you all that this book, The Heartbreak Hotel, isn’t thecal rom-com story. Nope, you are going to get your heart shredded when you read The Heartbreak Hotel. But don’t you worry, you are going to love this book so much.

Louisa may avoid everything hard in her life, but she knows one thing for sure: she is damned sure keeping her house. It’s literally the perfect house for Louisa. She made it a home for herself. Louise is definitely not letting her cheater ex keep her house at all. Well, technically, it isn’t her house per se. Louise’s is more than leasing it than owning it. It’s just technical stuff. Louise just needs to think of a way of paying it since she has no income. This is how Louise created The Heartbreak Hotel, aka her house, aka her lease house.

Louise gets more than she bargains for when she creates her home as The Heartbreak Hotel and ropes in her reclusive landlord, Henry, in the mix. Louise didn’t know she had it in her to create something that was her own idea. It makes Louise think about her potential in being more than someone's significant other. Henry definitely helps Louise with her potential as well, but he also has deeper feelings for her. He just has more at stake since he is closed off for a reason. This is where the emotional damage comes into play.

Wow! I really did not expect this book at all. When I first applied for the ARC, I was expecting some type of romcom with moments of seriousness. I got a book that dove into the intricacies of not only breakups, but devastating loss and extreme familial trauma.
All of the characters in this book are flawed. They are so very real, this book reads like an Instagram story. I can just imagine it actually happening instead of it being fiction.

The one thing that I wish I got is- I would have loved a prologue or even an epilogue point of view from Henry, the first time he saw Lou.

I’ve never read a book by this author before, but I definitely will be checking into her other work after this incredible read this book wasn’t anything like what I thought it would be going into it. I thought it would play out more like a romance novel in fact it kind of sways a little bit towards women’s fiction. The thing that got me the most was I love yearning in a romance story, and this had tons of it had me laughing and giggling. It is an age gap but it’s not bad. It’s 26 and 34. Colorado Mountains. Need I say moreeee. Highly recommend.

Heartwarming, sweet, warm. Absolutely fell head over heels for this story. The writing is so beautiful and easy to get swept up in. Loved the MC's and their journey. I honestly didn't want it to end.

The Heartbreak Hotel - ARC Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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PUB DATE: September 23rd
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FEATURES:
-Adult Contemporary Romance
-Child of a Parent with Borderline Personality Disorder
-Loss of a child (past, but explored)
-Lots of Grief & Loss Rep
-Starting over after Loss
-Love after loss
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LOVED:
-Both Leads: They are both hurting, but still soft and kind towards others. You just want to root for both of them.
-All of the mental health journeys
-Grief and Loss rep
-Demonstrating the messiness of having a parent with Borderline (this was so well done)
-Lou finding herself again
-Henry's steady support of Lou
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Disliked:
-3rd Act: The big secrets that were kept from each other and then revealed like bombs was the only part of this book I didn't like. And I feel like there wasn't quite enough resolution for them to trust each other after having kept big secrets.
-Content Warnings: I would highly recommend an author's note with content warnings, especially regarding loss of a child and growing up with a parent with Borderline Personality Disorder. Both of these things cause trauma. Readers with personal experience of these may not be able to read this.
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Thank you @berkley and @netgalley for my eARC copy. I was given this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Wow! Incredible. This book felt like a warm cup of tea. It was so comforting and had me crying one moment and swooning the next. I am utterly in love with this story and can’t wait to read more from this author. The grief was handled with ease and I am so in love with these characters. I could spend so much more time with these two.

The author was able to write a tender, heartwarming story about two broken people who fit together so well. The writing was done so well that I immediately wanted to book a trip to Colorado to experience this quiet, picturesque town and the people in it.

The overall concept of opening a bed and breakfast for heartbroken people was something I had never read before and it immediately captured my interest. Not only did we get two amazing main characters but the guests of the bed and breakfast offered plenty of side characters to fall in love with as well. Henry is that type of quiet, broody personality but not grumpy. He pays attention and is someone you can always count on to be in your corner. The buildup and tension was done so well. This book is perfect for the Emily Henry and Jessica Joyce fans!!

Lou is an almost therapist who’s just been dumped by her cheating ex (who’s in a band) and she ends up with their house. Fights for their house actually. It’s her safe haven & even though it’s a rental, it feels like hers. She decides to turn it into a haven for the heartbroken & do what she does best; help people work through their feelings & make them feel seen.
This book was honestly just okay. The pacing through the first half was great, I enjoyed watching Lou build her relationships and establish who she was as a human but then after the 50% mark when her and Henry get together it all felt a little off. The pacing was weird from that point on and everything just felt so so rushed. I wish we’d gotten more build up of the relationship before we dove into it.
The dynamics between Goldie and Lou were interesting but I think they could’ve been a little more show than tell, the same goes for her mom. I just wanted to feel more impacted than I did with the book, but overall it was a quick read and I really enjoyed parts of it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I really wanted to love this but I struggled to connect with the characters and I had to push through to the end :/ I thought the premise was lovely and cozy but I felt it lacked depth and I felt like I didn’t have time to get to really know the characters. Super quick read though, and really great writing style.

Thank you Berkley for the advanced copy!

5 stars!

I absolutely LOVED every minute of "The Heartbreak Hotel" by Ellen O'Clover. From the very first page, I knew I was going to be hooked. O'Clover puts her readers in an emotional chokehold and never lets them go; her prose is *that* gripping! This story is beautiful, heartbreaking, realistic, vulnerable, and therapeutic. The best books make you feel *something*, and this one broke my heart and reassembled it bit by bit, slowly but surely, with a patchwork of truth and trust and openness and ache and yearning and even a dash of humor. Louisa and Henry... they are perfectly imperfect characters with a slow-burning bond. The pining here is unmatched. The tension-turned-longing between the two of them made me believe in the power of human connection. Louisa is a fixer. She did not have a great or stable childhood. She was raised, in large part, by her older sister, Goldie, who has followed her life plan to the tee and is resentful that Louisa hasn't done the same. When her superstar boyfriend breaks up with her after a scandal goes public, Louisa's only request is that she gets to "keep the house." It turns out, their house is the only place Louisa has ever felt was a true home to her. Unfortunately, Louisa cannot afford the rent on her own, so she makes a deal with Henry, the owner, to fix up the rooms and rent them out as vacation rentals for the brokenhearted. Louisa is *almost* a licensed therapist, so she will lean on those skills to talk to the vacationers about their heartbreaks. On the outside, Henry is seen as a stoic grump. Really, he is masking a deep sorrow beneath the surface, one he shuts away from the world because it's easier than speaking about his pain. He reluctantly agrees to Louisa's plan, but says he wants no part in it and clearly has an aversion to the house. Still, they are drawn to one another by an invisible string tugging them together. When Ellen O'Clover says "heartbreak," she's not just talking about romantic relationships. She's talking about professional losses, family relationships, friendships, and mourning the life you thought you might have. This book covers a wide range of grief, and every situation is written with grace, tenderness, and care. This book made me feel so seen as someone who, unfortunately, had a parent like Louisa's. I saw myself in that character on more than one occasion as a fixer who has had to clean up other people's messes. This book will really make you think and put yourself in the characters' shoes. Ellen O'Clover has written one of my favorite books of the year in "The Heartbreak Hotel." Just fantastic stuff here. Please give this book a chance!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Ellen O'Clover, and Berkley Publishing Group for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

This was such a sweet and soft read. I love when love feels so calm and steady and this was Henry & Louisa to a T!!!!!!! At times I felt really frustrated with the lack of like openness on both sides, but I think it was a beautiful way to show that healing truly isn’t linear but you’re still worthy of love in all your messy, complicated, and scary parts.

such a beautiful and raw read. I adore lou and henry so much. I love the concept of this book and all of the characters we got to meet. the yearning and found family were so good in the story!!!!