A Buffet of Delights: Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller
The one thing that makes every romance novel delightful—at least in my eyes—is the HEA: the happily ever after. A good romance lets you feel with the characters, through their hopes and despairs, and that journey is delicious. Even a so-so romance can be a fun journey.
But when I read a book that not only gives me the pleasure of watching two characters draw inexorably closer but also weaves delight into every line…well, that’s everything. I’m in love.
You can get a lot wrong and still write a good romance
I had an experience recently that I just can’t shake, probably because it made me wonder what I’m doing wrong (or right) in my own writing. I read a book that many romance fans love, and I hated it as much as I loved it. The plot was engaging, the setting was interesting, the backstories were revealed at just the right pace, and the characters were—mostly—appealing. At the end of every chapter, I wanted to turn the page and keep rereading.
But the farther I went in the book, the more I questioned my drive to keep going because it was just. So. Badly. Written. Worse, this was not a self-published stumble but a book from a major publisher and one that is beloved by readers.
So why did I sweat over every sentence in my manuscript before handing it off to my agent to submit to publishers? Was that a waste of time? I found the answer in Hotel of Secrets, a book with sentences so well written and just darn delightful, I read them over just for the pleasure of it.
Diana Biller’s Hotel of Secrets gets everything right
Diana Biller’s writing is masterful, weaving a plot laced with intrigue and danger and wrapped around the minutiae of real historical events. Like the New Year’s ball in the opening scene, the book is an intricate dance, with beautifully drawn characters and sparkling dialogue.
Hotel of Secrets is set in Vienna in 1877. Maria Wallner’s goal is to bring her family’s once-storied hotel back to the status it had before her mother ran it into the ground. She brushes off the interest in whether she will find The Man—the one who would become the father of the one daughter each woman in her matrilineal line bears—in the coming year. When she’s saved from an out-of-control carriage by a stern man with a luscious mouth who matches the description of The Man given to her the night before, the encounter leaves both of them off kilter, though for different reasons.
Eli Whittaker, strait-laced and serious US Treasury agent, has come to Vienna to solve a mystery, something he plans to do quickly then return home. He doesn’t plan to get swept up in the swirl of intrigue surrounding the Hotel Wallner—and Maria—but of course he does.
What makes this book wonderful is that, although dedicated romance readers know the steps on this journey as the two MCs grow closer, the events along the way and the quirks of their characters are unpredictable in the best way. The historical romance is wrapped in a mystery Maria and Eli must solve together. It’s an unexpected journey filled with wit and humor, a book that stands up as an excellent read in any genre. Reading it lit up my brain as it fired up my heart.
More things I love about this book
I adore historical romance. I’m happy reading Sarah Maclean any day of the week. But reading about the trials and tribulations of earls and lords and whatnot gets tiring after a while. Since I learn most of my history from reading novels, it was refreshing to follow characters in different levels of society and a setting where mores about premarital sex were less rigid. And (spoiler alert) the character who loses their virginity is not Maria. Love that.
Tropes: historical romance, mystery, opposites attract, first lover
Spice Level: 3 out of 5
Humor level: Every page is infused with delightfully witty prose, the kind of humor that feeds the soul.
Buy it at Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, or visit the author’s website. Or, better yet, get it from your local bookstore.
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