Малкият хотел в Исландия

Romantic Escapes #4

by Julie Caplin

Бълбукащи горещи извори, ледени глетчери и Северно сияние за разкош!

Исландия звучи като идеалното място, където да избягаш, за да лекуваш разбитото си сърце и може би да дадеш нов шанс на провалената си кариера. Или поне Луси мисли така, докато не се озовава в малкия хотел на час и половина от Рейкявик...

Въпреки не съвсем приятните изненади, които я очакват след пристигането, тя е твърдо решена да преобрази хотела и да го превърне в най-желаната романтична дестинация в Исландия. Проблемът е, че романтиката очевидно е заразна и започва да се прокрадва и в личния й живот под формата на висок шотландец с топли тъмни очи.

Но дали на място, където очевидно всички вярват в митични същества, е безопасно да се доверяваш на когото и да било в реалността?

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Audiobook, Fiction, Travel, Christmas

360 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2019

About the author

Julie Caplin also writes contemporary romance as Jules Wake.

Julie Caplin is addicted to travel and good food. She’s on a constant hunt for the perfect gin and is obsessively picky about glasses, tonic and garnishes. Between regular gin tastings, she’s been writing her debut novel which is set in just one of the many cities she’s explored over the years.

Formerly a PR director, for many years she swanned around Europe taking top food and drink writers on press trips (junkets) sampling the gastronomic delights of various cities in Italy, France, Belgium, Spain, Copenhagen and Switzerland. It was a tough job but someone had to do it. These trips have provided the inspiration and settings for the trilogy, The Little Cafe in Copenhagen, The Little Brooklyn Bakery and the The Little Paris Patisserie.

Reviews

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Betrayed by someone she cared about and unable to find employment because of an issue that went viral and has ruined her reputation, Lucy needs to get right away from the UK. Without any employment references she is forced to take on a job as hotel manager in Iceland, at the Northern Lights Lodge. The place needs more than a little attention. Can Lucy bring it back to be a thriving concern in the two month trial period she has? And what is the story with the Scottish barman Alex, who seems to know a lot about the hospitality industry. After recent experiences Lucy is reluctant to trust anyone. And Alex, the reader learns does have an ulterior motive for being at the Lodge. Who or what is causing all the mishaps and miscommunication at the Lodge? And the last thing Lucy needs while trying to sort everything out and make good, is a film crew intent of filming the day to day running of the lodge and looking for drama.
This started out well. The setting of Iceland is beautiful and the descriptions evocative. As it a place I am never likely to visit, I still could visualise it all from the descriptions. The story captured my interest but by the time it had got to the spa day I was started to lose interest fast and skim. The sex scene which follows a while later was awkwardly written and did nothing but exacerbate the skimming.
The story did gather momentum more towards the end .The characters are diverse enough to attract attention but it is really the setting that for me was the dominant feature. It’s also about people working together to achieve a result, which I liked. Some of the secondary chracters were interesting. The romance never felt convincing.
A mostly entertaining read but nothing that is going to stay in the memory except for the descriptions of Iceland. A bit of escapism. Okay to while away a little time traveling somewhere else.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 - Zzzzzzzzzzzz Stars.

I loved the first two books from this series, book three was a struggle, but this one.... Well it starts with slow development, moves on with cheesy plot bunnies, and is rounded out with a plethora of one-dimensional characters...

Shame really as Alex was the only real redeeming character of the previous book, but he was lost in this one for the most part.

Not sure I'll read the next book now, seeing as we are now at 2 duds in a row. :/

[Carolin Wahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Sterne 🌟

Wie immer nett zu lesen, aber irgendwie konnten mich die Figuren emotional nicht so packen.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had high hopes for #4 in this set of brilliant books. That was due to Alex (met in #3 as a side character now the lead man himself) I loved the scotsman in that and grew to love him even more in this one.

The leading lady of this story Lucy who his hiding from videos and TV crews alike. I'm pleased she feels able to share her stories among Alex and friends.Her and Alex are so alike and so suited. A feel real love story I could have kicked Alex for not telling her his story sooner (I did understand why he didn't though). Characters who have faults make me love them even more it makes them feel so real.

All the side characters were also very interesting in this one. They were more than members of staff to Lucy.

I am a sucker for a Scottish character and seems to be a sucker for leading men named Alex (after reading I Heart New York) I cheered when the story went to Edinburgh a city I love. Perfect ending for two perfect characters.

[HeyitsMony · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️
Имах нужда да прочета нещо, което ще ми даде Коледно настроение, но дори тази книга не ми го даде😫 Тук не казвам, че книгата е лоша, оплаквам се за това, че нямам Коледно настроение😅
Но нека се върна към книгата. Много приятен вайб. Имаш чувството, че направо се пренасяш в хотела и преживяваш всичко с героите. Например, когато се дават характеристики на северното сияние, аз направо имах чувството, че ми е пред очите хаха.
Сладка книжка, препоръчвам ви я, ако ви се чете нещо, което да ви даде малко зимно настроение и ви напомни как може да изглежда снега, защото като гледам такъв скоро няма да видим пак😕

[Yara Adorablebooks.nl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit boek was zo leuk!!! En ook de cross-overs met andere boeken, i loved it.

[Lisa M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have long been an admirer of the covers of Julie's books but this is the first I've been fortunate to read - it won't be my last.

Lucy is forced to leave her job in hotel management following an incident that leaves her relationship as well as career in pieces. She is desperate to be taken on elsewhere but finds nobody is interested without getting a reference from her previous job so she takes a leap of faith and agrees to become Hotel Manager at the failing Northern Lights Lodge in Iceland.

With poor trip advisor reviews and low occupancy, Lucy is forced to pull the staff team together to turn the hotel around. Lucy is only temporary so is also fighting to keep the job on a permanent basis. The staff sounded awesome, I would love to be part of a team like that- how they all pull together and there was genuine warmth to their friendship. Lucy also sounded like a manager I would happily work for, a solution for literally everything.

This book had me laughing in places and it has serious moments too but overall it was a light-hearted read which had me eagerly turning the pages. Alex is working as barman and he turns Lucy's eye and aspects of this were very romantic. Alex is hiding a secret though, can Lucy forgive him when all is revealed?

I have long been an admirer of hygge which sounds so cosy and snuggly! It is referred to as huggulegt in Iceland and this book has me totally converted to it, I think especially in the dark and snowy days it sounds beautiful and would help to settle me. I was a huge fan of Hekla in this book, assistant manager to Lucy - I hope she features in another book as I would love to see her character develop into the main storyline.

Such an absorbing read!

My many thanks to Harper Impulse via NetGalley for providing me with this advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Kirsten · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed The Little Café in Copenhagen, chosen simply because of its title, being a Dane living abroad I sometimes crave books that take place in Denmark and books that are written by non-natives about the Danish, well, these are really a treat, so delightful to read about one's own people and places that are familiar. But this one was a let-down, and not because Iceland is nothing like Denmark, but the attittudes towards the main character and the description of the horrendous betrayal she experiences from her ex-boyfriend all sounded a bit outdated and I didn't like her meek and deferential view of what had happened to her, she seemed to blame herself more than the awful ex and throughout the book there wasn't much development from that point of view. So no more Romantic Escapes for me or any other books by this author, sorry to say

[Lenny_reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Séria Romantické útek má jednu chybu - autorka už prvou knihou položila latku veľmii vysoko a teraz je ťažké prvý príbeh prekonať a nepodarilo sa to ani Hotelíku na Islande.

Príbeh mal takmer všetko. Prekrásne prostredie divokého Islandu. Malebný hotelík na samote. Sympatických hrdinov (Alex bol dokonca sexy). Nejakú zápletku. Menšiu drámu. Ale chýbali tomu motýle. Poviete si motýle? Áno, motýle. Určite poznáte ten pocit pri čítaní ľúbostného príbehu, kedy nastane ten moment, kedy aj vy ako čitateľ pocítite motýle v bruchu. Keď sa hrdinovia nepatrne dotknú a uvedomia si svoje city, keď si hľadia do oči… tu sa aj dotýkali, aj si zasnene hladeli do oči a motýľov nikde.

Okrem chýbajúcich motýľov musím knihe vytknúť aj predvídatelný dej, najmä k záveru. Záver bol krásny, ale akosi už dlhšiu dobu som čakala, že sa to zamotá a rozmotá práve takýmto spôsobom. Ak by som Hotelík na Islande čítala ako prvý romanticky útek, bola by som skutočne nadšená (hlavne z ovečky Doly), ale keďže mi autorka hneď na začiatku ukázala, že to dokáže aj lepšie, musím jej dať 4 ⭐️ z 5, ⭐️, čo je slušné na príjemnú oddychovku, ktorá mi okrem romantického príbehu ukázala aj zopár zaujímavosti z Islandu. Príbeh dopĺňali aj rozličné tradície, kultúrne odlišnosti a najmä výlety za krásami divokej a nespútanej krajiny.

Za další romantický útek opäť vsadím vydavateľstvu Grada, ktoré mi knihu poskytlo a teším sa na ďalšie úteky za romantickým dobrodružstvom.

[Lina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ach ich liebe die Romantic Escapes Reihe von Julie Caplin. Mir hat das ganze Feeling und die Atmosphäre von Island wahnsinnig gut gefallen. Die vielen Charaktere waren stimmig und durchdacht. Mit jeder Seite wurde man mehr Teil der Geschichte! Absolutes Wohlfühlbuch. 😍

[Kira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I picked up this book when I saw the beautiful cover.

Lucy is currently unemployed looking for a job desperately when she gets offered to manage a lodge in Iceland, a major downstep for her career but she agrees. Alex however is involved with the company planning to buy the said lodge and is working as a barman in order to see whether it’s worth it.

I’d say the romance is not something particularly extraordinary in this one but the individual elements of managing the lodge and intra personal relationships among the various staff was something I enjoyed thoroughly. All the side characters brought something to the table and I really liked their bonding overall.

Alex’s big reveal was kind of anticlimactic for me because there just wasn’t as much drama as there could have been with the plot point. Lucy’s past saddened me a bit and I seriously cursed Chris probably once or twice but again, not very impressive.

This was a good break from all the heavy reading though.

[Maika Medici · Rating 4 out of 5]

Per una ragazza con il nome di Lucy Smart Intelligente dovrebbe essere semplice trovare lavoro. Da troppo tempo è disoccupata e dalla sua parte non ha neanche delle buone referenze. Quando un giorno…

«È un posto con un periodo di prova di due mesi, come le dicevo, in un piccolo hotel a a Hvolsvöllur, a un’ora e mezza di macchina da Reykjavik. Inizio immediato. Devo chiamarli e mandare i suoi dati?»

È al Northern Lights Lodge che Lucy cerca il riscatto, in veste di direttrice. Ha il compito di risollevare le sorti dell’hotel, ma ignora che da lei dipende la vendita dello stesso. Tuttavia, prima ancora di mettevi piede, fa un incontro…

«Non si possono usare le sorgenti termali dopo le nove di sera»

… Non vi era intenzione da parte della ragazza, ma è giusto conoscere a fondo il posto di lavoro, no? Certo, non si può dire che Lucy sia un ragazza fortunata e non avvezza alle magre figure; infatti, è proprio per un malinteso che tempo prima ha perso il posto di vicedirettrice presso il Forum Group di Manchester.

Nel nuovo lavoro, però, non le è così difficile ambientarsi; ha uno staff con cui lega da subito, che include l’uomo che l’ha sbeffeggiata all’arrivo, Alex, e Hekla, rispettivamente barman e assistente di direzione.

Vennero citati altri nomi, alcuni dei quali sembravano usciti direttamente dalla mitologia norrena: Brynja, Olafur, Gunnar, Erik, Kristjan, Elin, Freya.

All’interno del Northern Lights Lodge presto si raggiunge un equilibrio con la soddisfazione dei clienti e del nuovo proprietario. Nel frattempo molte situazioni si modificano, tra tutti il rapporto tra la direttrice e il barman, che non è più solo di collaborazione. Lucy, ferita profondamente da una storia precedente, si era convita di non legarsi mai più… Ma non tutti sono come Chris, anzi Alex è proprio l’opposto: premuroso, dolce, intelligente e professionale. Eppure anche la perfezione cela un segretuccio…

Julie Caplin per me è sempre una tentazione; a colpirmi, in primis, i titoli e le cover coloratissime. Poi, quando si termina la lettura, lo stato di soddisfazione accompagna per giorni con il ricordo dei personaggi e delle ambientazioni da sogno.

Amore zucchero e una tazza di caffè ci porta in Islanda, in un viaggio sensoriale pazzesco. Ci immaginiamo mille volte l’aurora boreale, il verde della vegetazione e lo scroscio d’acqua di una cascata.

Continuo ad amare il linguaggio semplice e delicato con cui affronta ogni tema. La Caplin non ci ha mai abituati a viaggi sulle montagne russe, ma i colpi di scena sono sempre ben congeniati; non manca un sorriso e la storia d’amore, e preponderante, ancora, il valore dell’amicizia.

[victoria_tonks · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short review just now (I might expand it later if I have time). This book is the fourth part of the series but it also reads well as a standalone. This is also my 8th or 9th book by this author (a.k.a. Jules Wake) so obviously, I like her books. A lot. That being said, this one did not live up to my expectations. I am not sure if it was the characters or the plot but somehow, the book did not hold my attention. I kept skipping forward to see what was going to happen, and it took me an inordinate amount of time (for a chick lit read) to finish it. I would have given the book three stars but for the editing which was really unprofessional. Too many missing commas, too many typos. Oh, and a word of warning - it is not a clean read. Nothing too extreme but there are a couple of rather detailed scenes. Too detailed, IMO.

I suppose if you are new to Julie Caplin, you might enjoy this book much more. She is a really good writer. This one just did not work for me as well as I had thought it would.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Další díl ze série romantických útěků. Island se mi líbil poměrně dost, romantika a i trochu napětí. A opět je tu propojení s předchozím dílem (Cukrárnou). Na čtení během zkouškového to bylo fajn.

[Marloes · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/3.5⭐️

[Nicola Clough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply fantastic book I loved it from the first page and the characters are excellent you are hooked straight away. Full of adventure and romance and friendship and proving yourself and showing you are good at your job. I love the different countries that Julie writes about with each book and this didn't disappoint at all.
Lucy has lost her job and her boyfriend and is really struggling to get another job but when she's offered one as hotel manager in Norway she takes it as it means she will get away. She packs up and goes and she really wants to prove the she can do this job well as its only for six months and could go full time. When she arrives they weren't expecting her for another week so she doesn't feel she is off to a good start. She meets the staff and when she sees the barman Alex she can't help but thinking how good looking he is. She throws herself into work and really has to do a lot to a lot to turn it around but things keep going wrong and believes it's not just an accident is someone trying to say she can't do the job. She gets closer to Alex and they out on trips out together and she really starts to fall for him. The time is getting close to the hotel being taken over and she's worried her job will finish but Alex keeps telling her she will be ok. Problem is when she learns the truth about who Alex is and who has taken over the hotel will she have lost everything or not and will she be happy or will it all end badly and she has to sadly go home.
Brilliant read worth more than five stars.

[anet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Série Romantické útěky mě nějak minula (což je velká chyba!), a tak se ke mně dostal až čtvrtý díl v sérii (knížky v sérii na sebe nenavazují). Všechny knížky od autorky jsou dost vychvalované, tak jsem měla celkem vysoká očekávání.
Knížka mě ale vtáhla do děje okamžitě a já ji přečetla skoro na jeden zátah. Sledujeme příběh Lucy, která přišla o práci a má tak trochu životní krizi. Když se nabídne pozice ředitelky hotelu na Islandu. vezme to jako příležitost dát si život už konečně dohromady. Lucy jsem si oblíbila a líbilo se mi, že během knížky se její charakter vyvíjel dál a k lepšímu :) Koho jsem si ale naprosto zamilovala, byl mužský hlavní hrdina Alex! Chytrý, vtipný, ohleduplný..a to jak se choval k Lucy se mi taky hrozně líbilo.
Autorka umí skvěle popsat atmosféru a vy se tak dokonale vžijete do děje a prostřední islandského hotýlku. Taky musím říct, že na mě knížka přenesla vánoční atmosféru, takže na na tohle období ideální. A nebo rovnou někomu pod stromeček :)
Knížka se mi fakt líbila a nenašla jsem nic,co by se mi na ní nelíbilo, protože mám tyhle oddechové romantické příběhy hrozně ráda. A tady máte jako bonus ještě prostředí Islandu ! No počítejte s tím, že po dočtení byste se tam hned letěli podívat :D Velký doporučení!

[Michaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nemám ani potuchy o hotelovom manegemente a teda netuším, koľko vecí z toho reálneho hotelového diania sa premietlo aj do knihy, ale v podstate je to taký malý Hotel (ako od Haileyho), len s romantickou líniou. Trochu zákulisie, trochu hlavá hrdinka a jej osobné problémy a trochu detektívne pátranie po tom, kto robí hotelu zle. A fajn, že sa tam objavujú postavy z iných kníh (vlastne z celej série). Scenérie z Islandu sa mi páčili, zažiť polárnu žiaru, vidieť vodopády a gejzíry, liezť po ľadovci, či navštíviť horúce pramene, plus tá útulnosť v hotelíku.... bolo fajn to zažiť aspoň na papieri, jedna z tých kníh v sérii, ktoré sa mi viac. Bola to príjemná oddychovka, odporúčam ako dovolenkovú knihu :) (myslím, že bude ideálne v lete čítať o zime, aby sa človek schladil). 3,5*

[Ivana Hrenáková · Rating 5 out of 5]

Túto knihu som si šetrila a tešila sa na ňu a konečne prišiel jej čas. Na sériu Romantické úteky mám slabosť a Hotýlek na Islandu bol znovu diel, ktorý ma mimoriadne bavil. Páčila sa mi chémia medzi Lucy a Alexom, postavy personálu hotela, zápletka aj atmosféra a prostredie Islandu (akurát tam teraz potrebujem ísť). Inteligentná, kvalitná a príjemná oddychovka, za ktorej čítanie sa rozhodne netreba hanbiť. Aj v žánri romantických kníh sa dá ísť po kvalite a tú z môjho pohľadu séria Julie Caplinovej určite spĺňa.

[Sabina_bere · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tale serija je res luštna in že sanjarim o severnem siju nekje na Islandiji. 🤭To bi res nekoč rada doživela. 😍

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The romance was ok, but I loved everything else about it!

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars
It was cute but it was not perfect

Well it's that time of the year, time for cheezy winter romances. This one did not stand out expect for the setting and it's bad writing. The 2 main characters didn't have any depth to them, just like their names. Lucy Smart??? Alex McLaughlin??? They didn't have any chemistry and it all felt very unrealistic. Their relatioship was fun but Julie Caplin ruined it by putting cringe smut in it.

There weren't many things that I really enyojed except the beautiful hotel they worked in. Also the Icelandidc scenery and side characters (Hekla). It was missing the part that makes you want to read the next chapter. The writing was in 3rd person, which I personally never like in contempoary romances. Yeah, there were the character's thoughts but the falling in love or anxiety they might find my secret or what if I'm not good at my job scenes were not captured the right way. It was veryyyyy messy with so many characters comming and leaving. I would of preffered is the autor gave more attention on Lucy's anxiety and backstory.

Should you read it? Depends. If you don't mind the bad smut and skip over most of it like I did, go for it. But be aware that it might put you into a reading slump.

P.S. Merry Christmas to everyone who is celebrating!

[Rachel Gilbey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like I had been waiting forever for this book to finally be available, but wow it was worth the wait.

It is another excellent story from the always talented Julie Caplin, and its a story that is set in Iceland.

Makes a change to read something light hearted set in Iceland, instead of a noir book, and this is set outside Reyjavik, in a small hotel that offers Northern Light chasing trips.

This lodge also offers a lifeline to Lucy, who is struggling to get a new job after a rather unfortunate incident led to her getting sacked in her previous one.

I loved not only seeing how Lucy was able to adapt to life in Iceland, but the few excursions she did and learning the culture and customs of this proud Scandinavian country.

This is fabulous poolside reading, especially if you need cooling down, it didn't really make me much colder but the humidity in Thailand is hard to counter act, even when reading about winter temperatures in Iceland.

I loved every moment of this wonderful book, and I'm already looking forward to Julie Caplins' next book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Impulse for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

[Meri Perivancich · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5
Ovo je druga knjiga Julie Caplin koju sam pročitala i moram priznati da me ni ova nije pretjerano oduševila.
Prije ove sam čitala "Tajnovitu uvalu u Hrvatskoj" i iako mi se možda malo više svidjela ova priča i dalje imam osjećaj da su mi njezine knjige pomalo dosadnjikave.
Ali nećemo se lagati..toliko me privuku lijepe šarene naslovnice, priče smještene u različite gradove kao i sam koncept njezina pisanja i inspiracija iza svake knjige, da ću sigurno pročitati i ostala njezina djela.

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is this predictable and kind of cheesy? You bet.

Is the main guy a Scot named Alex whose looks were compared to Aragorn with accent similar to David Tennant's? Hell yeah.

Was it exactly what I needed right now? Absolutely.

[Iris Windmeijer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucy is wanhopig op zoek naar een nieuwe baan, als ze de kans krijgt om op IJsland hotelmanager te worden. Na alle grote, dure hotels is dit even een omschakeling, maar het noorderlicht en de fijne collega’s zorgen ervoor dat Lucy zich al snel thuisvoelt in Het kleine hotel onder het noorderlicht.

Julie Caplin staat bekend om haar romantic escapes-serie, waarvan ik eerder Een kleine patisserie in Parijs las. Met Het kleine hotel onder het noorderlicht is de vibe weer helemaal hetzelfde: de combinatie van vakantiegevoel, romantiek, vriendschap én lokale gebruiken zorgen voor een fijne feelgoodroman!

Wanneer Lucy vertrekt naar IJsland, is ze gebroken. Er is iets gebeurd bij haar vorige baan en dit heeft enorme sporen achtergelaten. Wanneer ze aankomt, is ze al snel betoverd door de magische plek:

‘Het mysterieuze magische licht omhulde een beschaduwd landschap, waar de zee en het land in een verleidelijke baai samenkwamen en de rotsachtige heuvels baadden in koele kleuren.’

Caplin weet de sfeer perfect neer te zetten en het boek zit vol IJslandse gebruiken en cultuur. Ook de geweldige gerechten uit de keuken van het hotel zorgen ervoor dat ik honger krijg. Door de gedetailleerde schrijfstijl waan ik me op IJsland!

Door het duale perspectief van Het kleine hotel onder het noorderlicht leer je Lucy kennen, maar ook Alex. Hem ken je misschien al uit een van de andere romantic escapes! Hij doet zich voor als barman, maar eigenlijk heeft hij een ander motief om op IJsland te zijn. Lucy en Alex trekken naar elkaar toe en spenderen al snel ook hun vrije tijd samen.

De romantiek wordt langzaam opgebouwd, waarbij de chemie je heerlijk meeneemt. Maar ondanks dat Alex tegen Lucy zegt ‘vertrouw me’, vertelt hij zijn geheim niet. Je vóelt dat dit niet goed kan gaan, waardoor je blijft lezen. Kunnen ze elkaar vertrouwen, of niet?

Het kleine hotel onder het noorderlicht geeft je een inkijkje in het hotelleven. Lucy en haar collega’s moeten een hotel runnen, maar er gebeuren bijzondere dingen in het hotel. Het personeel denkt dat het magische wezens zijn, maar al snel lijkt het alsof iemand het hotel met voorbedachte rade saboteert. Wie is het?

Bovendien is er een cameraploeg in het hotel voor een documentaire. Naast de problemen, wil Lucy niets te maken hebben met camera’s. Dit doet haar namelijk denken aan het onfortuinlijke incident bij haar vorige werkgever. Maar als blijkt wát er is gebeurd, krijgt het boek nog een extra laag. Hierdoor geeft het boek nog een belangrijke boodschap over #metoo mee, en wint Lucy haar zelfvertrouwen terug door haar nieuwe vrienden en collega’s.

Met Het kleine hotel onder het noorderlicht ga je op romantische reis naar IJsland. Dit heerlijke, meeslepende boek neemt je mee en geeft je een instant vakantiegevoel. Ik ga snel haar andere romantic escapes lezen en op reis naar Kroatië, Brooklyn, Tokio en meer!

Deze recensie verscheen eerst op https://www.readalicious.nl/recensies...
Dit ebook heb ik ontvangen van de uitgeverij in ruil voor een review. Dit had geen invloed op mijn mening over het boek.

[Lini · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

[Sherrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another of Julie Caplin's romantic escapes series, a cosy chick lit set in Iceland. Its the usual cosy romance with a predictable ending, loved the snowy backdrop to the story and the insight into Icelandic places and traditions.

[Jo Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

As soon as I got a notification that ‘The Northern Lights Lodge‘ by Julie Caplin was available on Netgalley, I immediately requested it. I had been introduced to the books of Julie Caplin/Jules Wake last year by a friend, and I do have lots more of her books to read on my tbr.

I loved her previous book, ‘The Little Paris Patisserie’ and I attended her book tour in November 2018 to promote that book. During the evening with Julie Caplin and Sue Moorcroft, Julie said that some of the characters from The Little Paris Patisserie would be making select cameo appearances in ‘The Northern Lights Lodge‘ and this excited me at the time because the characters she mentioned, Peter and Jane, had been lovely in ‘The Little Paris Patisserie‘. By the time I read The Northern Lights Lodge I had completely forgotten, so when I was reading, I had a little light-bulb moment when I recognised them as well as very briefly Nina and Sebastian too. I love little continuities between books that on the surface are completely unrelated.


Me in the middle, with Julie Caplin on the left, and Sue Moorcroft on the right.
The Northern Lights Lodge follows Lucy, who was sacked from her job as General Manager of a prestigious hotel in Manchester, and found herself unable to find work elsewhere because news of her dismissal and the viral video that formed part of the scandal had spread amongst her profession. She gets the opportunity to head to a small Lodge in Iceland to take over as General Manager in an area where no one knew her for a probationary period of two months. Broken by her past, fragile Lucy arrives in Iceland to an interesting number of Icelandic staff, together with the very handsome Scottish barman Alex. A number of mysterious things happen at the Lodge, which could be sabotage, or could even be the Huldufólk or elves. Add to that a film crew arriving at short notice to film a fly on the wall documentary, and Lucy and the staff find themselves with more than a few issues to deal with.

The setting for The Northern Lights Lodge sounded absolutely incredible, and I finished the book with a huge desire to travel to Iceland and stay in a lodge there. The cosiness that Lucy wants to instil in the lodge for the benefit of the customers ties into the Scandinavian theme of hygge, or in Iceland huggulegt. The use of hygge shines through the pages of the book, and in spite of being aware of the cold outside the lodge, the lodge itself sounds idyllic, cosy and welcoming.

I loved the growth that you see in Lucy as the book progresses. When she arrives in Iceland and ends up soaked to the skin and bedraggled, it’s a visual suggestion of just how damaged she had been by the destruction of her previous relationship and career. With new friendship and love from her new friends, and from Alex, she becomes more in control of her own life and consequently the lodge. She even finds the strength to stand up to her past and put it firmly behind her. As for Alex, I think he’s possibly my new book boyfriend, tall, handsome and with an accent like David Tennant, could he be any more perfect?

I love the way the spark between Lucy and Alex grows, and although I’m not going to use a spoiler, let’s just say that there is a scene involving the reflection in a window that was just perfect.

This was an easy 5 star for me, and if you want a journey through Iceland, finding love under the shimmering lights of the aurora borealis, then this book is definitely for you. Read this wearing cosy socks, under a snuggly throw with a hot drink and a candle at the side of you!

I loved The Little Paris Patisserie, but found myself loving this even more, and I cannot wait for book 5 in the series, The Secret Cove in Croatia which is due to be published in July.

Many thanks to Harper Impulse and Netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

[Holka z Moravy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tohle se mi nelíbilo. Nezaujala mě žádná postava, chemie mezi hlavními hrdiny chyběla a konec mě taky nenadchl. A čekala jsem víc Islandu. Tohle je zatím asi nejslabší (nebo jedna z nejslabších) knih, kterou jsem od J. Caplin četla/poslechla.