Reviews with content warning for Murder - Hotel of Secrets

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller

18 reviews

sandreline's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

There's a lot of lovely things I could say about this book. But I genuinely just think Diana Biller is a master of the craft of writing romance. 🤷

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faerietears's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Hotel of Secrets was an enjoyable read. What I think I loved most was that this is an APPROACHABLE historical fiction novel. Despite taking place many, MANY years ago, the language didn't feel stilted or forced. I was able to appreciate learning about this time-period in Vienna in an easy way. It was also fun to make connections to another book I read in the last year or so about Empress Sisi from Vienna!

I loved the characters in this story. Every single one of them had a role to play and they did it well. I want to travel through time and visit the Hotel Walner! I want to go to balls and dance the waltz and meet the spies!

The romance was fine. I appreciated that Maria was the dominate partner and Eli was more subdued. I appreciated the backstory that Eli had, and the familial issues for Maria. They were very in-depth characters. At one point I made a note on my Kindle, "Eli reminds me of Mr. Darcy in the 2004 version of Pride & Prejudice!" (Because of his reserved nature.)

I felt like the mystery took a while to really get going, but I didn't care because I was enjoying every moment with the characters. I was rooting for Maria to get the hotel fixed up for the ball. I was enjoying Eli being forced into situations by the other spy and Maria's half-brother.

So yeah, this was a really fun book. I knocked down a star because of some really cringe sexy scenes that IMO didn't add to the story.

Huge thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

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crystalisreading's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective relaxing

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.75

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thenextbookdilemma's review

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adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This is another great historical romance but the setting is unique: 1880s Vienna! It was such a refreshing change from the usual regency/Victorian England setting and let me tell you, the excitement does not stop there! This book includes:

-spies!
-family secrets!
-ball season!
-sabotage!
-a plethora of assassination attempts
-how-to erotic texts
-a starchy American MMC who is very…competent
-*coughs* a competency kink
-an eccentric FMC who finds herself in the path of danger over and over.

Maria. I loved Maria! She is ambitious, practical, and diligent while also frivolous. Reader, you might ask how one can be both practical and frivolous and all I will say is linen closets and secret trysts. It’s hot. It’s a balance. She is fiercely independent and determined not to repeat the mistake of the women in her family of choosing terrible men to fall in love with.

The solution is to not fall in love and simply enjoy the occasionally casual lover….until she meets Eli.

Eli. Oh Eli. Reader, the *undoing* of Eli was exquisite. Eli is the sort of character who keeps all emotions locked down. He is dedicated to his work and finds emotions to be impractical. He is sent to Vienna to discover who is selling American codes but instead, he discovers Maria and suddenly, his emotions are a little too hard to lock down ….and he begins to come undone. Y’all Eli is so sweet and so….competent (when he sets his mind to learn something new, he LEARNS it *loud whispers* via erotic manuals!!). He is earnest and sweet and believes he is undeserving of love and I adored the development of his and Maria’s intimacy.

This book was so fun! There are several underlying mysteries that were highly enjoyable and I failed to guess any of them. And while the assassins and spies are fun, this book also touches on some pretty dark themes (check your CWs!) and also gives a truly lovely example of consent, intimacy, and communication. The chemistry was superb.

I mostly read this via audiobook and I definitely recommend it!

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desana75's review

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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sydapel's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Sometimes I think I'll never get bored of historical romance, especially when it so often pairs a grumpy reticent man with a dark past he thinks will never be forgiven with a fiery, independent woman who has emotional walls built so high she thinks no one will ever care to scale. And boy howdy are they both wrong!!!

On a serious note, I really appreciated how this was set somewhere that wasn't England and found the cast of characters, plot and setting really well done. The last 20 pages to me felt a bit clunky and rushed, but overall a really solid HistRom.

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