Hotel King

Written by Claire Marti

Narrated by Tim Paige and Vanessa Edwin

He’s her grumpy boss. She’s his nemesis. How thin is the line between love/hate?

Entrepreneur Ryan Michaels never loses. Well, except that time, a few years ago when he lost a promotion to spoiled rich girl, Charlotte “Charlie” Ray. Now he’s forced to hire his nemesis to secure funding to develop a string of luxury boutique hotels. Not only does she not fit his corporate vision, but she’s too damn attractive for her own good. And his.

Working as VP of Sales and Marketing for a luxury hotel is Charlie’s dream job. Too bad her boss is Ryan Michaels, the same pompous stick-in-the-mud that she remembers. If he tells her that this project is his legacy one more time, she might scream. Or maybe kissing him will get him to shut up?

Because that’s the other thing. The sizzling attraction between Ryan and Charlie is impossible to ignore. But everyone knows not to mix business and pleasure. Don’t they?

One click this enemies to lovers, office rivals steamy romance today!

***Hotel King is the first book in award-winning and USA Today bestselling author Claire Marti's new spin off contemporary romance series, California Suits. The series follows the adventures of five best friends who are opening a string of luxury boutique hotels from La Jolla to Monterey to Beverly Hills as each one finds true love…usually where he least expects it. Each book is a standalone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Claire Marti
• Release date: Jan 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822613065

Reviews for Hotel King

[Jennifer Simon · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Awesome start to a great series! I loved this story! Ryan and Charlie were a fun enemies to lovers couple. I loved the setting of both the beautiful hotel they were renovating and La Jolla in general. I felt like I was somewhere I had never visited but it felt like home. I liked that this was essentially a second chance romance even though the initial relationship between Ryan and Charlie was as competitive co-workers and not a romantic relationship.

The narration by Tim Paige and Vanessa Edwin was top notch. Claire Marti crafts a wonderful, romantic, creative story. I can’t wait for the rest of the California Suits series.

[FranJessca Papillion · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hotel King is the first book I’ve read from author Claire Marti, and it definitely won’t be my last. I’ve already added her other books to my TBR on Goodreads because I really enjoyed this book. It’s an Enemies to Lovers, Boss/Employee, and Workplace Romance, which is always fun to read, at least for this reader. It’s also a Slow Burn, which means it will take a bit for the two stubborn characters to get over their obstacles and finally admit they have feelings for one another.

I’ve always loved Enemies to Lovers storylines, and this one was well done and unique compared to others I’ve read in Contemporary Romance. The MMC, Ryan Michaels, is an Entrepreneur who is working with his best friends to open a new chain of luxury boutique hotels in California. He’s forced to hire Charlie Ray to be his VP of Sales and Marketing, even though she’s his archnemesis, all due to her getting the promotion that he thought he deserved when they used to work together years ago. His friends are surprised at first that he hired her, especially when they have a history. The second the two work together, they butt heads, and Charlie beings to question why Ryan hired her if he doesn’t trust her to do her job as VP of Sales and Marketing.

I loved Charlie and how dedicated she was to proving herself to everyone. She wasn’t going to give up, even when Ryan was being a douche to her. Yes, I said, douche. He couldn’t get over the fact that Charlie had gotten that promotion, and he wouldn’t accept her advice at first with the hotel he was trying to open. I found him unlikeable at times because of it. Charlie deserved better, but I knew he would come around when they spent more time together.

I did like Ryan and how he was dedicated to getting the hotel up and running, but he definitely needed to get over the past. He has a soft side, and it came out when two kittens that Charlie was fostering wiggled their way into his heart. I love the scenes of Ryan, Charlie, and the two kittens. It was adorable and even humorous. (There needs to be more animals in romance stories because they make everything better and sometimes steal the story.)

The tension between Ryan and Charlie was completely obvious, even if they tried to hate each other, and the whole time, I wanted these two to give in to that sexual tension. They do, don’t worry, it just takes time and it was steamy when they did. They had to overcome those obstacles along the way, especially the big one at the end of the book.

The HEA for Charlie and Ryan was absolute perfection, and I’m so glad these two enemies became lovers. I give their book four stars and can’t wait to read the rest of the series, especially since Claire Marti introduced the other characters that will get their books.

I love both narrators for this one and highly recommend the audiobook.