By Gabrielle Kroeger

“The Suite Spot” by Trish Doller (“The Float Plan”) is the second book in the “Beck Sisters” duology. In this novel, Rachel Beck is working her dream job as a hotel manager until she gets fired for something she did not do. 

Being a single mother, Beck tries to get another job as quickly as possible, and ends up working somewhere below her level of experience. When a job opportunity arises in another state, it takes a little convincing, but she decides it is best for her and her daughter if she takes it. 

Upon getting to Ohio, it seems the man she talked to about the job was not entirely honest with her about the position. Mason Brown bought a large piece of land to build a hotel/brewery combined, but he has barely started building anything. Rachel decides to stay and help build and manage the hotel, and their partnership quickly develops into something more.

This novel includes references to sexual assault, child death and suicide, so if any of those topics are triggering for you, read with care. Although the book briefly mentions each of these topics, it is a very light and happy romance. We see Rachel finally get out of a toxic partnership with her daughter’s father and move out of her mothers house. She works on getting her life together for her and her daughter and the character transformation we see her go through is great. Rachel also makes friends on the small island in Ohio where she is now living, which is something she never had in the past. 

Mason has practically shut himself in his house and only focused on building his hotel for a while, until Rachel shows up. Rachel helps bring Mason out of his shell and helps him slowly deal with his past. The people who used to be good friends with him are extremely happy that he has started to partake in events in the town again. Mason also goes through an amazing character transformation and his story will leave you emotional. 

Rachel and Mason’s relationship develops quickly, but they both have a dark past when it comes to relationships. Doller does a great job of having them communicate and wait to be sure they are ready to move on with each other. The book is a bit short for a typical romance book, but a lot happens during the story. It was well paced and it did not feel like insta-love. 

Rachel is described as a curvy woman who is plus-sized. It was nice to read about a plus-size woman in the romance genre because it is extremely rare for the main character to be described as anything other than perfect. In Doller’s previous book, the love interest has a prosthetic leg. It is nice to see an author continuously writing characters outside of the norm so people can identify with the characters. 

Although this book is the second in the duology, it is not necessary to read “The Float Plan” before reading this, however there are some small spoilers. This book reads fine as a standalone and there is nothing mentioned in the first book that you need to know for Rachel’s story. 

Image from Trish Doller via trishdoller.com