Heartbreak Hotel

Buffy #2

by Deborah Moggach

From Deborah Moggach, bestselling author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, comes another hilarious and romantic comedy, this time set in a run-down B&B in Wales…When retired actor Buffy decides to up sticks from London and move to rural Wales, he has no idea what he is letting himself in for. In possession of a run-down B&B that leans more towards the shabby than the chic and is miles from nowhere, he realises he needs to fill the beds – and fast. Enter a motley collection of Harold, whose wife has run off with a younger woman; Amy, who’s been unexpectedly dumped by her (not-so) weedy boyfriend and Andy, the hypochondriac postman whose girlfriend is much too much for him to handle.But under Buffy’s watchful eye, this disparate group of strangers find they have more in common than perhaps they first thought...‘Addictive and funny... If there is a book more like a Richard Curtis film, you’d be hard-pressed to find it’ Psychologies'Just as exuberant and hilarious as The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' Good Housekeeping

Genres: Fiction, Audiobook, Contemporary, Book Club, Chick Lit, Humor, Romance

404 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Deborah Moggach is a British writer, born Deborah Hough on 28 June 1948. She has written fifteen novels to date, including The Ex-Wives, Tulip Fever, and, most recently, These Foolish Things. She has adapted many of her novels as TV dramas and has also written several film scripts, including the BAFTA-nominated screenplay for Pride & Prejudice. She has also written two collections of short stories and a stage play. In February 2005, Moggach was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by her Alma Mater, the University of Bristol . She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a former Chair of the Society of Authors, and is on the executive committee of PEN.

Reviews

[Catherine Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has 4 stars worth of charm and good humour, but its structure lollops about like a boisterous puppy, leaving a trail of chewed up endings. Why spend so much time in Amy's head while her relationship isn't working only to view her from a distance when she finally meets Mr Right? Ditto Andy the postman: two chapters, possibly more, on his marriage breakdown and then the instant he re-appears, he's matched to some campervan woman whom we've never met before (unless I missed something, which is possible, given that the book has a bigger cast than a Lord of the Rings battle scene). Deborah Moggach actually makes a sly little reference to this via Howard the novelist, who is gathering up everyone's stories as material for his next book, and who says something like, 'So many characters, so little time to do them all justice'. But I wanted EVERY storyline to have a satisfying ending, so even though I enjoyed this book thoroughly, I deducted one star for loose ends.

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful collection of characters ranging in age and background set in vividly depicted Wales. Moggach excels in characterization and setting, both detailed, virtually jumping off of the pages. The reader experiences a delineated treat with Moggach’s intense descriptions.

A sweet story of average everyday people dealing with varying circumstances intersecting at Buffy’s B&B searching for healing, closure or respite. Life challenges aren’t always pretty, however, Moggach captures the narrative with great sentimentally along with plausibility. Humor patinas the intensity of the challenges faced by characters, offsets nicely.

No matter your age, a read all will enjoy and align with in at least some small way.

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hugely disappointing.

I've read almost all Deborah Moggach's novels, including Best Exotic Marigold Hotel back when it was called These Foolish Things, so I approached this with high expectations.

But by the time I got to page fifty or so, I'm afraid I'd realised this one's a dud.

I think the problem is that there are too many characters spread too thinly across the narrative, which is partly because of the way the book is structured.

Couldn't help comparing it to Maeve Binchy's final novel, A Week in Winter. Binchy had a genius for character (right up there with Dickens) and needed just a few lines to produce a person you felt you knew - or wanted to know. Whereas even when I got to the home straight of Heartbreak Hotel, I was still thinking "Who's he, exactly?" Never good.

I think the story this would work much better as a screenplay - and suspect that is the intention.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has very mixed reviews on here but I got it in an audible sale and decided to try it anyway.

I'm so glad I did as I really enjoyed it! It's a cosy family drama, more on the romantic side than the dramatic side so I surprised myself by liking it so much.

Buffy is a retired actor looking for a new challenge so when an old friend bequeathed him her B&B he moves from London to Wales to make a go of things. Not only do we get to know Buffy and follow his story but we also meet his family, friends and hotel guests who have their own little stories... within the story.

It's a bit cheesy but it's also very funny and heart-warming.

It's not my normal kind of read but I really enjoyed it and how it made me feel.
Thinking about our lives and how various people impact them and how you can have a whole new lease of life at any age has given me a lot of food for thought.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sort of sorry that "These Foolish Things" got retitled as "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" because that makes it seem that Deborah Moggach has embarked on a Hotel series. I suppose the hotel/B&B as a device for bringing together a motley crew of characters, each with their own back story, into one space is useful, but this book is not that formulaic. It is hugely entertaining and enjoyable, with a gentle humour, and I really got into the unfolding of the story. Indeed, we regular readers of Moggach's novels will relish the reacquaintance with some old friends (from The Ex-Wives). It would convert well to screenplay for large or small screen, and I think Michael Gambon would make an excellent Buffy. Really nice writing, too.

[Aoife · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

When retired actor Buffy inherits an old B&B from a friend, he decides to try and give the business a go. Coming up with an idea of life-skill courses for the newly singles, a vast array of characters pass through his door - all of them secretly looking for their perfect match.

This book was an entertaining read on audiobook and can't deny that I enjoyed my time listening to it but overall, the book itself was just a bit 'meh'. I feel like we really only saw snapshots of people, and the story felt a bit disjointed and all over the place. I can't say for sure I really enjoyed some of the personalities either in the book as there were definitely some things said or thought by characters that made me cringe a bit.

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful

[Joanne Moyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Retired actor Russell 'Buffy' Buffery is getting tired with his London life, so when he inherits a more shabby than chic B&B in Wales from an old friend, he decides to leave his old life and start a new one. He quickly realizes that while in a lovely setting, his B&B is in need of some work -- and some customers -- or he won't have it very long. He comes up with a theme as a kind of 'lonely hearts' hotel and offers classes for people whose significant others did the thing they could not -- like auto mechanics classes , cooking and gardening, classes, basic home repair, which he is also able to use to improve his 'Heartbreak Hotel'.

I really enjoyed this book with it's great cast of characters, most of whom we first meet in brief narrations that explain how they came to be at the Heartbreak Hotel.
Deborah Moggach is also the author of The Great Exotic Marigold Hotel, which I've long wanted to read. There is also a previous book about 'Buffy' called The Ex-Wives Club which I have not read and found it didn't matter in relation to this book -- though I do plan to read it now

[Sarah83 sbookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein netter kleiner Roman für zwischendurch. Leider war vieles zu vorhersehbar.

[Val Asker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third Deborah Moggach book that I’ve read and the third one that I have enjoyed. Like Daphne du Maurier she seems able to write books that are very different from each other. I picked ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ up from a book swap in Wivenhoe, which is how I came to read this particular Deborah Moggach book.

At the beginning of the book Roger ‘Buffy’ Buffery is an actor in his twilight years (having mutated from ‘a lithe Hotspur to a portly Falstaff’) who inherits a ramshackle house in rural Wales from Bridie, his ex-landlady. He decides to move to Wales and turn it into a bed and breakfast which he is able to open with (considerable) help from Voda, one of the locals. Needing to bring in more income, Buffy decides to offer residential courses, run by locals with suitable expertise, such as gardening and car maintenance, in the hope of bringing in more business but also simultaneously getting his garden tidied up and car repaired. As the guests arrive and the courses get going, the fun begins ....

I enjoyed the book for several reasons. Firstly I liked the characters, in particular Buffy. He doesn’t look after himself and drinks far too much, but he is very welcoming and hospitable (too hospitable, as he doesn’t like to charge for the generous amounts of alcohol offered to the guests). He is interested in people and likes nothing better than settling down for a lengthy chat over a bottle of wine. The other characters are well written with their various problems and hang ups. Everyone seems to have a messy life. I liked the way many of the characters are older (Buffy is in his 70s, Monica in her 60s). I’m sure many people will empathise with Monica as she encounters the natural consequences of ageing!

I also liked the setting. Knockton is in rural Wales where mobile signals for several networks are non-existent (unless you drive to the local rubbish tip) and the roads are full of potholes. This is no rural idyl - but what it does have is a real community where people talk to and help each other - in contrast to Buffy’s flat on the Edgware Road.

I also like the way the book was structured. It is told from multiple viewpoints, with Buffy being the main narrator. The first few chapters alternate between Buffy and four people who will attend Buffy’s courses later on in the book. This establishes their back stories. However these four characters - Monica, a career woman seeking a relationship, Amy, a makeup artist whose boyfriend has dumped her, Harold, whose wife has gone off with a younger woman and Andy the hypochondriac postman whose relationship with his wife has ended, are not the only guests. Instead of (predictably) all attending the same course, they arrive for different courses, allowing other new characters to enter the mix. I felt that this made the book much more interesting and less formulaic.

Buffy has been married three times (in addition to fathering two other daughters by different partners). One of his ex-wives, Penny, also turns up on one of the courses which adds another interesting dimension. I really liked the way the older characters were portrayed. Penny and Buffy soon slip back into camaraderie, both recognising things they liked about each other but at the same time realising why they split up. This is very much a story about communication. Buffy is easy to talk to, so people open up to him, but also several of the characters find someone who will listen to them in a way that their ex-partners seemed unable to do.

As usual there are favourable comments on the back and inside covers of the book. One of the reviews says that Moggach has a talent for the crisp one liner - which sums up the tone of the book perfectly. I was laughing out loud, particularly during the first chapter because of the author’s ability to convey so much so humorously in a few well chosen words. When describing how impersonal life in London has become, Buffy comments that the concierge in his block of flats has been replaced by a vase of flowers. Monica describes Buffy in an old velvet jacket ‘like a croupier from a down and out seaside town’. Deborah Moggach, according to the notes in the book, lives in North London and this came across in the book with amusing quips about London south of the river (Buffy thinks to himself that he can’t see the point of Clapham).

This was an escapist read, but it was also very perceptive in its depiction of relationships and communication. It was also very funny. And who couldn’t like Buffy! Despite the crumbling state of the B&B with its mould and ill fitting windows, I think a stay with Buffy with his generous hospitality and Voda’s delicious meals, would be a real blast!

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Retired actor Russell "Buffy" Buffery is in his 70s, has been married three times and has children with four, all adults now, some of them even middle-aged. When his dear friend Bridie dies and leaves him her B&B, Myrtle House, in a small Welsh town called Knockton near the border, Buffy decides - despite his children's scoffing - to pack up his dingy London flat and move there to embark on a new venture.

The hotel itself is an old Georgian building with dated wallpaper and a leaking roof. It does come with one blessing however, in the form of Voda, a local woman who had cooked and cleaned for Birdie and who is willing to come back and continue the job - and she's an excellent cook. Buffy quite enjoys playing the host and many times on a rainy day his guests end up in his back parlour, drinking wine and discussing their marital problems with him. When his daughter Nyange, an accountant, looks over his books and tells him he needs a plan quick-smart or the place will fall down for want of repairs, he comes up with the idea of offering courses to divorcees who are lacking the skill their partner contributed, be it cooking, gardening or fixing the car. The course Buffy himself is planning on teaching is one for the men on how to talk to women.

None of the classes go quite to plan, of course, but they are still successful in their own way. An unplanned side-effect is the number of people who come for a course and end up partnered - including his own step-daughter India, who arrives to help one weekend and ends up staying on. Along the way several people find happiness, often in unexpected ways, not least of which is Buffy himself, the quintessential lover of women even now.

I knew I was in for a good read when Moggach made me laugh within the first few pages. It has the taste and flavour of a good, solid BBC drama, one with a pleasing blend of rural life, quirky characters and humour. It wasn't the same as watching Hamish Macbeth or Heartbeat or Ballykissangel (you can tell how long it's been since I've had the chance to watch any British TV by how dated these examples are! Such a shame that Canadians don't watch much from there) but it had that kind of vibe, a mix of gritty real life and almost flippant, self-deprecatory humour. Having grown up on British TV as much as Aussie TV, I felt right at home. Deborah Moggach is probably best known for her previous book, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which was made into a film with Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy, among others. I haven't seen that movie, and this is the first Moggach book I've read.

Buffy - a character from one of Moggach's previous books, The Ex-Wives - is such a character, surprisingly subtle rather than in-your-face, who manages to stay on good terms with his many exes, even the one who took his prized painting in the divorce settlement after claiming that she, a supposed artist, could better appreciate it. His children are just as wildly different as his wives - there's Quentin, forty-five and gay; Nyange who's half-black; Celeste, the daughter he never knew he had until she turned up on his doorstep in her twenties to meet him. And his thirty-something boys, Bruno and Tobias, who like to rib him. The only woman he didn't have children with was his third wife, Penny, a journalist.

Buffy remembered a rare family gathering, Nyange and Quentin sitting side by side, the black girl and the homosexual. Penny, his wife at the time, had gazed at them. 'Very Channel 4,' she had mused. 'Now all we need is the physically challenged.' She had glanced down at Buffy, who had ricked his back and was lying on the floor, propped up by cushions. 'Oh oh, there he is.' [p.9]

This isn't just Buffy's story; it alternates with the stories of Monica, an older woman who, as she thinks of it, gave away the best years of her life to a married man; Amy, a makeup artist on film and television crews who breaks up with her boyfriend after they slowly separate as friends and lovers; Harold, a writer whose wife Pia leaves him for a Japanese woman; and Andy, a tall, attractive postman who fell into marriage almost against his will and is the walking cliche of the quiet man suffering under his wife's constant barrage of demands and expectations. They are all very different people and come to different classes at Myrtle House - except for Andy, who is actually there for the fishing even though he could really use the class on talking to women.

There were times when I baulked at the casual use of relationship stereotypes, and yet Moggach always managed to rescue the story - and characters - from slipping too far in that direction. The saving was generally subtle and between-the-lines, like henpecked Andy, probably the most cliched of all the characters, who lives with a "blousy" woman who rather intimidates him. He can never seem to speak up for himself and be honest with her, and he seems to have no desire to really talk to her. All of that is perfectly clear, but is nicely balanced by the scene where he meets a local girl in Knockton and finds himself telling her things he's never told anyone before: what is unsaid but apparent is the simple truth that you don't have to change yourself to make a relationship work, you just need to meet the right person, someone you instinctively feel comfortable with and can trust. Andy didn't really need Buffy's course on how to speak to women, he just needed the right woman.

As entertaining as the story and characters and incidents are, it maintains a hardboiled realism throughout, a warts-and-all honesty that at times has an almost cruel humour to it, which you often find when the characters are middle-aged and older. Monica is the epitome of this, with her biting cynicism and prickly demeanour. It can be hard to get close and comfortable with these kinds of characters, but it's still easy to sympathise and empathise with them - and relate to them. This is a very human story, frank and open, and in that frankness humour comes easily. It also allowed for less predictability, and not knowing what was going to happen to the characters or where they'd all end up made it even more fun.

Running through it all is a near-constant refrain, a recurring theme regarding the financial collapse of recent years and the fat bonuses the banks gave themselves despite it. It made the ending highly satisfying, even if I find it hard to believe that any executive would go along with it. It was probably the only part of the book that wasn't realistic, but it was a great way to end things. As for the Welsh setting, aside from the usual jokes about the unpronounceable place names, it wasn't very distinguishable from a rural English setting - the landscape isn't wildly different of course, but the culture didn't come across as very different either.

Over the course of the book, I came to feel close and familiar with Buffy and his sprawling family, as well as with those other, single characters that it focuses on. Between them they cover a wide breadth of relationship woes in many guises, between spouses, lovers, siblings and parent-children. The humour tended towards self-deprecatory and biting, almost snarky at times, and no one was safe from it. I found that the way characters ended up together often came across as a bit convenient, mostly because the story focused on the drama that led up to it, not the coming-together itself. This is no romance novel! But it was a bit neat-and-tidy at the end of the day, which is satisfying but also oddly disappointing. Sometimes you just want to see a character stay single and be perfectly happy with it, because there are people like that and they don't often get reflected in fiction - instead being single continues to be portrayed as a kind of failure, something that needs to be fixed. Still, overall I really enjoyed this and would definitely like to read more of Moggach's books.

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out · Rating 2 out of 5]

When aging actor Russell 'Buffy' Buffery inherits a B&B in rural Wales he stuns his family and friends by abandoning London to run it. Buffy finds he enjoys his role as host, but the crumbling manor is in desperate need of maintenance, and a steady occupancy rate, and he needs to find a way to fix it before it all falls down around him.

The premise of Heartbreak Hotel, and the reputation of author Debbie Moggach, is what drew me to select this novel for review, unfortunately I was disappointed by the novel's structure. The drawn out stories of some of the individuals who eventually wind up at Heartbreak Hotel seemed disconnected to the narrative and the idea of the 'Courses for Divorces' was terrific but never fully exploited. The last half of the book, when the characters are brought together, is much stronger than the first.

I did like the Moggach's characters, most of them find themselves at the B&B after a disappointment of some sort or another. Buffy is an interesting man, he had a successful career as an actor but now aged 70 he is reinventing himself as well as grappling with the missteps he made as a husband and father. For many the guests of Myrtle House their stay at the B&B has surprising consequences including new love and the kindling of new dreams.

Heartbreak Hotel is often amusing and has some charm, but ultimately it was just an OK read for me.

[Chrystyna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heartbreak Hotel by Deborah Moggach - Good

A nice bit of fluffy nonsense for Valentine's week. Buffy is an old actor and inherits a B&B in rural Wales from one of his old theatrical landladies. He decides it's time for a change... he's going to up sticks and run his inheritance. Unsurprisingly, this doesn't prove to be quite as easy as he expects and he is soon running themed weekends for the newly single, with the help of his various offspring, in an attempt to cover running costs and get various repairs done under the guise of 'teaching' folk DIY, gardening, car repair etc.

Of course, these mismatched newly single people end up finding love in unexpected ways.

Nice bit of easy reading, no thought processes required :-)

[Ginni · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favourite authors - I whipped through this and found it laugh-out-loud funny. Some of the observations by the 60 something characters were so true as to be uncomfortable - but hilarious. There was a fair bit of pathos - and I suppose the way everything works out in the end is unrealistic - but I still stormed through this and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'll look for the other book about Buffy - 'The ex-wives.' Moggach has moved away from the more 'serious' themes of her early writing - but on the other hand, when one is older, perhaps a lighter touch and the promise of late-blooming happiness are what you want to hear about, even if it's unlikely to work that way in real life.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice read with a few LOL moments. Having seen the marigold hotel film, and loving it, I must now go read the book!

[Malia]

Couldn't finish this, unfortunately. There were about a million characters and I wasn't invested in any of them.

Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com

[Adri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engaging

It w as a light and easy read. The characters are likable, the setting is agreeable, the story a bit unlikely, but still believable. A nice Sunday read.

[Anya Nielsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heartbreak Hotel
by Deborah Moggach
Published in 2013 by Chatto & Windus, imprint of Penguin, Random House, London
ISBN 978 0 701 18781 1
Why does a reader decide to read a particular book? What is the impetus? The reputation of the author? The genre? An intriguing synopsis? If I knew the answer I’d make a fortune.
The name—Heartbreak Hotel, caught my eye it was reminiscent of the 1960s—Heartbreak Hotel was the name of one of Elvis Presley’s greatest hits. Was the book about Elvis? I turned to the synopsis—a romance, nothing to do with him. The new book I’m writing is a romance set in the 1960s. Reviews indicated the author Deborah Moggach is the author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a bestseller, which was made into a movie; one that I, along with many others, have enjoyed immensely—that was the clincher, I had to read this book.
Deborah Moogach has written 18 novels. Buffy is a boozy character from her novel Ex-Wives. He has resurfaced as the central character in Heartbreak Hotel. This light story takes place in Wales. Although a huge cast the story is not convoluted nor complicated as the various characters pass through the doors of the hotel to interact with each other and form some unlikely relationships.
The plot is simple but a great idea and it could very likely be a viable business model for some enterprising person who is both raconteur and lover of strangers. In essence a retired person wishing nothing more that a glass of red and a good listener who has time to spare.
Buffy, a creative problem solver, finds a way to have his newly acquired house renovated, the garden remodelled and his car repaired, all free of charge. His great idea is the basis for a huge cast of probable and improbable events that the reader will find enthralling over almost 300 pages of easy reading.
Moggach produces a clever way to get all the characters back together for the surprise ending. Sure to be made into another successful movie. A relaxing read.

[Nikki Mcgee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a book chosen by my village book club. It served its purpose as it is a hug in a book and it kept me company on a cold day when I was feeling run down.

It does read like a screenplay and I could see this becoming a Sunday night comforting drama - with little drama and lots of feel good moments, gentle humour and beautiful welsh scenery.

I found some of the language a little jarring and old fashioned with sweeping stereotypes.

I am not one for romance books and so I enjoyed the marriage break up scenes in the first half but the second half felt contrived.

2 stars as I read it - enjoyed bits of it but also felt a bit irritated and empty at the end.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A charming, witty, slightly quirky tale of a thrice divorced retired actor and his attempt to run a B&B. There are lots of characters and my head was swimming with them at first, but if you just let that wash over you it all ties itself together in an endearing happily ever after kind of way. This is fun fiction at its best.

[Georgina · Rating 3 out of 5]

An alright workaday story. I enjoyed the well depicted milieux of both North London and a thinly disguised Kington. The authorial eye was a little too wry for me, the characters a little too ‘stock’. The ending was ridiculous! As if!!

[Erica Annuar · Rating 4 out of 5]

One.. or someday, we will realise that beneath us all.. hope & faith do exist. This book gave me that. Hope to find love eventually.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A jumble a interesting and funny characters meeting each other in unusual ways. A warm hearted read, lots of fun and gentle humour

[Moira Collett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big Deborah Moggach fan and this lived up to my expectations. It’s not great literature but it is a very enjoyable easy read. There are some great characters, no least Buffy, the main protagonist. It’s a straightforward plot but the characterisation is good enough to make you really care about that happens to them. As another reviewer said it might have been written as a screenplay. If it gets filmed I can easily see it - Jim Broadbent as Buffy?

[Rebecca Storr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story, well written but unnecessarily crude in places. Pity, as I didn't feel I could pass it on to my mum!

[Pammi Raghavendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Getting hooked to audiobooks. Many Laugh out loud moments, enjoyed it a lot

[April Andruszko · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyable light read

[Kathy GWRH · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nowhere near as good as The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel but a nice light read

[Nate Chamberlain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heartbreak Hotel is a recent work by Deborah Moggach, author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, set to release in paperback in January of 2016. Heartbreak Hotel was my first experience of Deborah Moggach. I listened to the audiobook while interstate travelling and enjoyed the rich characters and warm setting.

The story focuses on Buffy, a retired actor, who inherits a B&B in Wales and moves there to escape the noise of London. To get it up and running, he goes through minimal preparation hoping the shabby but chic look will appeal to potential residents. He then talks with his daughter who expresses a desire to fix her own car following a break-up in which she was reliant on her partner. This sparks the idea of turning the B&B into a "destination workshop series." Recently divorced or separated persons who might have relied too heavily on the talents of their former partners could come and learn to cook, clean, garden, repair their car, etc. and be self-sufficient. These classes couldn't possibly be taught by Buffy, but he gets some help along the way in leading them.

Basically, the residents then help Myrtle House look better through their work in the classes. And by the end of it, Myrtle House has instead become an executive retreat bringing money to the community as opposed to remaining a haven for the recently separated. I found this ending transformation to be a bit of a stretch. Sure, executives might be searching for something a little less Marriott for their retreats, but they wouldn't likely choose an isolated house with a few leaky, drafty bedrooms for their location. But then again, in these retreats they're practicing hands-on skills and getting dirty - not polishing portfolios and sealing deals.

As far as the characters, I really appreciated Buffy's struggles. He's overwhelmed immediately upon moving into the B&B as any person his age (70's) and jumping into an adventure like this would be. He also works to reconnect with his children and to possibly explore a relationship. But when this relationship begins to blossom, I find it a bit unbelievable. The characters, Monica (botox-injecting woman who can find a bed partner, but not a life partner) and Buffy, become too neat and tidy. Monica takes the slightest offense at the smallest unintended arrangement of words and is intimidated by Buffy's youth when he had multiple partners. Buffy wants desperately to alleviate her worries, but she runs away so of course he abandons the B&B temporarily and chases after her. It all ends too tidily. I felt that the last third of the book was a rush to the finish. It tied up the loose ends, but I feel like the imperfect Buffy I met in the beginning became a polished character, dipped in gold, by the final chapter.

Perhaps one of the most interesting conflicts in the novel is the one between Voda and her ex-boyfriend Conner. He's a drug-influenced and alcoholic mess of a jail fly. She's in love with Buffy's daughter, India. When Conner, quite possibly abusive, is in trouble Voda still cares. These two imperfect characters were the most interesting to me of the novel. Though Amy, a makeup artist for the stars, was interesting too in watching her transform from childless and happy to longing for a relationship and child.

All in all the book is a pleasant read. Not too deep, but not too shallow either. A neutral read, you might say. And though I wasn't particularly moved by Heartbreak Hotel, Moggach's writing tone still kept me engaged. I will, in the future, seek another Moggach novel.

Check out my other reviews at http://booksavants.blogspot.com

[Jonita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Russell "Buffy" Buffery is retired from the acting profession and is sick of living in London. He's simply getting too old for the hustle and the bustle, not to mention the lack of parking available! Salvation from the busy city comes in the form of a tired B&B located in the Welsh countryside, left to him in a dear old friend's will. The only problem? The B&B is desperately in need of repairs and he hasn't any money for them, nor does he have the bookings to provide the income.

At first he manages with the help of Voda, the woman who used to clean the house. Her boyfriend is in jail and she's at a loose end so she offers to not only clean the B&B but to assist in running it as well. Quickly Buffy finds that in order to be able to keep the B&B he needs new customers- and fast! He hatches an idea to run courses on cooking and car maintenance and gardening, all with the purpose of catering to the newly divorced whose former other halves attended to these things. While the courses do prove to be quite entertaining, each for their own reasons, they all seem to have mixed results, but an idea has been born and it's enough to keep Buffy afloat for the time being- or is it?

As various people who visit the B&B struggle to find their place in the world, Buffy finds that he is where he was meant to end up all along.

Heartbreak Hotel is the first book by Deborah Moggach that I have had the pleasure of reading, and I was pleasantly surprised! The motley crew of characters provided me with no end of entertainment, and the setting was picturesque and quite fun! It came at a perfect time for me- I was looking for a read that would be both relaxing and fun, and this is exactly what this book was! There were a lot of characters who we meet, some whose heads that we get inside, and some whose we don't, but they are all endearing in their own way, and if there was one that I didn't particularly care for, chances were good that we wouldn't be spending long with them anyways! Buffy, who ties the whole book together, is fun and hard not to love, and I enjoyed getting to know a few of his children, of whom there are many!

If I had a complaint it may be that there were a lot of characters introduced to us in one book, and as such we didn't get a chance to truly get attached to any of them. I also didn't like the fact that we get inside the heads of characters when we meet them, and once they are on their way to a happy ending they are presented to us in a very distant way. No longer are we privy to their thoughts and I wish that we would be!

Heartbreak Hotel was an entertaining read, perfect for enjoying on a relaxing day in the sunshine or at the beach. While I didn't feel strongly for any one character in the novel, I did enjoy meeting them all in passing, and the B&B setting was hugely fun! This being the first book by the author that I have read, I now know that I would like the opportunity to read more from her in the future!