I didn’t read Trish Doller’s first adult novel, Float Plan. That book introduced Rachel Beck’s sister, Anna. Rachel takes center stage in The Suite Spot. Doller’s acknowledgments say she wanted to write something warm and gentle during COVID. She succeeded. But, I’ll admit my reaction to this book will be quite different from many other readers. Doller takes Rachel to northern Ohio in this book, to all the places I know, Kelleys Island, Sandusky, Port Clinton, even my hometown, Huron. For me, The Suite Spot took me home to the Lake Erie area. Because Doller has the setting right, unlike a mystery author who once wrote about an island there, it’s natural that I’ll appreciate the book. And, I’ve already recommended it to the women in my family.

At twenty-eight, Rachel Beck is a single mother who doesn’t really have her life together. She lives with her mother, a built-in babysitter for her three-year-old daughter, Maisie. She works a night shift at Aquamarine, a luxury hotel, so she can spend days with Maisie. And, she’s still hanging on to Maisie’s father, Brian, although they never married, and he’s not good about his responsibilities to his daughter. Then, Rachel is fired based on a lie from one of the hotel guests.

Rachel panics. She’s uncomfortable and uneasy when she doesn’t have a job. She has to take care of Maisie, and help her mother with bills. She takes a job at a somewhat sleazy hotel, but a friend told her about an opening on Kelleys Island in Lake Erie. She has an odd telephone interview with Mason Brown, the owner of a brewery boutique hotel on the island. He needs a hotel manager, and hires her. But, once she and Maisie drive for three days, and take the ferry to the island, she arrives at the site of the Limestone Inn and Public House to find there’s no hotel.

Mason Brown has an unusual background. He can afford to build the hotel, but his divorce put all of his plans on the backburner. He has no incentive to keep going. But, Rachel upended her life to move to Ohio, and she’s determined to make her new job work.

Kelleys Island is a village as well as an island. Its population is about 308, and Trish Doller gets the details right. She populates the island with a small group, and Rachel finds friends at yoga and a book group. Doller’s leads, Rachel and Mason, are flawed characters who eventually find something they need in each other.

Let’s face it. I’m biased. Trish Doller took me home to northern Ohio in The Suite Spot, and she made it seem special. I’ll admit it won’t have the same meaning for other readers. As the author said, this is a warm, gentle novel. It’s about two people finding each other, and finding a place to change their lives. It’s a sweet story that many readers will enjoy.

Trish Doller’s website is https://www.trishdoller.com/

The Suite Spot by Trish Doller. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2022. ISBN 9781250847423 (hardcover), 278p.

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