Michelle Blanchard Ardillo

Even though today’s high in my town was 87 degrees, I just finished a book called The Lodge by Kayla Olson, set in Black Maple Lodge, a snowy mountain ski resort in Vermont. Billed as a “swoony romance,” this was the perfect “palate cleanser” book after several heavier books. If you enjoy watching Hallmark movies in your comfy pjs sipping a cup of hot cocoa, well, this may be just the book for you.

This is a girl meets boy kind of book, when both the girl and the boy are absolutely not in the market for a go on the romance merry-go-round again. Alix, the female main character, is on deadline for a memoir she is ghostwriting. Tyler, the male main character, is a ski instructor at Black Maple Lodge, and just happens to live next door to the apartment that Alix has been given for a month to finish the book.

The memoir she is ghostwriting just happens to be the life story of Sebastian, a former member of a now disbanded boy band, one of the two lead vocalists in the band, and he is still carrying a lot of baggage (that is, if a super-rich spoiled human being ever had to carry his own baggage) from his years under the thumb of his manager.

I must note here that I find it ironic that this is the second book THIS MONTH I have read where ghostwriting is part of the plot, and the first—Elizabeth Sails by Kristin Owens takes place on the ocean—and this one takes place in the snow!

The twist is that after a huge fight between Sebastian and Jett, who happens to be the other lead vocalist, Jett—the very next day—disappears off the face of the earth. For eight (8!!!) years no one has heard of or seen Jett.

Let’s imagine if Justin Timberlake—at the height of the popularity of NSYNC—just up and disappeared, never to be seen again. Huge, right? Conspiracy theories abound, Sebastian fights off accusations that he had something to do with it, and tabloid journalists, as in our female main character, can’t write enough about the whole thing.

Okay, so that’s the set up. I can’t say more without dropping big ole’ spoilers, so I’ll move on to my thoughts on the book.

First of all, I requested this book on NetGalley purely for the cover. I mean, it’s gorgeous, and even though I don’t ski and I have a strong fear of heights, that gondola suspended over that snowy mountainside just called out to me. But, am I a fan of romance novels? Not really, although I have read more recently, again thanks to NetGalley, and I’ve enjoyed them in between novels with darker themes.

The book moves along well, and there is a clever writing mechanism at the start of each chapter which is either a tweet or a social media post or a breaking news flash or a column from the entertainment section. This moves the plot forward and/or fills in some background info. I found it clever, but it is probably more effective in a print copy than on my Kindle.

I also loved (<3) the dedication page, so much that I sent a screenshot of it to my daughter who is a KPop fan. She texted back, “Did I accidentally write this in my sleep?” If you read this book, be sure you give the dedication page your full attention!

I enjoyed the book, but I also saw the twist to the twist a mile away, which doesn’t usually happen to me. I tend to get absorbed into the world of the characters and don’t spend a lot of time trying to guess the next step or figure out the resolution before hand. If I were in a course studying it or even reading it to teach it, that would be a different story altogether. But, if I’m reading for pleasure, I just don’t look ahead too much. So, it was a bit of a downer that the female main character didn’t figure it out until MUCH later into the story.

I’m pretty sure Sebastian was meant to be a character the reader wouldn’t like, but I’m not sure if the writer wanted us to like the female main character’s little sister or not. I found her annoying and distracting.

So, final verdict, I enjoyed the book. The writing is good and I loved the insertion of the social media/news article at the start of each chapter. It is sure to be a fun read for those who enjoy cozy romances. It is almost white-bread vanilla in its lack of spiciness, and I know there are readers out there who prefer that. And, if you enjoy skiing or sipping honey nut lattes next to a roaring fire while watching the snow fall, then add this to your TBR now! Watch for The Lodge by Kayla Olson out on January 7, 2025! Thank you again to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!