The lobby was almost gothic baroque with velvet seating and dark accents. I’m rating this engrossing, highly visual novel that came complete with a mutated crab carapace a 5 out of 5 very well earned stars.Nestled beside the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and several parks, Hotel Zaza in Houston’s museum district was fancy with just the right amount of quirkiness. Poor Leo! But, oh my, poor Emma, too! So tortured, so brave, but at the same time unable to find the courage to tell Leo the truth – for so many valid reasons, of course, but still….! The exploration of trust – and the loss of it – in a marriage was very well examined and portrayed. Respect and Applause, Applause, Applause!
And to think, the author was pregnant and/or had a newborn to take care of while she was writing this book.
Walsh did a fabulous job in creating a world filled with laughter – as well as horrendous mental suffering! – that I could disappear into for the duration of this story. This family just captured my heart and had me 110% invested in their future as a unit. Leo and Emma were Ruby’s slaves, as Leo put it. Very high maintenance but worth all the work. Little Ruby was a chip off of her zany Mom’s block. That was, incomprehensibly, soooo romantic! Loved it! My face almost cracked from the huge grin I had on my face as I read that part about how Leo’s workmates left the office smiling, while Leo interviewed Emma on the phone about her grandmother’s obituary, because they knew that Emma and Leo were already falling in love without having even met.
I loved these characters: Emma in all of her guises and moods. (That blurb does come across as ominously dark.) For the most part, Rosie Walsh’s last few novels do have mysterious or thriller elements to them, but what I always go to this author for is emotional and psychological tension and drama. I noticed that many other GR reviewers went into this believing it would be a standard thriller.
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