The Haunting of Hotel LaBelle

By: Sharon Buchbinder

Narrated by: Jeffery Hutchins

Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

When hotel inspector, Tallulah Thompson, is called in along with her pug, Franny, to investigate renovation delays, she meets an extremely annoyed and dapper turn-of-the-century innkeeper. The only problem is he's in limbo, neither dead nor alive, and Tallulah and the pug are the first to see him in a hundred years.

Cursed by a medicine woman, "Love 'em and Leave 'em Lucius" Stewart is stuck between worlds until he finds his true love and gives her his heart. When he first sees Tallulah, he doesn't know what he's feeling. Yet, her stunning beauty and feisty attitude pull him in.

With the fate of Hotel LaBelle on the line, Tallulah with the help of a powerful medicine woman turns Lucius back into a flesh and blood man. She and Lucius team up to save the hotel, but Tallulah can't help but wonder if he will ever let go of his past love and learn to love again.

©2016 Sharon Buchbinder (P)2017 Sharon Buchbinder

Ghosts, pugs, and the power of love

I love Fanny the pug. Any dog in a book is great and Fanny is a hoot. I also like her owner, Tallulah Thomspon, although the fact two major things about her were withheld until the last chapter was irritating. Maybe I should have seen them both coming, and it’s my bad I missed them and was irritated.

Moving on.

"Love 'em and Leave 'em Lucius" Stewart” was another interesting character. ‘Stuck’ is the word in the synopsis and that appears appropriate. He can’t do anything but haunt his hotel in the hopes of either passing into the great beyond so he can be with his lost love or, alternatively, falling in love with a flesh-and-blood woman in the modern day.

This sets up an interesting story where Tallulah is supposed to unhaunt the hotel and Lucius needs to convince her to stay. I enjoyed the story, but Tallulah’s jealousy bordered on irrational and made her look weak, which she is most definitely not. I was also amused that she called Lucius “man candy from a bygone era”.

The challenges Lucius faces are numerous, from all the fandangled technology, to the disappearance of the buffalo, to being arrested and put in a jail. A twentieth-century ghost in a twenty-first century jail. Yeah, that was amusing. Despite the portrayal of him from others, there is a special man in there and I enjoyed getting to know him.

There was a satisfying dénouement as the couple do have their happy ending. The finish beyond that was a surprise and I felt deceived, but other than that, it was a good book.

Jeffrey Hutchins’ performance was good, especially his portrayal of Lucius. He was consistent and easy to listen to.

Now, I had periods of weird static/buzzing noise. I did try to find out if other listeners had the noise, but I couldn’t find anyone to let me know. At first I thought it was when the ghost appeared, but it wasn’t. I hope no one else has the problem, but if they do, know that it isn’t too distracting and it does eventually disappear, not long after it starts.

Hotel Labelle

I truly enjoyed this book. 2 of the characters voiced drove me up a wall. Otherwise the book was exceptional. I would like to listen to more books from this author.

Amazing Paranormal Romance/Ghost Story

The Haunting of Hotel LaBelle
By: Sharon Buchbinder
Narrated by: Jeffery Hutchins
This is an audible book I requested and the review is voluntary.
I truly enjoyed this paranormal, adventure, romance novel. It was different in that the haunting is not a ghost but someone that is cursed and suspended...he doesn't age and no one can see or hear him for a hundred years. It is a great story that tugged at my heart. It also has great fantasy/paranormal activity such as seeing ghosts, remote viewing, and more. Characters were well developed and quite interesting and the plot was wonderful! I hope there is a book two!
The narrator is a terrific performer. He is able to sound like a various men and women and moved the story forward with perfect speed and emotions.

This a jumble story with no rhythym

This book was almost a two star one for me because I saw no real chemistry between the two main characters. This book has a very comical feel to it and I couldn’t decide if it was the actual book or how the narrator interpreted the book. The storyline went off some tangents that were unnecessary.

What saved this book for me was the Native American characters as I don’t see them very often in books. Both Emma and her brother were almost worth a star themselves. And I admit I just loved Tallulah – she is very strong and her dog Frannie is adorable. The ghost Lucius I couldn’t quite decide about.

The last third of the book completely lost me. It was to long and for a ghost story was so unrealistic it started to make the book seem more silly than comical. It was like the author decided it was soon for a happy ending so she just threw a bunch barriers to make the story longer for no reason.

I couldn’t make up my mind about the narrator. He did a good job with the voices but sometime made people sound vey hick and it gave the book a light very comical feel and I can’t decide if that is what the author intended.

Not bad but...

There is some type of problem with the sound....several times there was a static sound that came across, disrupting the story. During those times, it was almost as if the story skipped. Made it frustrating for me cause it ruined the flow. Narration was a tad choppy, but that could’ve just been the narrator’s voice for Will....

pretty good

Just the absolute best story. Everything I like to listen about and more. Such a great story I will listen again and again. A keeper!!

'This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review'

Scratchy

The narrator was great but the quality of the recording was scratchy. I almost quit 2 hours into it but the story was good.

The story is good but the narration is awful.

I like the book but definitely the wrong narrator for this story. They should have it reread by another narrator, and what's up with the static, added to the irritation.

Good book!

Not the worst narrator I’ve ever heard but it was close. I don’t say that easily, I don’t want to criticize someone else’s work. I could never do what narrators do! Not even this one. But if good narration is an absolute requirement for you, you might want to read this one. I liked the story!

It's Not The Story

The story is good . If I was reading it or read by a different narrator I would of finished this book. But this book is told by a woman and having a man telling the story just doesn't work. He made listening to the story unbearable.