Haunted Hearts Hotel

Genuinely cannot believe this is supposed to be CoG's product from their [b]romance[/b] line, because it's the most disagreeable thing in what is already a subpar story. I tapped out as soon as I finished the first "intimate" romance scenes with Remington. It's only a make-out scene but it's supremely awkwardly written. I do not understand how the writer thinks this is sexy? It lacks any subtlety, straight up go to your face and be like "here's who will lead in this scene, being in control is so sexy, can you see how sexy it is?" Remington lost so much of his charm in the make-out scene because of the way he talks about being the dominant one. It's foppish and posturing. The options are like "let him own my mouth/my behind/throat." and straight up they're spanking in the first make-out scene? It's weird that it's even an option. Remington left immediately after that without escalating the scene further to actual intercourse. Frankly, I would too after that embarrassing display. What in the world.

My issue isn't necessarily with the length of any product, it's more with how that short length is packaged. In this case, this experience falls into the painfully common CoG/Heart's Choice curse of feeling like there were missing pieces or that the author wanted there to be more - but that it was all cut, unrealised, forgotten, and rushed. A short story should plan within its boundaries and feel like a complete piece that does what it wants to do with its runtime, this feels like things were added for padding rather than use. I feel this is very pronounced when it comes to the unnecessary connection subplot with the town of Deep Springs, and Remington's entire story line that has NO conclusion or payoff. The 'spicy' scenes are very awkwardly written and stunted to the point where you almost want it to just commit to fade to black because you're not experiencing much. There is not much time to build friendships either, you get very much hard locked into having to do certain tasks for the sake of a final monetary goal rather than be given multiple opportunities across the three in-game weeks to spend time getting close with characters or exploring mysteries. I can't really say I enjoyed any aspect of the game in the end and that's super sad because I see real potential buried in it! With more time in the oven and a longer length, or the removal of unneeded aspects to make room for more focused story lines and goals, this could've been pretty fun.

“Haunted Hearts Hotel” is a sweet, evocative read that succeeds on the strength of its prose, even if its pacing leaves something to be desired. (7/10) The story moves at a breakneck speed, leading you into a romance with a curiously corporeal ghost after only a conversation or two. It’s undeniably rushed, yet there is a certain charm to the writing that makes the 'love at first sight' conceit easier to forgive than usual. While I would have preferred a slower burn, the romance itself is genuinely endearing. It’s a short experience, but a lovely one. If you’re looking for a quick, supernatural romance that doesn't demand hours of your time, this is an easy recommendation. (7/10)

一般，6/10 4个RO，锁女主 本来我是比较喜欢这种闹鬼酒店设定的，而且被人推荐说RO有bdsm内容也让我很想看，结果看完并不是很符合我的预期 混乱模糊的世界观、角色塑造，讲了一堆酒店历史但是完全没有提当下时间背景，把很多元素杂糅在了一起，各种方面都很混乱。这本也很短，塞了一大堆速速结尾的感觉 RO也是，跟雷明顿第一晚还以为要搞了选了一个选项选完第二个跟我说跑了不搞了???后来跟另外一个RO也是，说搞其实就稍微意思了一下，也没有全套sex&cuddle这样(•_•) 就比较强行，后面再有就是比较笼统的描述了 好像这也是HC很多的通病，老看到有人说这个问题 选项表述上也过于直白了，Way too comic like的感觉，文风对我来说也是too bubbly&cheerful，有点像小孩子过家家，可能有的人会喜欢这种类型的表达，但不是很是我的菜 总的来说虽然不符合我口味而且我并不是很推荐但是没有那么那么差，而且我也没走封面两个看起来戏份会比较多/可能塑造得更好的RO的线，喜欢轻松无脑养成vanilla味故事和对这个题材感兴趣的可以尝试下

Haunted Hearts Hotel is a cute and laid back story that does suffer from some uneven pacing and too little focus. The erotic elements feel pretty tame all things considered (maybe I'm ruined 5ever by AO3) but there has definitely been a few times I've been genuinely impressed by Grace's ability to convey tactility in a way that almost makes it feel like something is brushing up against my skin as I'm reading. I've definitely enjoyed my time with this novel! I have a bit of a weakness for stories about nurturing spaces, and I think the setting of this book delivers pretty well on that. Hotel Lexington is a pretty appealing setting that I ended up caring about, even though I think I would have wanted to see more more in terms of feedback of how the actions taken in the game have impacted the hotel as a space. And the characters who inhabit the setting are also quite nice, making for a pretty varied cast with enough charm to make me want to get to know more about most of them. If anything it might be a little bit too nice and cozy, especially with the seemingly very easy and relaxed game mechanics. Pacing is the main weakness of this work. I think the biggest push back for me personally while reading this has been the lack of connective tissue keeping things together. Sometimes scenes feel like they are completely separate events being described without the more practical aspects of how the main character arrives at a situation, or the narration that would have contextualized the scenes as parts of the same narrative. Especially towards the end of the book it also feels like things are happening a bit quick as well, as if there are some key obstacles missing to overcome to make the main narrative feel weighty or as if there are simply too many smaller events and plot elements happening to give them the room they would have needed. What suffers the most from the pacing is the relationship development. For the size of the story it feels like there are too many characters to give them the time I would have needed to grow really attached to them, or feel like the main character has a (meaningful) relationship with them. On one hand you get a rather profound sense of freedom from a narrative where you can go up to someone the day after you met them and tell them they seem pretty nice and you wanna smooch, but it does entirely do away with any sense of longing and the desire that would have come with that longing. The sex scenes with Manfri and Della have been surprisingly nice at times, but I really wish I would have been made to want them more by the time they arrive in the narrative, if that makes any sense. While I miss a bit of romance and build up for the sex scenes, the scenes themselves have been quite nice! While they've been pretty tame I've also had a few instances where I've genuinely thought "damn, this is what makes literature such a good medium for conveying sensuous experience" at some of the metaphors used. Maybe it's just a thing for light touches I didn't know I had, but the writing can get vivid in a very pleasant way that isn't very common to pull off. I really do wish I had more of an emotional connection established to contextualize those sensations, that would have elevated them even further.

Good