Never in a million years did Sage Garcia think she would be spending her three-day weekend at The Last Resort Motel with the man she swore off years ago. If she hadn’t agreed to do a favor for her best friend Baxter, she would be enjoying her time off instead of being stuck up on a mountain with him. After tricking Baxter into picking him up, Gabriel Ross is looking forward to a guys’ weekend. … weekend. Besides, he can use all the help he can get while he runs the motel restaurant for the weekend. When he opens the door and finds Sage on the other side, he’s anything but disappointed. Too bad he can’t say the same about her. Sage still holds a grudge from a hookup years ago, but Gabe isn’t the boy he was back in the day and is looking forward to proving it to her.
With their chemistry burning hotter than ever, will Sage give in and let Gabe make amends? Or will she remain resentful while keeping her heart under lock and key?
If you liked The Evolution of Us – you’ll love Room 13.
Please note – Room 13 is a novella and not a full-length novel.
Mature Content- This book contains situations not intended for persons under the age of 18. Including, but not limited to – sexual situations, cursing, alcohol and/or drug use.
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4.5 stars
The Last Resort Motel is the last place Sage wants to be on her long weekend off. Even worse is who she finds behind the door of room 13
The Last Resort Motel is a series of books by a multitude of talented authors. Its a delightful second-chance, sexy and fun contemporary romance. This story is quite short, about 90 minutes to read, but it is packed full of story. As an unashamed fan of the author, and having met Sage in The Evolution of Us, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book. Having said that I love my full length novels, and for me the longer the better. I’m not normally a huge fan of a novella or short story as they often lack depth or feel rushed, but this is one occasion where neither of those proved to be an issue. Yes I’d love to read more about Sage and Gabe but when I finished this book I was happy that a good tale had been told.
Sage agrees to do a favour for best friend Baxter. Has she known just who she was collecting after a 12 hour drive she would never have left home. Worse still, Gabe needs her to spend her few days off helping him on the midnight shift at his friends restaurant. Gabe and Sage have history, and not the good kind. Gabe not only broke her heart but stomped it into tiny pieces. Trouble is Sage just can’t resist him. So will Sage understand when Gabe explains his actions and more importantly can she forgive and forget?
Room 13 is written in first person, with alternating point of view’s. I do like this format for a contemporary romance as I find it allows me to engage with and connect to the main characters more readily. As mentioned before, I can find novella’s to be disappointing to read as either the characters or the plot can feel underdeveloped. By keeping the story line simple and focusing on only a few characters, I felt that the author avoided this really well. I adored Sage, she came across as a strong and very normal woman. I loved her sense of humour and her sass. It took me a little longer to warm to Gabe, but we learn enough about his background to understand his lack of commitment at times. The plot held my attention and I read this book straight through, I was utterly mesmerised by this wonderful pair and desperately wanted to see them get a HEA. What really surprised me was just how much emotion and feeling was packed into what is quite a short read. This book really took me on a wonderful journey, even though not all of it was easy.
This book can be read entirely as a stand alone. There is no need to have read either The Evolution of Us, nor the previous Last Resort Motel books. It does have some bad language in it, and a few bedroom scenes, though these are not excessive, and feel a natural part of the story. If you love a well written second-chance story, with excellent characters then I definitely recommend this book as one to read.
4 Second Chance Stars!!!
I’ve been a huge fan of D. Kelly since her first book. And, even though I’d wish this was a full length and not a novella I’ll totally take it!!! I loved both Baxter and Sage in The Evolution of Us and glad to get more from them. My fingers are crossed for a book for Baxter still.
Sage is a busy lawyer and rarely gets time off. But, she’s gotten a rare three day weekend off and hoping to relax. Then, her best friend Baxter calls begging for a favor. A huge, name your first born after me favor.
Sage drives 10 plus hours to Nevada to a run down hotel room 13 and she’s shocked to find out the friend Baxter needs to get for him is none other then Gabriel Ross. The one and only guy Sage ever loved and the guy who left her without a word and ruined her for any guy who’d come next.
Gabe has only loved Sage. He didn’t choose to leave her willingly. But, when he did he lost both Sage and his cousin Baxter. He misses his cousin Baxter and truly is ready to tell him the truth about what happened all those years ago and hopes he can tell Sage and pray she’d understand, forgive and they can move forward together.
So, Gabe figures he’d get Baxter to the hotel where he’s helping his friend Max and Aurora for the weekend. He wants them to work at the hotel for the 3 days and start over.
When he opens the door to his hotel room, he’s shocked to see Sage there. It’s obvious she didn’t know she was there for him. But, he doesn’t care. Gabe gets Sage to agree to stay and help him run the midnight shift. He plans on telling Sage everything and holding nothing back. He’s just hoping she’ll understand and not hate him. Sage might hate Gabe but he’s always held her heart. She’s open to the weekend and seeing what happens but Gabe’s not sure what Sage will do when she finds out the truth.
This couple I need and want more from. They’re great!! This really was a second chance romance all the way. I also loved Aurora and Max and plan on going back to their story. Let’s not forget Agnes!!! I’m hoping D. Kelly gives Baxter a book and he’s friendly with Agnes bc their little interactions had me lol they were so funny. Good job Dee!!!
Room 13 is a second chance romance novella by D. Kelly, and is a part of The Last Resort Motel Series. The story is about a young woman named Sage Garcia, who is a lawyer in LA, and who finally has a three-day-weekend off from work. Sage wants to call one of her best friends, Holly or Baxter Ross, to go out to breakfast with her when she wakes up at 6:00 am on the first day of her vacation, but Holly is out of town with her boyfriend, and Baxter went away for the weekend to Las Vegas. Surprising Sage, Baxter calls her that morning to ask her if she could drive to a small town in Nevada, called Spruce Mountain, to pick up one of his friends and bring him back to Baxter’s apartment in LA as a favor to him. This annoys Sage since it means that she’ll have a long, ten hour drive ahead of her instead of having a fun “mini” vacation, but because Baxter is one of her best friends she agrees to do this favor for him. Sage has to drive to Room 13 at The Last Resort Motel which is where Baxter’s friend is staying.
When Sage arrives at the motel twelve hours later, she finds Room 13, (which happens to be on the second floor), and knocks loudly. Sage is shocked to see her old boyfriend, Gabriel Ross, who is Baxter’s cousin, open the door; Gabriel Ross is the only man that Sage has ever hated. Gabe seems happy and surprised that Sage has made the trip to pick him up, and he believes that his cousin Baxter is with Sage. Gabe grabs Sage and hugs her, calls her “Sexy Sage”, tells her that she’s a “sight for sore eyes”, and then asks about Baxter’s whereabouts. Sage pushes away from Gabe and tells him that he doesn’t get to call her “Sexy Sage”, which makes Gabe smile, and then he asks her if she’s still angry with him after so much time apart. Gabe then looks Sage over from head to toe, and Sage does the same to him. It turns out that Sage thinks that Gabe is the sexiest man that she’s ever seen, but Sage is still angry with Gabe. When she was fifteen and he was eighteen, when they were dating in high school, Gabe did something that hurt Sage very badly and she’s never forgiven him for it. Is Gabe sorry for hurting Sage, and will she ever be able to forgive him so that they can give in to their obvious attraction for one another?
I really enjoyed this story by D. Kelly. I’ve read many of her books, and as usual she has written a story with a great plot line and entertaining characters with lots of depth. I met the characters of Sage and Baxter in one of D. Kelly’s previous novels, “The Evolution of Us”, and it’s wonderful to find out more about them, especially Sage who is a character that I remember fondly from that book. I’m looking forward to reading more of her books in the future, and definitely recommend this book!
Even though The Last Resort Motel: Room Thirteen is a short novella and can be read as a standalone I recommend reading The Evolution of Us first as this is a wonderful complement/spinoff. D. Kelly has masterfully spun her words into the story of Sage, who we have seen in the previous stories. Kelly’s way with words in this novella just shows what an amazing author she is.
This story is not like the rest of D. Kelly’s books, this simple story is perfect for this couple. Now we get to see the mysterious man who broke Sage’s teenage heart.
Helping out her friend, Baxter, she agrees to drive to the Last Resort to pick up his friend on her three day vacation. Only to come face to face with the one man she swore off years ago.
Gabriel tricks Baxter into picking him up at the hotel and having a guy’s weekend only to open the door to non other Sage. Once the shock wears off Gabriel is on his A-game to make amends because Sage is still holding a grudge.
Once that door opens and Sage and Gabriel are face to face the instant sparks fly, chemistry jumps right off the page at you. The push and pull, I love you–I hate you tug-o-war game is played out until the very end.
4 Stars
**Review by Lisa, Late Night Reviewer for Up All Night w/ Books**
This was a fun read. Sage hates Gabe’s guts for what happened when they were dating during high school. This is their shot at a second chance romance, set up by Gabe’s cousin/Sage’s best friend, Baxter, in an attempt to get them to make amends. I enjoyed Baxter and another side character, Agnes. I want to be like Agnes when I grow up. Good chemistry between all the characters, and just the right amount of heat for the length of the story.
3.5 STARS!!
This was a great second chance at love romance novella that tells us what happened between Sage and Gabriel (Gabe). There was definitely chemistry between the two and I liked their characters. There were times I wanted to grab Sage and shake the hell out of her because of her actions and behavior. I absolutely loved Agnes, she had me smiling and laughing more than a few times. She was a trip and definitely a fun loving character. I also enjoyed Max, Aurora and Bax. This short story had a bit of suspense, drama, laughs, sexiness, steam and a sweet ending that readers will enjoy.
If you read The Evolution of Us then you met Sage and Baxter already, if not prepare for one fun read with sass and laughs. This was a quick easy read about a second chance romance between Sage and Gabe, Baxter’s cousin. This read was filled with a little drama, lots of laughs and definite chemistry. As always D. Kelly delivers with another amazing must read!