The Beautiful Strangers by Camille Di Maio

The Beautiful Strangers

by Camille Di Maio

A legendary hotel on the Pacific becomes a haven where dreams, love, and a beguiling mystery come alive.

1958. Kate Morgan, tethered to her family’s failing San Francisco restaurant, is looking for an escape. She gets her chance by honoring a cryptic plea from her grandfather: find the beautiful stranger. The search takes her to Hotel del Coronado, the beachfront landmark on the Southern California coast where filming is underway on the movie Some Like It Hot.

For a movie lover like Kate, it’s a fantasy come true. So is the offer of a position at the glamorous hotel. And a new romance is making her heart beat just as fast. But as sure as she is that Coronado is her future, Kate discovers it’s also where the ghosts of the past have come to stay. Sixty years ago a guest died tragically, and she still haunts the hotel’s halls.

As the lives of two women—generations apart—intertwine, Kate’s courageous journey could change more than she ever imagined. And with Coronado wending its way through her soul, she must follow her dreams…wherever they may lead.

Reviewed by Jeff Sexton on

5 of 5 stars

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Beautifully Executed. Set during the 1958 filming of the 1960 Golden Globe Aware Winner for Best Motion Picture- Comedy SOME LIKE IT HOT, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon, Di Maio's work here takes just enough historically accurate details and uses them to make her fictional world and its tale all the more real. Indeed, all three award winning actors make appearances in the book, and one of them even advances a crucial plot point. But the tale here is one of leaving home to find your true destiny, and it is in this tale that the book truly shines. Kate Morgan steals every scene she is in and is one of the more loveable main characters I've come across of late. The mystery of the Beautiful Stranger is compelling, and the execution of including the Stranger's perspective at the end of every chapter really keeps things moving nicely. This was my first book from Ms. Di Maio. It won't be my last.

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  • Started reading
  • 5 March, 2019: Finished reading
  • 5 March, 2019: Reviewed