Hotel of Secrets

On New Year’s Eve, 1877, Viennese hotelier Maria Wallner looks forward to returning her family’s hotel, the Hotel Wallner, to its former glory. Her task is not easy, complicated by plenty of obstacles, from her mother and father’s openly flaunted affair to meddling seers who foretell that Maria will meet a handsome, dark-haired stranger. It turns out that the handsome stranger is Eli Whittaker, a gorgeous American treasury agent who has twice saved Maria’s life from those trying to sabotage the hotel’s comeback. Eli is not supposed to be getting caught up in the intoxicating whirlwind of Viennese society and the charms of this beautiful and hardworking woman—his mission is to find out who is selling secret American codes. But as the chaos and danger threatening Maria’s family and livelihood grow, so does the passion between the two. Narrator Carlotta Brentan deftly narrates Biller’s (The Brightest Star in Paris) latest, capturing Maria’s German Austrian accent and Eli’s American accent with aplomb. Her depictions of the eclectic group of secondary characters are exceptional.