The Beautiful Strangers

By: Camille Di Maio

Narrated by: Jess Nahikian, Sarah Naughton

Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2019 Camille Di Maio (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Fans of classic Hollywood, historical fiction, and light romance will enjoy this tale of California sunshine, ghosts, and love.” (Booklist)

Performance

I struggled to get through this book because of voice performance. Speaking parts were at a good speed but slowed down too much for descriptives. There is no way to adjust one without the other.

Bygone Movie Dreams

Interesting look at the golden age of Hollywood through the eyes of a girl who doesn’t want to be the star, but wants the experience of being around the filming. Add in a ghost for a twist & you get a different type of historical fiction.

entertaining historical fiction

very enjoyable read. loved the time period in San Diego. now I want to read more by the same author.

Hollywood from an outsiders view

The book is a wonderful story from the other side of Hollywood workers. Seeing the world of film from those serving the film makers in the hospitality world. A tale of a girl finding her way in life and unraveling her families secrets and finding love along the way. Charming and heart warming and definitely makes you root for a happy ending.

Omg this narrator

I just keep wanting to scream. I have never heard such bizarre and completely wrong pacing in my life. It’s like the narrator is putting commas everywhere. Her interpretation of the main male character sounds exactly like one of the women in the Schwety Balls SNL sketch. The story is a perfectly fine summer read. I don’t recommend reading this via an audio book.

Narrator Nearly Ruined It

I think I would have enjoyed this book so much more with a different narrator! She made the main character seem so morose, sullen, and sad, and the text just didn't support that. She imbued the story with way too much melancholy and a real mournful quality. I hated the over-performance, and truly think the narrator affected my overall reaction to the book itself. Find a physical copy of this one—DON'T LISTEN.

‘The Beautiful Strangers’ needed something else

I’m writing this review halfway through the audio and I’m not happy. Every time around Chapter 15 I would have to start over & over & over...the narration was terrible. The author Camille Di Maio could have had any narrator she wanted and I’ve listened to many of her books..but she blew it on the audio version. It’s hard to explain but the main character just didn’t understand where pauses were..like commas, and overall phrases. I actually waited 2 months for this to come out, and I was extremely disappointed. Let’s say it reminded me of an actor doing a reading, without acting it out, because that’s what audible is ‘acting out a book’‼️

Putting narration aside..it’s an interesting story so I’m not giving up, I’m planning on starting over (again) and READING instead of listening. The story ‘seems’ interesting, when I can finish it, I am still a bit confused but it could be I’m just not into it.

As far as recommendation..I can’t ..don’t LISTEN..you will be disappointed. Sorry, these are my opinions and I am addicted to audible, but right now the book is calling for me to open...

Very rough narration

While the story was interesting and compelling one of the narrators was extremely annoying to have to listen to. She didn’t flow at all and sounded very abrupt between words. It would have been a much better listen with a different narrator for the main character.

Great story and performance

I'm not generally interested in ghost stories, but since I had already read/listened to all of the other stories by this author and really liked them, I decided to go ahead and listen to this one as well. I really liked this story. The author has what I consider to be a complex understanding of history and the problems faced by women and people from various walks of life. I am very impressed by the insights in her writing.

Beautiful

The mystery of the past is revealed through two timelines as the character of the book slowly learns of her connection to her family, their past, and the Coronado Hotel. It was beautiful. It is definitely a must read.