Saving Carlton by Lee Hardies

A slow-burn romance framed by the restoration of a historic building in a charming small town

Dan Olson is on track to be partner at Shafer Hodges Architects. When Saving Carlton begins, he is engaged to Hope, the daughter of one of the firm’s biggest clients. To the outside eye, he should be happy, but for some reason he’s still feeling dissatisfied with his life. 

At a company party, his dissatisfaction boils to a head and with the help of a little too much alcohol, Dan publicly criticizes the designs of his new boss, ruining a model in front of everyone. As a result, he loses his job and his fiancé, who it turns out saw the relationship more as a business transaction anyway, all in one day’s time.

Dan turns to renovating his Denver property when he’s approached by a friend, a real estate investor named Roy, with a proposition. Roy wants Dan to help him remodel a historic building in the small town of Majestic, Colorado. The building, called The Carlton, is a now-abandoned hotel that used to be a shining testament to the town’s charm, but lately has become a sad and downright hazardous structure that no one can figure out what to do with. It’s not exactly an easy project, but Dan, feeling his loss of purpose and wanting to find his love for architecture again, agrees to Roy’s scheme to turn the building into apartments while maintaining the building’s beloved charm.

When the project starts, the town is skeptical of the newcomers. Dan and Roy are confronted by the Historic Preservation Society headed by Bobbie, a schoolteacher who Dan just might take a special interest in. Soon, he’s showing up with muffins and meeting her daughter, their friendship teetering on the precipice of becoming something more.

Bobbie and Dan’s relationship is a sweet one, tested over and over again by small-town gossip, architectural issues, and family stressors like Bobbie’s father ending up in the hospital. They each bring past relationship hurts to the table, things they must work through before they can trust each other and take a chance with their hearts. Dan is reeling from his recent breakup with Hope, and Bobbie lost her husband in an accident, leaving her a single mother. Their relationship is tentative and slow burn, built on a friendship of understanding and compassion for each other long before either of them makes a move. It’s a sweet depiction of an adult relationship, both characters extremely patient with the other as they work through their pasts.

It takes months for their relationship to develop beyond the stage of friendship, though there are plenty of cute moments between Dan, Bobbie, and her daughter Allie throughout the narrative. Dan is quick to invite Allie to everything so Bobbie doesn’t have to find childcare, a sweet and touching gesture of his that speaks to the foundation of their relationship even before it becomes romantic. However, for a book on the shorter side, it does take awhile for them to get together with added obstacles of Bobbie’s father having a heart attack and a rumor going around about Dan getting back together with his ex-girlfriend.

For a romantic comedy, the comedy skews toward the quippy rather than the outright funny. Dan makes many comments to Bobbie to try to make her smile, sometimes jokes that are sexual in nature, and for the most part one liners. It’s not necessarily laugh-out loud funny, but its humor is charming in its own way.

The small town of Majestic is charming as well, serving as a character in the story as much as any of the people are. The town’s Mayor frequents the local diner, the bar is full of quirky characters, and the nosy townsfolk love to gossip. Its charm is also a hindrance for Dan sometimes. The town is impassioned, sometimes dividedly so, about the future of the Carlton, of the town, and of the people in it. 

Their passion is a great reflection to show Dan’s recovering passion for architecture as well. There are some sections of the book that are architecture heavy, speaking to Dan’s passion and knowledge but perhaps overly detailed for a layperson. However, it does reflect Dan’s perspective and his true love for the art form of architecture.

Saving Carlton is a sweet romance between two people with recovering hearts set in a charming small town. While it is a slow burn, the relationship at the heart of the novel is a true argument for the foundation that can be built with a little bit of patience. Dan’s struggle with finding his love for architecture again is something many can relate to. The restoration of the Carlton is a lovely metaphor for finding love and a new perspective no matter the past.