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What makes the crocodiles weep?
A fresh and cynical feel good romantic comedy!
She didn't want to go on vacation.
She didn't choose the destination.
She would never have selected this hotel.
However, Sofia finds herself at the Royal Redstone House, majestic Scottish manor, for an undetermined amount of time in order to heal. If at first she only sees the too baroque, ostentatious and conservative decoration, Sofia then learns to appreciate the hotel. The location gets its own mysterious soul and intrigues as much as the people living and working… or lurking there. Beginning with Lachlan, a cold and unpleasant man which presence among this courteous and velvety world leaves Sofia puzzled…
Feel good
Humor
Strong emotions
Scotland
Romance
Tragedy
Release: Mach 2018
Foreign and paperbacks publishers' interest:
Rights sold in Germany
Law teacher in a prestigious school in Lyon, Lucie Castel escapes reality by writing. As dynamic as she is skilled, she expresses her creativity through many artistic projects she likes to handle all at the same time.
With her fresh voice she gives life to a cadenced story set in sumptuous decors with charming, touching and complex characters.
Sophia
Around 30, pre-Raphaelite painting expert.
Orphan, she succeeded her Fine Arts History studies and was hired by a famous gallery in Monaco whose owner became her mentor. With no family, she grew up with a fellow foster child, Mathilde, with whom she shared her time, studies and even workplace.
At the beginning of the story, a violent holdup takes place at the gallery in Monaco during which Mathilde was killed. To help her overcome her guilt and deep depression, the owner of the gallery sends Sofia in a five stars hotel run by a friend, near Oban.
Sofia is strong-willed, a wild cat hiding two deep wounds: the absence of family and the loss the only person she really cared about.
Lachlan
Around 30, green eyes, dark reddish hair worn in a bun.
He is Clan Wallace bastard, the family owning Redstone. Even if his father – the former executive of the hotel – legitimated him, he is set aside from the family businesses. Instead, his father’s widow chooses to let her gambler and crook of a son manage things while Lachlan is reduced to some financial expertise.
At the beginning of the story, he notices strange capital movements. He persuades the executive board to do a secret audit on site. His intuition will prove him right and will led him to confront the clan traditions.
He is a wounded bitter man, always risen among the clan but never really being a part of it either. While angry about his situation, he deeply loved and respected his father who made him love the hotel too.
THOMAS HILL / Mark Gatiss
État civil : en couple – 30 ans – cadet d’une famille de deux enfants, originaire de Londres.
Qualité : volubile, caractère enjoué, généreux et aimant.
Défaut : n’a jamais pu se libérer de la tyrannie de sa mère qui l’oblige à dissimuler son homosexualité.
Quête : pouvoir assumer qui il est.
Particularité : pense que la plupart des gens sont des créatures barbares ne faisant aucune différence entre un jus de pomme et un champagne Cristal.
LENA HILL / Lena Headey
État civil : en couple – 55 ans – aînée d’une famille de deux enfants, originaire de Londres.
Qualité : élégante, sociable, cultivée, classe, mondaine.
Défaut : abusive, tyrannique, amère, frustrée et profondément malheureuse.
Quête : garder son pouvoir sur l’ensemble de sa famille, continuer de contrôler son environnement.
Particularité : pense que la plupart des gens sont des imbéciles.
LIZZIE HILL / Helen Mirren
État civil : veuve - 72 ans-grand-mère de William et Thomas, originaire de Paris.
Qualité : aimante, généreuse, espiègle.
Défaut : ne pense absolument pas aux conséquences de ses actes et fait passer ses émotions avant celles des autres.
Quête : clouer le bec de sa fille Léna.
Particularité : pense que le monde est un immense terrain de jeu au milieu duquel, il est sain de faire plein de bêtises.
In order to heal from the tragedy that upset her life, Sofia agrees to spend some quality time in a prestigious Scottish Hotel. She will meet several people who will help her mourn.
Sofia lost Mathilde – her soul sister with whom she grew in foster homes – during the holdup of the art gallery for which they both worked in Monaco. To help her overcome her loss, Paul, her boss and friend, sends her to Northern Scotland at The Royal Redstone House, former castle donated to pirates by Elizabeth 1st.
Sofia goes against her ill in this baroque, conservative place. However, once arrived she meets people: Lady Catherine Saint Andrews, wealthy noble woman used to the place and who knows every pieces of gossip, Lily a naive room cleaner who believes in love as soon as a client smiles at her, Archibald the bisexual receptionist and friend of Lily, who is exasperated by her bad taste in men, Glen the son of the owner and perfect product of a gilded youth and finally Lachlan Boyd, seductive but cold man, cynic and rude despite his position as intendant.
Sofia spots in him the scars of a harsh life. Their encounters are memorable words fights and soon begins a cat and mouse game. None of them wants to admit the attraction between them.
Because of her sense of observation, Sofia notices pieces of art she suspects are sold on the black market. Her investigations lead her to Lachlan who have to reveal his true identity: Glen half-brother, he works for the hotel and is on site to investigate the disappearance of paintings.
Together, they discover that Glen is guilty and that he hid his father’s true will, leaving Lachlan as heir. Glen is arrested and Lachlan takes his rightful place.
Haunted by Mathilde death, Sofia leaves her friends Archibald and Lily as well as her lover to go back to Monaco.
Alone she can think back to conversations she had with her sister. Only then does she understand that she deserves to be happy. She goes back to Scotland to find Lachlan.
The story takes place in this historic hotel, one of the castles offered by Elizabeth 1st to pirates for good services: The Royal Redstone House. The stone building nestled between a shimmering lake and the coastal town of Oban keeps something of a certain past where nobility hid dark secrets only to be uncovered with pleasure by a hierarchized domesticity.
The atmosphere of the place sets the residents in an out of time mood, between past and present.
The location is favourable to Scottish warriors’ adventures, hidden treasures but also poetry and party. This is a blend of baroque and decadence.
The book
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