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Review
4 stars!
This is a really sweet read. An easy, cute, funny, sexy romance set in the glorious Italian Riviera with a chemistry-filled, slow burning romance, I was easily swept up in this one!
Georgie Archibald is 26 years old and fed up with her mother’s well-intentioned attempts at match-making. In order to escape her meddling, and her life for a little bit, she packs up and heads off to Italy for the summer (why wouldn’t you?). Settling on the small seaside town of Vernazza in Italy’s Cinque Terre, she plans on embracing wine, gelato, sun-drenched beaches and the relaxed Riviera lifestyle… and if she happens to meet the perfect man while there, so much the better.
“Georgie, have you gone insane?”
I smiled. “No, brother. All is well.”
“Then why on Earth are you in Italy?”
“To find love, of course.”
And then she meets Gianluca. After literally coming to her rescue on her first day in town, Georgie is instantly smitten by the gorgeous British/Italian man. But she soon learns that he is broody and reclusive, still grieving the death of his wife five years earlier, and not at all interested in the new girl in town, despite being the fantasy of pretty much every single woman in the area.
He was romantic looking, the sort of man who breathes passion into life without even trying.
But when the bright and bubbly Georgie begins pushing at his walls, making an effort to draw him out and spend more time with him, the chemistry between them zings to life, and they find themselves falling into a passionate affair that consumes them both.
He wasn’t meant to be my forever, but forever was a long way away. I could live in the moment and soak him in while I was still able to, right?
But with Gianluca’s heart still firmly tied to the past and Georgie only in town for a short while, their growing feelings for each other have nowhere to go. The two of them have a lot of soul-searching to do to figure out what it is they really want, and then find the strength to fight for it, and it makes for a beautiful journey.
When she smiled, the world smiled with her, and more than once, I found myself wishing I was the man she deserved to be with, the one she had come to Italy to find.
I really enjoyed this book. I loved Georgie and her brave, take-charge nature. She’s a strong heroine with a great sense of humour, and I laughed out loud more than once while reading this book. And Gianluca is just gorgeous. What’s not to love about a hot Italian man who is still grief stricken over the death of his first love? Watching Georgie come into his life and start to smash down his walls was both fun and sweet, and I loved seeing Gianluca slowly embrace all that she is as he begins to come back to life.
Georgie was more than any man could hope for in life. To have her love and attention was like standing beneath the scorching sun on a summer day: suffocating and sustaining all at once
I love books with a travel element to them, and the setting of the story provides a wonderful backdrop to Georgie and Gianluca’s romance. As a reader I was sucked into the beauty of the town of Vernazza and the Italian lifestyle, and I loved the sense of wonder and adventure that it brought to the book.
This was such a great read. A perfect summer escape, it’s a gorgeous love story that is light and funny yet beautifully heartwarming. The characters are instantly loveable, the drama is well balanced and not at all OTT, and the side characters bring a lot to the story, with natural and easy friendships that add a wonderful dynamic. It’s a book that had me smiling from start to finish and there’s a gorgeous epilogue that finishes the story off beautifully.
Gorgeous! 4 stars.