You will feel the warmth from the Umbrian sun as you read about family feuds which run long and deep, glow at the romance, and keep guessing at the secrets that have been buried for many many years. You could probably guess the ending but for me that’s not a bad thing as I love a happy ending!

When Sofia’s dad Aldo dies, he makes her promise to go to Monteliberta in Italy to make contact with his family with whom he has been estranged for years. On arriving in Monteliberta, Sofia finds work as a waitress in Hotel Casa Felice where she meets Amy, a teenager who is working her first summer job and who has fled her home in Germany when she discovered the man she thought was her dad isn’t.

The story follows Sofia as she makes contact with her Italian family and Amy as she comes to terms with her family situation. The story also follows Levi, who is holidaying at Casa Felice, is there more to him than meets the eye?

A well written entertaining read with great characters set in a descriptive location which is well worth reading.

Sue Moorcroft strikes again with another great read! This book has all the hallmark Sue Moorcroft touches, characters you care about, a brilliant story and superb sensual scenes and emotion.

Another wonderful gem of a book from Sue. Based in Italy full of expectation, friendship and romance. I absolutely enjoyed it.

If your reading taste runs to a light love story - then this is for you. I imagine young readers will love it. For me, it was a bit simplistic and in all honest all a bit predictable - but to be fair, that is what one expects from this genre. The story is quite well thought out and certainly has the flavour of Italy with descriptions of places and food that certainly evokes Italy. The characters too are OK but I perhaps found Sophia to be too saintly and Amy too selfish and self-absorbed ("she is only 18!" I can hear you say - but even so).


So, I am sure this will be popular with avid Romance readers and to those I would recommend this book, but if you prefer something with more comedy - perhaps not.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

Three and a half (it's all my own fault) stars.

Sofia Bianchi has led a sheltered life. Her mother died when Sofia was very young and ever since then it has just been Sofia and her father, Aldo. Aldo got sick when Sofia was just fifteen and she was his primary carer from then until his death. Now, aged 30, she is heeding her father's advice to live a little, and where better to start than her father's home town of Monteliberta in Italy? But Sofia finds that her dreams of romance and independence whilst waitressing in the natural beauty of Umbria are subordinated by family secrets and feuds, mercurial bosses, charming guests and young waitresses who need mothering after discovering their own family secrets.

The teenage waitress Amy was a typical 19 year old girl, whining and sulking and crying when things don't go her way. She has run away from home after discovering that the man she called Dad her entire life was no such thing! Despite her sheltered life, Sofia had a lot of wisdom to impart to Amy (although selfishly I did wish she would just tell Amy to grow up and stop being such a teenage drama queen - no sympathy me). When Amy gets into an altercation with another waiter Sofia jumps in to defend her, assisted by a handsome man on a motorbike who turns out to be a guest at the hotel where Amy and Sofia wait tables.

If you enjoy romances set in exotic locations, such as Italy, I am sure you will adore this book, the glorious landscapes, the foreign languages, the holiday atmosphere, the exotic food and drink. It's just not my cup of tea. It's not just this book, it's generally all romances set abroad - not sure why.

I liked it, but I didn't love it, but I think that is because of the setting and not the plot.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I have not been to Italy for a long time and this book made me want to go straightaway. I loved the characters in the book and shall definitely be looking out for more books from this author

What a lovely read this book was. It had lots going on: family feuds/heartaches, romance, lies and secrets and primarily set in the beautiful Umbrian countryside which was an added bonus as that is also my home. I loved how the story developed with Sofia, Amy and Levi and was rooting for the happy ending. I felt that the characters were well developed and I enjoyed the different story lines of Sofia's search for her estranged Italian family, Levi coming to terms with the fact he has an 18 year old daughter and Amy coming to terms with the fact that Stephen was not her biological dad. Al these different lines merged effortlessly and I kept turning the pages for what came next. A bit predictable in parts but well told and would be a great holiday read!

Loved this book!

Following the death of her father, Sofia travels to his home town in Italy, getting a job at a local hotel while she enjoys the area and will hopefully meet up with her Uncle.
Amy is in Italy runing away from her family after discovering a secret which changes everything for her, and ends up working in the same hotel.
Two likeable characters, both going through difficult times in their lives.

In the end, all roads lead back to Levi, a guest at the hotel who has befriended both Amy and Sofia.

Not sure why the side story with Levi and his stalker was needed, as there was plenty of other story lines in the book.

After her father, Aldo passes away, Sofia keeps the promise she made to him to go back to their homeland of Italy he'd abandoned years ago in order to marry his wife Dawn until she was taken when Sofia was five in a car accident. He'd left his parents and brother Gianni behind fleeing his old life.



Working at Casa Felice, Sofia meets and sticks up for Amy a young waitress when trouble starts with the boss's son and nearly gets her fired. It's also then that she meets Levi for the first time.



Amy's story of how she wound up in Italy is due to learning about her true father and as she crosses paths with Levi, Sofia keeps an eye on her worried about his intentions towards the young girl until she uncovers a huge secret he holds.



As their lives cross paths during the novel and spiralling events from being fired to re hired and Sofia finally meeting her remaining family members living in Italy to Amy taking charge of discovering her father herself and flying to England on a whim of fronting out why he didn't want to see her, many shocks occur and the drama is constant!



This was a thrilling read! I truly loved and was hooked on the story as so much happened as well as taking it all in I felt transported to Italy myself! I loved how Sofia was a motherly figure there for Amy and despite being vulnerable, Amy was very strong willed and brave in her actions. Levi was in a situation with a stalker too and so I felt sorry for him as he had so much happening he needed to take care of. You won't be disappointed in this book if you're a fan of Trisha Ashley or Heidi Swain especially.



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I loved it! A lot of the story resonates with me and with the descriptions of Italy it felt like I was there. Read it in a day- couldn't put it down. Great summer read.

This was a very well written book by Sue I always look forward to her books and she never disappoints. It gets you thinking for certain and if you love Italy you will love this book. All about families and starting to think about yourself and living out promises that were made before someone close passed away.
Sofia has been looking after her father for years as a carer but once he dies she starts to think about her own life and thinks she wants to make out promises she made to her father before he passed. She escapes to Italy but while she's tucked away in a tiny village family secrets are waiting to be discovered. She makes friends with another girl Amy who is trying to find her way after she discovers her dad isn't really her dad.
Can both girls discover who they are and be happy and will a certain someone stand in their way and will they find love of not.
This is a must read as so enjoyable and makes it think of summer.

What an amazing read. Sue has the right thoughts to put such a fabulous book together. Anyone who enjoys reading about holidaying abroad and fun living this book is for you. The characters are all amazing but of different ages.
We have Sophia who cares for her dying Italian father and he's made her promise him she'll be happy and go to his home town in Italy and meet her family. She goes and works in a hotel as a waitress and meets Amy another temp worker for the hotel. Sophia begging enquiries about her family and finds out who they are but some are not as accepting as she would have wanted but she doesn't dwell and moves on because her friend Amy is having a terrible time. Both girls are running away and Amy is her best friend and needs sophia. There's a man who is also travelling but stops at the same hotel the girls work at... but there's some family secrets to explore from both of the girls and those you think have a secret aren't the ones... very well thought out. Amy runs off home because of something or other and Sophia follows her... to help her.
It's a brilliant story. Well written. Excellent characters I loved Sophia and Levi. Brilliant read. Thank you to netgalley.