Santa Montefiore's new book The Temptation of Gracie takes the reader on a journey to the Tuscan countryside as one woman attempts to reconcile the past with the present. It is a story of love, loss, friendship and family set over the period of one week during a holiday away in a beautiful castle where the main characters embark on a cookery course. The author weaves the past with the present to convey the story as our main female protagonist Gracie is forced to confront what she has kept hidden deep inside her for so many years.

If only her daughter Carina and granddaughter Anastasia knew the intriguing and colourful life Gracie led so many years ago they would be more than surprised. This trip the three women undertake together will prove life changing in more ways than one. Each will have their perspectives altered and the big secret that has been kept under wraps for so long will be revealed as the Tuscan countryside works its magic and old memories are stirred and come simmering to the surface. Gracie discovers you can't hide something forever when so many outside forces are working to have the truth make itself known.

The story opens with Gracie living in the small coastal village of Badley Compton. It is a beautiful place to live but does have that mentality of everyone knowing everyone else's business before you yourself even know what your business is. Gracie is living by herself since her husband died, she is shy and timid and likes order and her routine. She has forgotten what it is like to be in love, young and reckless. She prefers to stay in her shell and has kept herself safe for decades. A chance glance through a magazine sees Gracie inspired. There is a photograph of a Tuscan villa Castle Montefosco, it inspires an urge, a longing inside her and before she knows it she has booked a place on a cookery course to be held at the villa. Soon the grapevine is a buzz with the news that unadventurous Gracie who never goes anywhere is off to Italy. The Badley Compton Ladies Book Group, not that they get round to reading many books, of which Gracie is a member are astonished and all abuzz with the news. Flappy Scott Booth the queen bee of the club is aghast. How can they manage to hold the planned events while Gracie is away?

Gracie is like her doormat who will do everything that Flappy doesn't want to do. No way can Gracie venture abroad on her own. It will be an utter disaster. Badley Compton featured for several chapters at the beginning of the story and for one or two at the end. Honestly, I had no idea why this was the case, it felt like these scenes were from a different book entirely and were just so out of place and not needed. One chapter dedicated to explaining where Gracie lived and that she was leaving on an adventure would have sufficed. It wasn't necessary to go into so much detail about Flappy and her nature and various eccentricities and acquaintances. It brought nothing to the story as a whole and rather took away from the scenes set back in the past which were the strongest in the book overall. This aspect of the story was very much surplus to requirements and I thought it would be better suited to a different book focusing on Badley Compton. This was Gracie's story not Flappy's and at times this was lost in the bigger picture.

I much preferred the elements of the story that were set in Italy. As Gracie arrives with Carina and Anastasia at the castle to enjoy the cookery course so sets in motion a chain of events for everyone. Carina feels deep guilt that she has neglected her mother and to an even greater extent her daughter. She is obsessed with her job and can never leave her phone out of her hand for fear of missing an important email or phone call. Over the course of the week she has some form of enlightenment that will see her radicalise her outlook on life and how she interacts with her family and friends. She starts to come to an understanding that she can't go on the way she is or her family will be lost to her forever. For Anastasia the holiday is a chance to embark on new adventures and to be that little bit daring when it comes to exploring romance.

I felt we flitted a little bit too quickly between Gracie's recollections of the past and the goings on in the present. That I never got a chance to fully absorb, digest and contemplate what was going on in the time period I was reading about. It also came across as if Gracie was much older in the present day than she was. She was only in her late sixties but the way sentences were written and that Carina and Anastasia at times treated Gracie as if she was feeble and very vulnerable when she was very much strong and alive and kicking made me think I was reading about a much older woman perhaps heading into the final stage of her life. That all the resolution had to be sought before it was far too late. The ending regarding the changing of the relationship between Gracie, Carina and Anastasia felt rushed and under developed, like it happened and was dealt with before the reader had even known it had occurred. If less time had been given at the beginning to Badley Compton and in the end maybe the re-bonding and reconnecting between the women could have had more time to be explored.

The best part of this book was uncovering the secret Gracie had been keeping from her family for so long and why she felt the need to do this. Through Gracie recollecting the past and going back to over 40 years previous to the 1950's we see she led a life very different from what she does now. If the ladies of the book club knew the real Gracie it would give them enough news fodder to feed off and dine out on for many years to come. As this was the best part of the book I won't delve into any detail as to what led Gracie to living such an extra ordinary life. Suffice to say this aspect of the book was very interesting ad the detail surrounding shall we say her occupation was well researched and written and was very surprising. Who knew such things occurred at the time?

I was glad to that a certain storyline regarding Gracie's uncle was included, it didn't feel patronising or unrealistic in any sense of the word. I will say romance, forbidden love, heartbreak and playing a dangerous game all form part of Gracie's secret. I very much enjoyed all of this but would have liked even further development on the romance front. As for Gracie in the present and her ending there was a very surprising element which when revealed helped me make sense of some things I had found confusing while reading. But still I would have loved to have heard from a certain character which would have allowed for some filling in of the gaps with regard to the missing years.

I really wanted to love The Temptation of Gracie as I have been a big fan of Santa Montefiore for years and years but this story simply didn't blow me away and have me lost in its content. Gracie came across as very weak in the present day and then seemed to be so strong and willing in the past. How could someone have changed so dramatically? At times it felt like I was reading two separate stories and a successful emergence of the two didn't occur. It's a nice enough summer read but not the most memorable from this author.

If you are new to this author I would start with her earlier books such as the brilliant classics Meet Me Under the Ombu Tree, The Butterfly Box or The Forget Me Not Sonata. This is the Santa Montefiore I grew to love and devoured. I read this book simply because I love the author and I think I will always read whatever she publishes, I just hope a little bit of the magic that I found in the above mentioned books can be re-established in future books.

If you love an emotional ride then this is for you. Montefiore tells Gracie's story both as it unfolded in real time and also in her later life as she recounts the story for her granddaughter. Montefiore compensates us for the sadness and heartbreak we and the characters experience on our journey by leaving us with a profound feeling of satisfaction at the end. However, I did feel the mother/ daughter relationships were a little too quickly mended to be entirely realistic.
The author's powerful description and depiction of characters ensure your involvement and her sense of humour really is apparent when she describes the village oligarch.

(Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for this copy)

I have read many of Santa Montefiore's books and have always enjoyed reading them. The stories are always well researched and a book that you find difficult to put down and put out the light, if like myself you read at bedtime.
Gracie is a quiet efficient woman who lives in a Devon village where she is very much taken for granted by the self appointed village organiser and to some extent bully who takes all the credit for events for which most of the work is done by Gracie and other ladies of the village.

However, Gracie suprises them all by deciding to take a holiday on a cookery course in Italy. The book takes you with her on this journey and may make you decide to follow her and learn to cook Italian food on a holiday in Tuscany! There is a good plot which gives insights into Gracie's past and her relationships with her daughter and grandaughter.

A perfect holiday read. A novel covering current times and related past times. It was good to read of the relationships between three generations of a family. Add to that, food, a fabulous location and watch a mystery unfold and it is time to stretch out on the sun lounger for the day.

Enjoyed this book from start to finish. have read the majority fo Santa's books so was pleased when I was granted this as a preview copy. As with all her other works, this did not fail and had me hooked all the way through. Loved how the mother/daughter/granddaughter relationship developed and improved. This would be a good start for maybe a contuning saga with Gracie and the Count and would love to find out Flappy's reaction to the good news at the end.......please say that there will be more :)

Loved this book. Couldn't put it down. A perfect summer read which I was sad to finish. Alternates between current time and over 40 years earlier, Grace's daughter and granddaughter grow closer to her as they learn the story of her early adult life.

This was my first Santa Montefiore, it probably won't be my last. The story follows Gracie, a lonely sixty-something, who on the spur of the moment decides to take a break from her quiet life on the Devonshire coastline and books a cooking holiday in Tuscany. Her emotionally distant daughter and grandaughter decide to go with her. As the story unfolds we see relationships develop, and we learn that dull old Gracie has a secret past.

The setting was idyllic, and just what I needed to provide a bit of a balm to a particularly stressful week. In fact, the first thing I did when I finished the novel was google the locations the author mentions in her acknowledgments, who knows, maybe a future holiday has been prompted! It was a pleasure to spend time in this world. As mentioned, it was a wonderful setting, the characters were warm, and believable for the most part. There were a few times that I found the dialogue a bit unnatural, which removed me a little from the story, but it didn't ruin anything for me. There is a tendency in novels that have an elderly character as a focus to do a lot of hand patting and 'my dear'ing, which happened a few times here, and it just didn't sit right with me after also getting to know young Gracie. I had to keep reminding myself that 'old' Gracie was only in her sixties, as she felt far far older. That being said, she was a lovely character. I found myself rooting for them all to find what they were looking for, and there may have been a tear or two towards the end!

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for my advance copy in return for an honest review.

Another Unputdownable!
I loved this book from Santa where she casts a magical spell again with her characters.
Gracie is an oldish woman, widowed living a mundane quiet life in Cornwall as a respected, reliable member of the community.

However, after reading an article in a magazine, she books, to everyone's amazement to go on a cookery course in Italy, on her own! Although, Gracie has a daughter and granddaughter, they live in London, leading busy lives and she rarely sees them, so she feels quite lonely at times.

Things are about to change, bringing Gracie, Carina and Anastasia much closer together and Gracie makes a decision eventually which changes their lives forever.

I read this on my Kindle in bed into the very early hours. I became so involved with Gracie's story and couldn't wait to find out the ending with a twist which I hadn't anticipated regarding the Count.

I am a fan of Santa Montefiore and have read most of her books and will start on the Deverill saga next.

Thank you so much. I thoroughly recommend it.

the perfect summer read! this is a book that pulls at your heartstrings as it's based around Gracie, a grandmother who lives in Devon and has been largely ignored by her selfish, career minded daughter, who in turn has ignored her husband and daughter whilst focussing on said career. Gracie decided to go on a cookery course in Italy, much to the horror of friends and family, but Gracie also has a secret! Her daughter and grand-daughter decide to go on the holiday with her and all things change in the beautiful Tuscan surrounds.

To say more would spoil the plot however, as predictable as some parts are the end is lovely and leaves you slightly soggy round the edges but with a warm glow inside. Gracie and her story have stayed with me long after finishing the book - now, isn't that a great recommendation?

My thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. Santa Montefiore has done it again ! She has produced the perfect summer read. It’s a fantasy, that could actually have happened, set in glorious Italian countryside, with the heat, sounds and smells pushing their way out of the words and at you.

But the warmth too comes from the rekindling of the relationship of three generations of women . The story is that of Gracie in the late fifties and early sixties and the life she led living with her wealthy uncle in Italy. At the age of thirteen he brought her from his sister’s home in Camden, London, where they lived in relative poverty. He took her to his own home in the Italian countryside where she spent years learning his trade and becoming very proficient.. But something happens and at the age of twenty three she runs back home, marries and moves to Cornwall. She has a daughter who grows up to be a self obsessed successful business woman, who has no time for her own daughter, . After her husband’s death, Gracie goes back, for a week, to the place in Italy where she has been so happy. Her daughter and her eighteen year old daughter decide they have to accompany her, fearing for her safety on her own, but knowing nothing of her past life there. .Over the week spent in idyllic surroundings we slowly learn of Gracie’s past as the story moves effortlessly between her past and present. And the three generations grow closer together under the warmth of the Italian sun.

The book starts in the cold of Cornwall with a touch of Mapp and Lucia about it and ends in the heat of glorious Italian surroundings, in a just about believable situation. A lovely book to take on holidays. Great literature it ain’t, but it’s a fantastic guilty pleasure.. One last thing. Gracie is sixty eight. But is often referred to as an old lady and similar phrases. She retires to her room on occasions for a lie down and often accepts a helping hand. One wonders if the author will be writing this way about similar aged characters in twenty years time ! !

Gracie lives in a small Devon village with her two dogs where everyone knows each other business. She has been widowed for eight years and has a daughter Carina and a granddaughter Anastasia. She has very little contact with them, however as they live in London and are very busy!!
Gracie decides to enrol on a cooking course in Italy to the horror and amazement of everyone. However, is it a random idea or is there more to Gracie than anyone, even her family know about?
Very poignant at times and thought provoking regarding family relationships. We are never to old or to young for love!

Gracie Burton has been living quietly in Devon for the past 40 years. Perhaps she has been living too quietly as she doesn't make a fuss although her capabilities are exploited by her gossipy friends from the local book club. It is whilst she is having her hair done in the local salon that she comes up with an idea - to go to Italy on a cookery course. She tells one person and the news quickly spreads around the village.

Gracie's daughter Carina lives in London with her husband Rufus. Carina runs a PR firm and is rather work focused. They have a teen daughter, Anastasia who is at boarding school. She is not that close to her mother. But neither is Carina close to her mother Gracie.

Gracie tells Carina that she is going to go to Italy and Rufus suggests that she and Anastasia accompany her.

What ensues is a delightful read that jumps between Gracie spending 10 years of her life in Italy in the 1960s and the cookery course in 2010.

I absolutely loved this book and would highly recommend it for any Italophile.

I’m a fan of most of Santa Montefiore’s previous work, so I was delighted to receive a preview copy of this book from Netgalley. The first few chapters were very misleading, however, describing in far too much detail the ridiculously named Flappy Scott-Booth who queened it over the small English village where Gracie lived. Her sycophantic ‘ladies-in-waiting’ were too dreadful and unbelievable for words.
When Gracie finally reached Italy, the story began - and what a story it was! A very unusual tale of Gracie’s earlier life, before she met and married and had her daughter, was intriguing and mysterious, and very different from anything I have read before. Mixed in with amazingly vivid descriptions of the Tuscan countryside, and the delicious recipes made by the people in the cookery school, I was transported to another world entirely. The relationships formed, the self-awareness gained by several of the characters, until then beset by modern-day issues and problems, was thought-provoking. The characterisation was excellent, drawing the reader in to their thoughts and actions, until I was totally immersed in this story. The sign of a skilled writer with an excellent tale to tell, without a doubt. I would highly recommend this book.

Really enjoyed reading this book. Shows how family relationships can change when least expected
Loved the Italian settings and the description of the food. Didn't want to finish it. Will look for more books by this author

Gracie, a woman in her sixties, is living a quiet, unassuming life in Devon when she sees an advert for a cookery course in Tuscany held in a beautiful Italian castle amid gorgeous gardens. Why she is so drawn to the place and why she immediately decides to visit becomes clear as the story unfolds. Gracie is not quite who she seems and has a secret past. Her daughter and granddaughter go with her on holiday and the three blossom in the Italian sunshine, finding themselves and each other.

It's a lovely story which is suffused with the heat of summer in Tuscany - I felt very relaxed reading it. I enjoyed reading about Gracie's youth and her love affair. I did feel that the cookery course was slotted in a little awkwardly and didn't flow with the rest of the narrative. I read that this bit was based on a similar course that the author went on, so perhaps as it was based on a recollection rather than her imagination, made the style seem different. But that's a minor point. This is a very enjoyable summer read - nothing too taxing but it is certainly not as light and fluffy as you might expect from a beach book. It will keep you turning the pages and regret getting to the end

A fantastic summer read. A real page turner you just cannot put it down.
It’s fantastic to have a love story about a middle aged women because no matter our age we can still remember and dream of our first love.
I am not going to spoil the plot the minute you turn the first page you are in love with this book..
Santa never lets her readers down and this book is no exception.

The atmospheric descriptions of Tuscany and the varied characters make this book a joy to read. There is a touch of Joanne Harris as well as the magic of Mother Benedetta and her cooking work on the cookery class attendees. Definitely a page turner as more and more is revealed about Gracie's secret past, This is also about 3 generations of women getting to understand each other better, become friends and improve their work/life balance.

I think that one should read this woman when there's a crisis and you're not satisfied by the way you're living of your life.
It's a book about starting to live again, stepping out of your comfort zone and discovering or rediscovering what was missing.
It's also a book about family relationship and how to rediscover and rebuild or build them.
Sometimes it makes you laugh, sometimes it makes think and it always makes you feel good.
I like the plot and the main characters. It was easy to relate to Gracie and her path to a new way of living.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for this ARC

Gracie is a mousey & quite woman who is actually very efficient. In her Devon village she is greatly overlooked but in reality she enables many events to run smoothly. It comes as an enormous surprise (and great inconvenience) when the village discover Gracie is planning to go away for a holiday - to Italy on a cookery course of all things! It comes as a shock to her excessively busy daughter & teenage grand-daughter as well though they finally join her on the trip. Here the real Gracie unfurls to show her true self and reveal her exciting past. Her daughter and grand-daughter also discover themselves and their relationship as a family starts to blossom.

I really enjoyed this book. It is essentially a feel-good story where the reader has a feeling from the start that all will end happily ever after, they are just not sure how. It is a light and easy read though not trivial. There is a good plot that works well and great characters many of which I recognise from life! I raced through this book as it had all the ingredients for a good read - good characters, a sound plot, a bit of history, some light amusing bits and an ending that worked well.

I don't remember the last time I read a Santa Montefiore book but I suspect that there are many out there that I should investigate. I really enjoyed the read and struggled to put it down. I can heartily recommend - perfect for a summer read though beware, you may end up engrossed and get sunburnt. Stock up on wine & chocolate before you start - you won't want to stop!

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

This is the first book by Santa Montefiore I have read and I was a little disappointed. Although the characters are likeable and the descriptions of the Tuscan countryside are beautiful, the story felt oddly superficial. The transformation of the relationships between Gracie, Carina and Anastasia felt rushed and unrealistic and the ending, although a happy one, was brief and under-developed. It would have been nice to hear Tancredi's thoughts on the years he was without Gracie. Still, this is a nice Summer read for the beach.