A beautiful sun-soaked book which really explores mid-life women, their problems and friendships. Recommended.

Set in a beautiful villa in Majorca, four old school friends meet all together for the first time in many years. Scarred by an event which happened when they were in the Sixth Form, successful entrepreneur Amy Green, tries to get some kind of closure. As they gradually open up to each other, we see how they were each affected over the years and all of them are carrying their own secrets. I desperately hoped they would make the right decisions and enjoyed the diverse characters even if I couldn't warm to Jane. Beautifully written, great characters and a fabulous setting - perfect for reading by the pool.

After the first four chapters, one for each of the main characters, you could tell instantly that they all had secrets, and had an inkling they were all remembering the school year they were last together, aged 17, in a different light to each other.

We get hints along the way, about Amy's side of things but she is keen in light of recent events to finally see if she could set the record straight about that incident, in order to help her accept her latest blows in her life.

The ladies haven't been reunited until Amy invites them all out to her villa in Mallorca, and its clear early on that tensions run high, through these ladies in their sixties. All of them have accepted the invitation more because they need an escape from a decision in their own lives, than any real desire to reconnect as a group.

So it is rather interesting to see everything, from all the points of view, and get to know about Amy, Linda, Kate and Jane's lives. It was rather hard to have any empathy at all for Jane, but the other ladies were all wonderful and I really did enjoy seeing their stories develop over the long weekend in Mallorca.

Having worked two summer seasons in Mallorca, I feel I know the bare bones of the island at least, and although I don't know the area near Soller other than by name, nor the other areas mentioned just by name, everything did feel incredibly authentic and and very much Mallorcan.

There are plenty of secrets in this book, and I couldn't get enough of our leading ladies. I loved their differences and even Jane who I really wasn't keen on, did have some admirable qualities, and is probably more misguided in her actions than truly malicious!

I'm not sure I'd want to spend a long weekend abroad with anyone that I went to school with, but it is a book that makes you think what you would do in that sort of situation.

This is a book about 4 strong women, facing their next steps in life at an advanced age, and seeing just how they can cope with the challenges thrown at them, while trying to get resolution on their childhood at long last.

I loved every moment of A Summer Reunion, and to me its easily one of Fanny Blake's most enjoyable and best books.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orion for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

A wonderfully engaging portrait of four women whose friendship has spanned decades and whose lives could not be more different. So many themes (relationships, friendships, work) that the readers can identify with, which draws one further into the story and invest wholeheartedly in the outcome. (And yet again, I wanted to leap straight on a plane to Majorca!)

Amy, Linda, Kate, and Jane were friends from school and now in their sixties the ladies get together and rekindle their lost friendship.

With raw emotions current and past, along with a mix of laughter and secrets never told, this book brings more than expected. From the cover you expect a relaxing down to earth summer read, however it brings so much more.

A perfect summer read with a twist of unusual mix of lies, secrets and true friendships to life.

A stunning Mallorcan villa, sunshine, four friends, secrets and an unforgettable reunion combine for entertaining and enjoyable reading from Fanny Blake. A gently warm and relatable tale, very much character driven with a beautiful backdrop - ideal Summer reading for the armchair traveller or otherwise. Recommended.

Without doubt The Summer Reunion has become my favourite book by Fanny Blake. It was thoroughly enjoyable and even though it had a relatively short timeframe overall, as it was more or less set across one long weekend, there was so much happening that the story was kept fresh and invigorating keeping the reader on their toes. The book itself has a simple concept, a group of four women now in their early sixties gather together at a reunion of sorts at a villa on the island of Mallorca. Each woman comes to the gathering with plenty of baggage just waiting to spill forth and the events of the past while they were in their final year of school still have a heavy emotional impact on their lives today. Will the weekend away prove all fun in the sun or is now the right time for everyone to get things off their chest, to air their grievances and reveal hidden secrets which have long been tearing them apart?

A weekend away sounds glorious, so peaceful and relaxing but from the outset I'm not sure that's what was in store for everyone. I really enjoyed how everything was more or less drip fed to the reader at a steady pace. The stages of reveal were just perfect, not too slow to have me slogging through chapters and finding them hard going with little or no action or moving forward with the story. Just at the most apt moments a little nugget was thrown in to have you questioning everything you had thought to be true. It showed how certain characters in particular could not be taken at face value and that really you were best to sit back and let everything unfold and observe the fallout from what was said or done.

Initially we are introduced to the four women and given some information about their backgrounds and their current life situations. Often I find it difficult to keep track of who is who and what is ongoing in their lives but here I found it relatively easy. I was keen to see how each of them connected together and what exactly was it that was eating Amy up inside. Amy was the instigator for the reunion as she was the one who issued the invitations to her villa bought on the back of her success with her interior design company Amy Green. It has been very successful but things are looking a little ropey both personally and professionally as she discover two things about her husband Rob that have thrown her ordered world into chaos.

She has to re-evaluate everything and having the weekend away will also provide her with the ideal opportunity to confront a major event from the past the affects of which she still feels deeply in the present. She was expelled from school in her final year, the full and true circumstances of which only become known the further we delve into the story. This life changing event had an adverse affect on her as her dreams were shattered and she feels at times she had to settle for second best even though she loves working in interior design. Amy feels her life was overturned, that an injustice was served and that if she can right the past she can begin to put some control on her life which she believes may be beginning to spiral out of control.

Amy was clearly still being eaten up by the cruelty she feels has been inflicted upon her and that in order to right the wrongs she needs to find out the truth. But which of the three other women was the one who made sure the blame was laid at Amy's door and why did they do this? Over the course of several days Amy bides her time but one thing is for sure they will not leave the villa until all the facts are out in the open. I loved the tension that was simmering from every chapter. As the feelings of unfinished business intensify, I felt everything was like a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off. With one careful nudge everything would explode. As we progress further through the story it soon becomes apparent that everything wasn't as straight forward as one might have first thought and that there are many layers to be peeled back.

It was obvious for some this weekend away was about recharging the batteries but for others there were ulterior motives. It sounds like this was a sinister read but it wasn't in the slightest but nor was it a lovely, easy, light read and I was thankful for that. Fanny Blake really gave her readers something to get stuck into. I found the story to be thought provoking and interesting and it tells a lot about women and the inner workings of a group who seem so close at school yet over forty years later they have rarely if at all made contact with each other. Amy was the catalyst seeking understanding, retribution and answers. But would she be willing to forgive once she heard the true extent of what was going on? I admired her for having the courage to face what had tormented her for so many years but would she be willing to deal with what she slowly starts to uncover as the pieces of the puzzle begin to slot together?

Kate's story was perhaps the weakest in my opinion. She just seemed a little too stereo typical of a character. She was perfectly nice but I did feel her story had been covered many times before in books. She had what she had always wanted in life but now was unhappy with it. She is married to a farmer and has four more or less grown up children and lives in a beautiful house but she feels put upon and taken for granted. That her life is one of routine and the same old thing day in day out with her family presuming she will always be there to answer to their beck and call. She decides to do something for herself in the hopes that her husband and children will recognise and value her more. So she accepts Amy's invitation to get away from it all in the hopes of overturning her mundane life. Her storyline once on the island, again seemed like I had read it plenty of times previously and I didn't like the direction it was taking. Would she give into temptation when a little interest is shown her way or will she realise the love she has for her family and maybe there is a way to make her feel more valued and worthwhile?

Linda was the one out of the group who I felt was really floundering in her life and perhaps she was the weakest. She seemed all over the place emotionally and now that she is faced with a life changing decision she hasn't the courage to just go for it. Abandonment issues and work problems formed the core of her character. What she viewed as her rock and crutch had been taken away from her and without this it was like she was cast adrift at sea searching for the life ring but it always seemed to elude her grasp. In a way Linda surprised me the most when she tries to come clean with things and time and time again the opinions I had formed of certain characters changed because of something they said or did and I didn't know who to believe with regards to past events or current developing situations.

The final woman to make up the group and perhaps the most reluctant to accept the invitation is Jane. She works as an oncologist in a very high powered role that is emotive and stressful. With regards to her job she is facing a major challenge which could see her carefully constructed career go up in smoke. She is nervous and apprehensive about the trip but also fearful of certain things about her being discovered. I can honestly say I didn't like Jane at all. I thought her personal situation with regards to romance what on earth was she up to. She was like the cat that got the cream but went about doing so in the most despicable of ways and if the others knew their already shaky viewpoint of her would rapidly change.

Jane was playing a very risky game and I felt she was very unpredictable and she was a loose cannon that could go off at any minute. She didn't endear herself much to the other women nor to me. I thought she was selfish wanting two major things and keeping one hidden from the other. Why couldn't she be satisfied with what she had but perhaps the drive she has for her job overlapped into her personal and family life and once she was on a roll with something she had no desire to stop it. I did want her to get some sort of comeuppance not necessarily amongst the group of women but within her family life as I thought she was cruel and egotistical.

As the women gather for an eventful few days at the villa. I thought all the problems, feelings, assumptions and judgements were perfectly balanced with the glorious descriptions of the island which Fanny Blake showcased to perfection. It would definitely make you want to go to Mallorca and read this book while you were there and be thankful that you yourself weren't going through such tumultuous times. It was certainly a revelation to watch carefully constructed lives and façades fall apart and it made for a riveting, compelling and engrossing read. Don't be fooled by the beautiful cover there is certainly a lot more going on in this book than at first meets the eye and I was so glad I choose to read this story. Definitely recommended to be read a soon as possible.

I feel like I really should have read a Fanny Blake novel before, but this happens to be my first and I enjoyed it very much indeed.

We start off meeting Amy, a woman who has a very successful home interiors business (think shades of Laura Ashley). When she finds out her husband has betrayed her in more ways than one, it forces her to think of an old hurt, one which was never resolved and which has been in the background of her life since she was a schoolgirl. To try and put the matter to bed she invites three old friends from that time to her villa in Mallorca. Given that they haven't seen much of each other over the years it's quite a risky strategy and I did wonder how I would feel suddenly being thrust together with people I knew at school.

Anyway, Linda, Jane and Kate accept Amy's invitation and they spend a few days together. There's plenty of ups and downs, mostly because of the quite difficult Jane, but by the end of the holiday things are quite different for all of them.

Two things about this book really stand out for me. The first is that this is not a group of twenty-something women, these are sixty year old women. It's so nice to read a story featuring this age group for once. They're women who have been through plenty in their lives to get to where they are and whilst it hasn't always been easy, they can use their experiences to make the next stage of their lives even better. The second thing is that I thought the author really brought Mallorca to life with her evocative descriptions. I could really feel the sunshine, and the smells, sounds, places were there quite strongly in my imagination.

A Summer Reunion is a lovely read, perfect for a holiday but great for any time really. The writing is absorbing and enjoyable, and it's easy to read, yet doesn't shy away from difficult subjects. Friendships from the past don't always last but in this case the characters have had a second chance and I loved that. I'm sure this won't be my last Fanny Blake book.

A Summer reunion focuses on a group of four school friends who haven't really kept in touch since an unknown incident at school.  One thing they have in common is they all seem to have aspects of their lives they are unhappy with.  When one of the ladies, Amy , suggests a long weekend break at her villa in Mallorca they all reluctantly attend in the hope of salvaging their friendship, figuring out their own lives and hopefully solving issues of the past. 

What I found refreshing about this novel is that the four main protagonists are all older characters, making them more relatable to a lady of my age than some characters can be.  Some of the ladies are more likable than the others but I think any reader would recognise aspects of themselves and their own friendship groups in all of them.  Each character is written beautifully to be individual from the others and to have real life flaws that most of us can identify with.  

The setting is stunning and I defy anyone who reads this not to want to buy a villa in Mallorca.  Rather than a complete beach setting, Ms Blake has opted for a more picturesque mountain view in a stunning location.  despite all the drama in the story plot, it's difficult not to get lost and enjoy the surroundings.    

The plot is a page turner and is far from being a simple light story about friendship.  It deals with many issues around love, parenting friendship in a mature a sensitive way.  Throughout the main story arc, gentle clues are offered to an event that happened when the girls were close to finishing school.  This is described and referred to as an event that had a big impact on the girls and changed the course of their lives.  The manner in which this event is carefully and daintily woven into the story line makes it impossible to put this book down until you know what it is....and I'm not telling you!    

This book is the perfect summer read with a hint of suspense and a beautiful setting.

This is one summer book to remember! I absolutely enjoyed this! I loved getting to know the characters in this book and the friendships they had! The location was just stunning - it really made me wish I was there. This book really is exciting and gripping and I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen.

Oh I thoroughly enjoyed this!! If you're sitting there thinking that 'A Summer Reunion' is going to be all sunshine and relaxation, you have another thing coming. I, like you no doubt, thought the same when I first saw the cover of Fanny Blake's new novel. So, the more of the book I read, the more surprised I was to find that 'A Summer Reunion' has a lot more to it than I originally thought.

As the title suggests, the book is about a reunion which happens in the summer. However, what the cover doesn't state is just how stressful that particular reunion is. Firstly, the four women involved; Amy, Jane, Linda and Kate, haven't seen each other for many years. The last time they were in close proximity of each other ended up severing ties for them. Aside from Jane and Kate though, they're the only two who have had any involvement in the years that have passed since their school days.

What on Earth could have caused such a ruckus? I know that not everyone stays friends with who they went to school with, but seeing as their friendship group is the reason that Amy's life didn't quite go to plan, it must have been something major for them to part ways.

I'm not going to go into detail as to what the ruckus ended up being, and even though the author hints at issues throughout the book, the truth doesn't get revealed properly until nearer the end. What an absolute bombshell. I mean, considering the extremity of said situation, I was very impressed by the way in which Fanny Blake handled the finer details surrounding it. It is an incredibly difficult thing to talk about and, as weird as this sounds, I just loved the way the author approached it as she did the characters, and anyone else who had been in a similar situation, very proud.

I flew through the pages of 'A Summer Reunion', and I lapped up the storyline like the four women lapped up the sunshine in Mallorca. It made a nice change to read about characters who were at a later stage in their life, instead of reading about characters who were merely starting theirs and didn't know much. The wisdom of the four women enlightened me and got completely under my skin - I loved it!

'A Summer Reunion' is an uplifting tale of true friendships, emotional hardships, and uncertain futures. Fanny Blake has written such a heartwarming, atmospheric storyline which allows the reader to be captivated by the trials and tribulations of each individual character. It's deep, it's moving, it's detailed, and it's empathetic. It has everything I could have wanted from a book, and it was an absolute pleasure to be able to lose myself in Amy, and her friends lives.

An entertaining story about friendship and life, A SUMMER REUNION by Fanny Blake is a delightful read for the summer.

Amy, Linda, Kate, and Jane are all now in their sixties and when they were at school they were inseparable until that one day that changed the course of Amy's life. Now Amy's life is undergoing another change and it has made her think about her old school chums, some of whom she has remained loosely in contact with. Needing a break Amy invites the three other ladies to spend some time with her in Mallorca hoping to reconnect and uncover what happened all those years ago. But each one of these women has their own turbulent and emotional issues going on in their own lives and coming together may just blow the lid off their polite camaraderie.

Each character is very different and relatable, and some are definitely more likeable than others. There is plenty of drama, laughs, misunderstandings, and secrets along the way, all set against the beautiful backdrop of sunny Spain where some of them may even find the missing piece in their lives while on this holiday.

A SUMMER REUNION by Fanny Blake is sure to entertain fiction fans and I enjoyed this novel.

Well I certainly wasn't expecting such a raw and gritty read from the chocolate box image gracing the front cover. This captivating story pulled me into its midst from the opening paragraph and held my attention until the concluding moment, it certainly was an enthralling and entertaining book.

Life doesn't always go according to plan, we can work hard and aim for the stars but a simple twist of fate can change the course of our lives entirely. Set amidst the scenic backdrop of Mallorca this narrative weaves an intricate plot between four women who used to be high school friends. Life has taken them in divided directions but a weekend reunion in Spain brings them together again. Past lies, deceitful behaviour, secrets and wrong doings resurface in this raw and real story that I simply couldn't put down.

Each and every character was brought to life with vivid honesty by Fanny Blake. I was pulled into the lives of Amy, Kate, Linda and Jane in an unapologetic fashion and shown sequences of their lives that left me gasping in unexpected wonder at times. I won't go into details regarding the plot as I would hate to give away any hints or spoilers but it is one story you do not want to miss that's for sure.

A Summer Reunion is so much more than a simple beach read to add to that to-be-read pile. Oh no! It has depth and gritty realness, with a side order of heart and soul served for good measure and it's a read I won't be forgetting in a hurry.

We meet four women; Amy, Kate, Jane and Linda who were best of friends at school. However that was more than forty years ago. Amy decides to invite them all to her villa in Mallorca for a long weekend of sun, sea and sand. The story is mainly told from Amy’s perspective however we also hear from the other women too, this had me turning the pages all too quickly. They all have their own challenges in life but Fanny intertwines these characters perfectly. I found all of the main characters interesting and really wanted to know how each of their stories ended. I feel there can be more to share of the lives of these four incredible determined women.

‘A Summer Reunion’ is about friendship mainly however we see themes such as trust, betrayal and family life issues. Also knowing who has your back no matter what happens 😊

This is my first and certainly won’t be my last ready by Fanny Blake. I love her writing style, it can be very light hearted but when she needs to write about serious matters this is felt through the pages ❤️ ‘A Summer Reunion’ will take you on a journey of twists and turns that you won’t see coming (well I certainly didn’t see them coming!) I give this beautifully written story 5*/5*.

Thank you to Alainna for an advanced copy of this book.

Gathering old school friends for a Mallorcan reunion may not be plain sailing.

What a joy to return to Fanny Blake’s writing, not least when one of the characters has the same first name as me so that I felt instantly engaged (even if I wasn’t terribly sympathetic towards Linda to start with)! In A Summer Reunion, Fanny Blake demonstrates again just how perceptive she is about more mature women and their lives, hopes and dreams making A Summer Reunion such a satisfying read.

Although all four women, Amy, Jane, Kate and Linda, are equally well represented and defined, I thought it was inspired to contrast Amy’s narrative through the first person with the third person for the others because she is the initial catalyst for all the action. I also thought Dan’s presence added depth and balance to the women when the other male characters are mainly off scene.

Baldly, the plot sounds quite prosaic as four women spend a few days together and reminisce about the past but my goodness that doesn’t do justice to the events, themes and personalities that shimmer through the narrative. There are lies and deception, love and passion, menace and memory so that I never quite knew how the events from the past might be resolved. I thoroughly enjoyed the level of mystery and I really wanted Jane to have a terrible comeuppance, but you’ll need to read the book to see why and if she did.

However, aside from the plot which I so enjoyed, it’s the glorious quality of Fanny Blake’s writing that is so appealing. The use of the senses to evoke Mallorca, the naturalistic dialogue that conveys friends chatting, the small details that bring a scene alive, all blend to make a smooth and pleasurable reading experience. Reading A Summer Reunion felt a little bit like a homecoming. I empathised with the characters. I could see traits of myself in their personalities. I wanted to be beside the pool with them in Amy’s villa and I had my own ideas about a certain artist, but I won’t spoil the plot by saying more…

A Summer Reunion is a smashing book. I loved the underlying message that, although our past may have shaped who we are in the present, it doesn’t have to define our future and I finished reading feeling uplifted and content. A Summer Reunion is the perfect holiday read. I can only hope there will be more about all four women in the future!

Before my following review I want to say that I understand this is an uncorrected proof copy for kindle but it is the worst copy I have had. Words missing,wrong words in wrong place, lots of words and sentences running into each other all through the book. If they were all like this it would put me off reviewing them.

Review


Amy runs a successful business but it's not what she wanted to do when she left school. Now over thirty years later things are going wrong both in her business and personal life. She realises that to move on she wants to confront what happened to her at school and why it caused her life to spiral out of control.

She knows she was let down by her three childhood friends,Janes,Linda and Kate and that probably one of them was to blame for what happened to her.
Over years the friends have been in touch with each other now and again but Amy decides to invite them all for a week end at her villa in Mallorca.
As they all meet expecting to have a chilled out few days from their problems the last thing they expect is to see a face from the past and to be confronted by Amy about what went on back then.

I enjoyed this book it was an easy read. One of the woman wasn't very likeable and it stayed that way with me throughout the book.
I thought Amy was quite mad to think they would all get on over a few days but I don't think she really cared that much.
The descriptions of Mallorca and the villa made it all very real. I have visited Soller where the women went for meals and drinks and it's just as lovely as described.
I love that Fanny Blake writes stories for older women. Her women are strong and vibrant and also get the better of the men who are usually weak and useless.
Another good story by a great author.
This will be on my book review blog and Amazon on publication day
www.bookswithwineandchocolate.blogspot.com

I only discovered Fanny Blake a few years ago, but then devoured several of her books avidly and she became one of my favourite authors.

I absolutely loved A Summer Reunion. I took it on a cruise with me and it was perfect, although it was hard to put down when I needed to eat or sleep.

Four school best friends have kept in touch with each other sporadically over the years, but then the very successful Amy decides to invite Linda, Kate, and Jane for a short break in her holiday home in Mallorca. They are all a bit puzzled as to why she’s invited them but they all end up accepting.

There’s something from Amy’s schooldays that she wants to sort out and get closure for herself, especially as it affected her future. Which one of her friends set her up for a fall?

The story is mostly told from Amy’s angle, but the other three characters also have turns, and it flows very well. A very interesting storyline and well-written. I’d highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

I've never read a book by Fanny Blake before but this one really intrigued me. I fell in love with the cover and the storyline caught my attention. It's written really well and draws you in from the first page. The setting sounded idyllic and the food descriptions made my mouth water. I liked all of the characters.

Couldn't fault this novel

Life is never perfect… and these four women definitely find that out over the course of A Summer Reunion. They’re all approaching sixty, they were all childhood friends, and their lives are all missing something (this is of course the premise for any great chick flick). So one of the four, Amy, invites them all to her villa in Mallorca for some bonding, and for a chance to put the past to rights.
Though juggling four different points of view can be confusing at times, stick with it: it’s a funny and wise look at how to tackle the curveballs that life throws your way. Though the characters might not all be likeable, they’re definitely all relatable, and by the end you’ll be cheering for all of them.

Another lovely read from fanny Blake, perfect for a summer holiday by the beach or pool!
A summer reunion explores the complexities of female friendship set amongst the glorious Mallorcan backdrop,the description of the area, the market and the food makes you feel as if you are there with them.
Thank you net galley for this advance copy to read and enjoy x