Beautifully set in Italy and the writing makes one feel the sun and smell the cooking so eloquently described. Lucia, a half Welsh half Italian solicitor heads off to Italy when she is passed over for promotion in her firm. She is staying with her grandparents who run a pizzeria in the town and she is enjoying the cooking of her Nonna. but she is shocked when her grandfather announces he is retiring and wants to hand it over to Giacomo who runs a pizzeria in the next town with his father and brother. Lucia is shocked as one only learns then that Giacomo is her not quite ex-husband who she left years ago to pursue her law career rather than be a wife cooking and cleaning for a husband. An intriguing competition is suggested by the Grandfather to resolve who takes on the pizzeria. But in the way there is meddling and subtrifuse as well as romance and comedy. a great read.

This would be a book you could read on holiday very easy reading.

Lucia is half Italian and Welsh she has previously lived in Italy but unfortunately things didn’t work out for her. She trained to be a solicitor but she truly loved cooking but has never been able to do this due to her work. Giacomo has always been in his family pizzeria but finds it too constrained and it is decided he will run the pizzeria that Lucia’s Grandfather has and is looking to retire.

Lucia decides she wants to run it and between her and Giacomo she gets her Grandfather let them run a competition to see who will be the winner. Lucia & Giacomo have previous history will they ever be able to be together again.

I really thought the book was very good and enjoyed all that happened in it.

This was a cutesy little romance that I think any hopeless romantic would really enjoy. The descriptive writing was incredibly well done and the scenery was beautiful. 4/5!

Lovely story, well described. Fabulous characters too. Felt I was in the moment as I was reading. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers and the author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion

Lovely. A beautiful escape to Italy with sun, love and pizza. A wonderful feel good book for those with romance it their hearts.

Whatever county or food type Jo has obviously done extensive research and love and romance seem to play a secondary part although a very important part. Pizza will never taste the same again

I have read a couple of books by this author now and really like her style. Her writing flows effortlessly.
I loves the setting in Italy, the nonna network, the bocce games. It was a beautiful story.
Do not read it on an empty stomach though I must say. The rich, descriptive essence of the pizzas and antipasti will get your mouth watering. I could practically smell the food. There is a real love if Italian heritage and cuisine throughout which was lovely to read.
Great characters, great story, lovely happy ending. Just what I like!

This was a gorgeous and light-hearted Italian romance, filled with stunning scenery, delicious foods and a wonderful set of characters. The perfect escape from the dreary days we have brewing up.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

The plot doesn't have any surprises, but it was well-written and transports you to Italy. It will make you want pizza though!

What more could you want? A delightful breezy read set in southern Italy, loads of tempting and tantalising food, and some very slight feminist undertones. Yes, a great read. Very enjoyable, and quick to get through. I would recommend for a trip or short getaway as it's so escapist. Thanks so much.

You cannot go wrong with Jo Thomas. She’s one of those writers who just doesn’t know how to compose a bad book.

This book is full of families, romance and correcting past mistakes. From the first page I was hooked and couldn’t put the book down at all. The characters were so well-rounded, likeable and relatable. The plot was brilliant; and set at just the right pace. The fact that it takes place in Italy and involves lots of pizza doesn’t hurt either!

“It was one of those rare opportunities that comes your way once in a lifetime.”

It is truly a warm and comforting story. I liked getting to know the community of characters. Nonna and her network are especially adorable. Thomas manages to conjure up images of them all with that little sparkle in their eyes. All I want to do now is eat pasta and drink wine round the family dining table.

Ultimately, it is a story of tradition, honour, family and love. I can promise you whole-heartedly that it will make you melt inside. It really is pure joy.

Great plot loved characters and their lives I what to keep reading to see what was happing your just pulled into the plot a great book I read in a day easy to read

I thoroughly enjoyed this lovely novel set in southern Italy. Beautiful descriptions of all the food and fabulous characters. A perfect summer read.
With grateful thanks to Netgalley, Random House UK and Transworld Publishing.

A brilliant read with good developed characters and I especially appreciated the depictions of italian food.

I was sent this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A great book with an undercurrent of feminism in it when Lucia goes to Italy and has to fight traditional expectations of males and females in order to achieve her dream.

I really enjoyed this story and the complicated relationship between Gia and Lucia as well as the storyline of the network of female help given to Lucia by her Nonna.

The competition between Gia and Lucia was fierce and pride played a big part too in the overall result. I'll look forward to reading more by Jo Thomas and I hope that there are more to follow this book in a series as there are plenty of characters whose lives could be followed further. Overall a great read!

I loved this - a really easy read that felt like an escape to Italy and foodie heaven. Jo’s writing is richly descriptive and I’m not sure if I want to book a holiday to Italy first or drown in tomato sauce at an Italian restaurant. Downside…this book made me seriously hungry!

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin for letting me read this Arc. As always its a pleasure to read a Jo Thomas book and this didn't disappoint I absolutely loved getting whisked away to Italy. Loved this book.

A lovely Summer read about Italy. Interesting characters and brilliant descriptions of food.
Thanks to Netgalley for an A.R.C.

Lucia (born to Italian parents, but growing up in Wales following the death of her father and the remarriage of her mother) has been working on landing a promotion at her Welsh Law firm, the decision to come in after she leaves on her annual holiday to Italy.

Her arrival at her grandparents is bitter sweet – her Grandmother’s cooking, care and attention provide a level of coziness, her Grandfather’s restaurant is still providing people with traditional food, and many of the customers are the same visitors who come back time and again. This allows Lucia to start to relax almost immediately. However, it also turns out that things are also changing – her grandfather is getting old and wants to pass the restaurant on to someone who has similar passion as himself. In the absence of Lucia, her almost-ex husband Giacomo has been lined up to take over.

Lucia, Giacomo and Lucia’s Grandparents come to an arrangement – a competition to cover the next month, where Giacomo and Lucia’s cooking are pitted against each other, but the competition is to remain a secret. Not only does Lucia have to fight the memories of her marriage, the belief that Giac is sabotaging her, and that locals would not accept a female pizza maker consumes much of the book

Lucia also finds support and friendship in various women, including a young widowed friend (who needed to branch out to being more than a “kept mother” by her in-laws), Lucia’s Nonna and one of the local now-ex prostitutes

The decision day comes and yet still, things dont go quite according to plan. However, things work out in the best possible way, as you would hope and expect.

This was a lovely read during a summer break, with a suitable romance, lovely food, the chance of redemption and that perhaps you can go back to somewhere before where you get the chance to reinvent yourself, and help others at the same time

I was looking forward to an easy fun summer escape read when I picked this up, and I'm sure a lot of people would say that it is. Unfortunately I found it disappointing.

The story was pretty predictable and there was way too much repetition for my liking. The constant "I can do this / I can't do this" was annoying and I got so tired of the protagonist jumping to conclusions before knowing all the facts

What I did enjoy were the descriptions of the food and the family feel the story evoked around Nonna and Nonno, who were just adorable.