Sometimes you read a book that is just beautiful. To me this is that book. I was transported to Positano with Katy. I felt her emotions. Her love, loss and grief. Beautifully written. A book to escape into.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to see an arc

I loved In Five Years and The Dinner List, they were easily both 5 star reads for me, so my expectations were high! So much that I think I set the bar a bit too high for myself 🙈 don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy this one, but it just didn’t quite hit me in the feels like the other 2 did.

To be fair though, there were a lot of emotions, I mean the main character, Katy, was grieving the death of her mother, and that really did get to me. The portrayal of her emotions after losing the person she was closest to were so raw and real. And the descriptions of Italy 😍 the locations were so beautiful it made me want to jump on the next flight to Positano. I want to see the water sparkle like it was written, to walk those million steps for that gorgeous view.

And even though I’ve read 2 of Rebecca Serle’s previous books and know that there’s always a surprise element of magic, I still didn’t see that magical change coming 😂

If you’re looking for an Italian summer getaway, you’ll definitely get that in this one!

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
4.5/5 🌟

Thank you to @netgalley and @quercusbooks for sending me a copy of this book to read in exchange for my honest take.

I’ve already put it on my future ‘Bookshelf of Favourites’ list.

Being someone who prefers character-driven stories over all else, I will forever be a fan of Rebecca Serle’s writing (hello, auto-buy!)
She doesn’t tell you how to feel about the characters she writes; she lays them out bare, all the ugliness in plain sight, and lets the reader decide how to connect.

Grief was written really well in this book, especially the tricky concept of ‘shared grief’ and the feeling of being so overwhelmed with one’s own, that managing and navigating someone else’s seems impossible.

I loved that the trip to Italy and everything Katy stood to experience was like a gift from her late mother and a way to nudge her in to living her life to its fullest, in the least cheesy of ways.

Without spoiling any part, I will say that several times I got full body goosebumps.
Serle is very adept at incorporating ‘what-ifs’ into your everyday Contemporary Fiction and for that I will always respect her writing.

I found that what drew me most to this story wasn't a 'picture perfect' relationship between mother and daughter.
Rather, the growth we got to see as a result of their mutual understanding that the mistakes we make in life are as valuable as anything else.

Just like ‘In Five Years’ wasn’t your quintessential Romance novel, this isn’t your quintessential lighthearted ‘escape to the seaside’ read.

BUT if you don’t mind a bit of soul searching on the side of your Caprese salad and Aperol Spritz at sunset on the Amalfi Coast, this book will be right up your alley.

#oneitaliansummer is out March 1 📖

#rebeccaserle #netgalley #arc #quercusbooks #booklover #readingtime #bookblog #bookishfeatures #bookphotography #bookworm #booknerd #readmorebooks #bookaesthetic #bookrecommendatio

Lost and adrift following the death of her mother and problems with her husband Katy decides to make the trip to Italy she had been planning with her mother.

As soon as she arrives in Postiano she feels a lightening and can feel her mothers spirit. But then the inexplicable happens, she meets her mother, aged thirty and gets to know the woman she was.

This is a lovely book which deals sensitively with grief and the impact it can have on your relationships with others and also yourself. The setting is beautiful and makes you long for your own Italian holiday. I would recommend.

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle 3/5 ⭐️

Advanced Reader Copy

Katy’s Mam has passed away from cancer before her time. Nothing bad has ever happened to Katy before. She starts to question everything in her life how can she survive without the closest person in the world to her. Carol knew everything and had all the answers. Before she died they had planned to go to Positano on the Amalfi Coast in Italy and re-visit some of the sites Carol visited in her 30’s. Katy questioning her life choices up to now including her marriage to Eric, decides to go on the trip alone.
Upon her arrival to Positano Katy checks in to the Poseidon a hotel her mother frequented in her youth. In this hotel she feels a connection to Carol once more. Once in Italy she discovers a lot about the carefree person her mother once was as a young woman. Adam Westbrooke a guest at the Poseidon appears in Katy’s life a handsome stranger whom she chooses to spend her time exploring.
I did enjoy this book it wasn’t a chore to read however the Katy at the beginning of the book is all consumed by her grief and it sparked some form of emotion for me. I so adored the descriptive writing in this book about Positano and Italy in general. 100 percent makes me want it as my next holiday destination the food, the wine, the scenery and the sun.
In my opinion the addition of Adam to the story did not bring anything of any value and if truth be told I found it a slightly odd addition to Katy’s journey. I also felt it was a touch too far fetched even for me and normally I can take a story at face value. (Trying so hard not to spoil for anyone)
Out March 1st

One Italian Summer is a beautiful story about the bond between mother and daughter, loss, love and figuring out who you are. A little warning. After reading this book you might feel the urge to immediately book a holiday to the Amalfi Coast.

When Katy's mother dies, she is left reeling. She feels like she has the lost the love of her life. Katy goes ahead on a planned trip to Italy that should have been with her mother and soon starts to feel her mothers spirt all around. That is until she actually sees her mother and begins to get to know her, 30 years earlier. This takes Katy on a journey she never expected and there is a few bumps in the road.

This book was absolutely nothing like I expected it to be. I know Rebecca Serle is known for her magical touches to books but I still never expected it. Katy is a great main character and I think she really needed the journey that she went on in this book.

Now i'm constantly daydreaming of vacationing in Italy and sunning it on Positano beach. I adored the setting of the book and thought it was just perfect.

I rated this book 4 stars and thoroughly enjoyed it. If anything, I wish it was longer!

When Katy’s mother dies, it feels like her whole world is crumbling - taking her marriage, identity and happiness with it. How are you meant to go on when your best friend, your soulmate, is no longer there? The only thing Katy can think of is to go on their planned trip to Italy, the place her mother loved and dreamt of returning to one day. Leaving her almost ex-husband back home, Katy runs off to Positano expecting to feel closer to her mother. What Katy isn’t expecting is to come face-to-face with her mother’s 30 year-old self.

I had such high expectations for this book; I had heard so much about it on Goodreads and seen it on every list of ‘Most anticipated’ books being published this year. Truthfully, I didn’t like this book despite some interesting perspectives on grief and some beautiful descriptions of Italy.

Immediately, I felt disconnected from Katy. She seemed to gate-keep her grief, like it was more significant than her father’s who couldn’t possibly understand what she was going through, and I was uncomfortable with the way she spoke to Eric. Whilst I know that grief is processed in different ways, I just felt so angry with Katy straight off the bat.

Then we got to Italy and I still felt disconnected from her. We met Adam, whose characterisation I liked but who’s development felt stunted. I didn’t understand how Katy accepted seeing her mother’s ghost so quickly, I didn’t understand why Katy didn’t realise things sooner because I had guessed the twist at least by the half-way mark.

Perhaps my biggest issue with this book isn’t the fact it makes no sense at all, but it’s the way Katy’s actions concerning Adam have no consequence. It happens all so quickly at the end that it felt so disjointed from the rest of the book and then the ending comes, and Katy is suddenly healed? I felt completely lost.

One thing to make clear is that this book is Women’s Fiction with a sprinkle of romance. It is focused on the relationship between a daughter and her mother, and the way that the death of this relationship catalyses the dismantling of others. Luckily, this particular grief is very foreign to me but perhaps others would find something more fulfilling in this book than I did.

Rebecca Serle’s knack of how describing Italy is like no other. She really has a talent, the way she describes the views you do get caught up in the moment as if you were there.

This book takes us in Kathy’s journey of grief following her mothers death. Which is emotional at times to say the least.

A true summer read, perfect for a holiday retreat!

The book encompasses the importance of family values as we follow along the story of a woman at a cross-roads in life on holiday in Italy after the premature death of her mother.

Searle perfectly encapsulates the atmosphere and beauty of Italy in beautiful descriptive writing. The pages kept turning as we are drawn into what is a seemingly intimate journey, but one that is openly shared with the reader. We are taken into Katy's life and get swept into the escapism of the small town with lots of opportunities.

The emotional context paired with stunning writing results in a comfortable read that has a purpose and destination. I read this in one sitting!

A stunning and beautiful book! Such an original concept, I really didn’t see quite where it was going at first, but found it intriguing all the same. The pictures painted are amazing and really take you there in your imagination. You can feel the sun, smell the sea and taste the food. Pure escapism.

Katie goes to Italy alone, to complete the trip she and her mother had booked. Her mother, also her best friend has died. She meets Carol, aged 30, who instantly reminds her of her mother. A fascinating story unfolds. A compelling tale, hard to put down and discover the ending.

Thank you so much to @netgalley for the ARC of this beautiful book.

This book was very emotional and so much more than a typical romance book - which is what I was expecting. It included magical realism in such a well written way and focused on the significance of a mother-daughter relationship. I absolutely adored the relationship between Katy and her mother🥺

One of the only things I didn’t rate about this book was Adam😅

I absolutely loved Rebecca Serle’s writing; It was so beautifully descriptive, and it has made me desperate to go to Italy! After enjoying this book so much, I’ve now added Serle’s other books to my wish list and hope to get them asap!

Wow! This book was amazing, I loved it.
Maybe I'm a bit biased because I can't resist a book that focuses on the relationship between mothers and daughters.
One Italian Summer tells the story of Kathy who has recently lost her mother, with whom she had a really deep relationship. She then decides to take a trip to Italy, that they were planning on taking together.
Firstly, I loved the way the author describes Italy with such romantic detail that I just feel like I'm there with the characters. Also, I straightway connected with Katy, even though I found her relationship with her mother a bit too much sometimes, but then she is grieving, so I don't think that is so strange.
Towards the middle of the book, the pace slowed down a bit, but it managed to pick up in the last few pages!
Thank you to Quercus Books and Netgalley for providing me a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

Having read In five years by Rebecca Serle, I expected this to take me on a journey and it definitely did. I also would like to visit Italy now, though it did feel like I was there when reading the read. I loved that Katy got to learn more about her mum on the trip. I would really recommend and can’t wait to buy the physical copy and audiobook. Also loved it started with a Lorelai Gilmore quote which fit the book perfectly. Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this book before release

When Carol dies, Katy doesn’t just lose a mother, she loses her best friend. Carol is the “great love of her life”. Katy has a co-dependency on her mother that renders her barely able to fend for herself, and questioning her marriage to her kind and loving husband.

So, Katy decides to take the trip to Positano that she and her mother had planned to take together.
Following their planned itinerary, and making some friends along the way, Katy works through her grief and her loss and begins to find herself - at the same time as learning who her mother was as a woman, not just a mother.

I didn’t realise that Serle had a tendency for the paranormal in her writing, I had thought that was unique to In Five Years, so it took me a bit by surprise when Carol appeared – despite being warned of this on the flyleaf. Doh!

I’m not one for mother/daughter bonds in my books but I haven’t been to Italy (it’s on the bucket list!), so living vicariously through Katy was the biggest appeal of this book. Serle’s descriptive writing meant that I could practically taste the food she wrote about and smell the sea air of the Amalfi Coast.

This is a lovely novel that deals with grief and loss sympathetically and poignantly.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus for the ARC.

TW: Death of mother

I had to stop and think about this review before I wrote and posted it because otherwise it would have been a chaotic mess of jumbled thoughts.

Most importantly, I really enjoyed this one! Just like In Five Years, Serle writes in a way that flows so well, is easy and very enjoyable to read, and whilst shorter than most novels, she doesn’t waste a word or a page and she doesn’t go writing pages just for the sake of it. Everything in there is exactly what you need.

What I wasn’t a fan of was the codependency Katy had with her mum, but that for me is just a personal life preference. I am super close with both of my parents, and my brother, but we give each other the room to do and be who we are, even if we don’t always agree. We’ll provide suggestions and opinions but we’re never *right* whilst the other person is *wrong* and I felt like Katy didn’t know how to be an adult, or a person in general, without her mum always being the one to make the decision or provide the answers. I don’t think that this is healthy for parent or child, regardless of age. What I did like though, was that over the course of the book, Katy discovered that this had been a hindrance, and realised the changes she had to make for herself. I know that having their relationship be like this was an important point of the book, it just is a personal pet peeve for me is all.

Much like In Five Years, the main character grows into herself throughout the story, and that is the type of character development that I’m here for!

I feel that grief was portrayed so well in this book as was the realisation that we never truly know our parents. We know bits of them and we know the parts of their history that they share with us, but we never truly know them. We have to remember that they are flawed like us, and they had a life and a history before we came along.

Fun fact - I lived in Italy for a year and pre-pandemic, would visit my friends that are like family every year. Reading this book, the descriptions of the views and people and life there just made me miss it even more because it was so realistic, especially the depiction of Naples.

I think Serle is going to be an auto buy author for me - her characters are flawed but go on an journey of growth and development that I enjoy, her writing and descriptions are beautiful, the pace is always spot on, there's never drama just for the sake of it and the length is always perfect, no wasted pages just to hit a word count or page number.

One Italian Summer follows Katy's emotional journey to healing, in the wake of her mother's death. It's a mixture of real and surreal encounters, which made for an interesting read.

It's not a bad book, the writing flows so easily and you're basically transported to Positano, Italy. There are so many beautiful descriptions, all the places Katy visits are absolutely breathtaking. I feel like this is a love letter to Italy, its people and its cuisine.

So, uhm, it was an emotional read, but it didn't blow my mind. I'm quite conflicted right now, to be honest. I don't know what I was expecting exactly, but this was a bit underwhelming.

Katy just seems so lost, her entire personality hinges on her relationship with her mother. I mean, I get it, obviously. Our parents are important and can't even imagine how awful it must be to lose one too soon. But isn't her dependence on her mother a bit unhealthy?
I just can't understand her life decisions, it seemed like she wasn't even living before her mother's death. I could relate to that a bit, being stuck in a life that lacks joy or excitement.

I guess losing her mother made Katy realize what's important and that she is in charge of her life. I don't know, I swear I'm a bit confused. She confuses me. I also don't get Adam's role in all this, apart from a few wise words. This was supposed to be a self discovery story? So then it's great that Katy did that in the end.

Uhm.. yeah. I feel like I'm missing something. Sorry.

Thank you to NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Four stars.

Rebecca Serle does it again.

It was a raining, dull day when I cracked and typed "books about Italy" into Google. One Italian Summer was one of the first hits, and in these weird, Pandemic times, virtual travel to the dreamy Amalfi Coast was just what I needed. And this book really takes you to Italy. You can taste the limoncello, hear the cicadas, feel the warm sun on your skin.

When Katy's mum dies, so does life as she knew it. Grief-stricken, Katy goes ahead on her own with the mother-daughter trip they'd had planned to the Amalfi Coast, retracing the steps her mother took on a dream trip to Italy before Katy was born. As soon as Katy lands in Italy, she feels as if she's arrived in a different world - a world where she feels her mother everywhere - in every pastel-coloured building, in the sparkling water, in the endless pasta meals and bottomless jugs of wine. And then she sees her mother. Sun-tanned and healthy and thirty years old...

One Italian Summer is a moving tale of grief, and moving on, a story about questioning everything you believe in, and that great big life question - what's it really all about, anyway? And this book is about Italy. It's a fully immersive, arm-chair travel experience and if you need taken out of your reality, even for a moment, this is the book to do it.

In Five Years is still my favourite Serle, and if you're a fan of that one, you'll like this one. Both share the classic Serle elements, but I'm not going to spoil the surprise. Just dive in

A story of love and loss -it is pure escapism .
Katie has recently lost her mum which has left her devastated . Just before her death they planned to go to Italy on holiday . Katie's mum - Carol - had wonderful memories of her time in Italy when she was younger and was looking forward to a trip down memory lane.
As Katie is having problems in her marriage -she decides to go on the Italy trip on her own to get away for a while .Italy is everything she dreamt of -beautiful scenery - wonderful food . Then one particular hot day -she walks into her hotel lobby and there she is -her mum 30 years old returned to her beloved Italy .

Keep the tissues handy

Thankyou NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review