I loved this bittersweet, magical little novel. The idea of a couple on the brink encountering their younger, starry-eyed selves in Seville — a city that practically glows with memory — is such a tender setup, and Mendelson pulls it off with charm and emotional honesty. It’s romantic, funny, and surprisingly moving in the way it asks what we’d change, what we’d protect, and whether we’d even recognize the people we once were.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for granting my request to read this e-ARC and provide my honest opinion.

I like the concept of this novel — older couples who have fallen out of love going back to the place where they had their honeymoon thirty years ago, and unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) crossing paths with their younger selves (on their honeymoon when they newly got married and were still doe-eyed with each other).

The concept was great — in fact, it was the only thing that kept me going. I was committed to seeing how this story would end, but the delivery was way off. The writing felt like one big monologue, and the style was so very descriptive. The amount of times I felt the urge to check the dictionary was honestly overwhelming.

Overall, I love marriage stories. Falling in love is not a guarantee that you will stay in love forever; you have to master the art of staying in love. Small things compound, and compounded small things can make you go crazy and make you forget the reason why you fell in love with a particular person. Although the writing style was monologic and overly descriptive, this was an okay book.

Thank you once again for the e-ARC.

This had that romance element that I was looking for and was invested in what was happening. The romantic comedy was realistic and worked well overall. The characters had that overall feel worked in the genre and enjoyed getting to know them in this. I was glad I was able to read this and loved the way Paul A. Mendelson wrote this.

This is a wonderful story of love and second chances. The story is very unique and thought-provoking!

Will and Lu travel to Seville for their second honeymoon, exactly during Semana Santa (Holy Week). It’s a wonderful mix of magical realism, time travel, and doppelgängers, with vivid imagery that reminded me of the film The Grand Budapest Hotel.

I could imagine myself in Seville, capturing a picture of a café painted bright yellow, with floor-to-ceiling windows. Inside, at the middle table, sit two couples: a pair of newlyweds glowing with intimacy, and a middle-aged couple sitting close enough, yet separated by what feels like an invisible river.

Instead of spending quality time with his lovely wife in magical Seville during Holy Week, Will clings to his laptop, always a business call to make, another meeting to fit in, admiring his company brochure and business card in his spare moments. A man suffering from a critical condition of self-importance addiction, at the terminal stage of workaholism.

Yet, it’s Holy Week in Seville, a place where miracles happen. Will and Lu encounter their younger selves, honeymooning 30 years earlier. Will even gets a taste of the life he once believed he needed before he could truly care for his wife, or for anything beyond work.

If you’re expecting a sweet, nostalgic love story about a couple who’ve “made it” after 30 years of marriage, this isn’t quite that. Many times, I wanted to leave Will by the roadside, but I cared too much about Lu, and Seville’s irresistible charm kept me reading.

No matter how frustrated I was, I continued to hope for Will’s best, and that for a repentant and changed man, forgiveness and second chances can be granted. Isn’t this the message of Good Friday and Easter? Miracles, reconciliation between God and man, between a couple, or within any relationship.

At its core, the making of this book feels like a sweet testimony of love between the author and his wife. It was inspired by their own anniversary trip, a return to Seville where they first honeymooned, once again during Semana Santa.

Of course, the book is beautifully dedicated:
“To the extraordinary young woman with whom I honeymooned so many years ago in Seville. And have been honeymooning ever since.” – Paul A. Mendelson

Thank you to @thebookguildpublishing and @netgalley for the eARC.

The moment I saw this was a contemporary romance with a touch of magic, especially one set in the gorgeous Spanish city of Seville, I knew I had to grab it. I’ve personally been to Seville, and visiting during the summer was such a beautiful experience, so I wanted to give this book a read and see how it turned out. To be truly honest, it felt like stepping into a fantasy story, the kind of perfect, charming place where a tale should be written.

The core premise is what truly sold me: we have a middle-aged couple, William and Luisa, whose marriage is on the rocks. They return to Seville for a second honeymoon, a gift from their children, only to encounter their younger selves on their first honeymoon thirty years earlier. This sounded incredibly magical to me, and it honestly was!

I loved the idea that the older, sadder couple recognise their younger selves, while the younger pair, still so newly in love, only have eyes for each other. To me, this magical scenario is a powerful vehicle for self-analysis and reflection. You see William and Luisa thinking, “Wait, that’s where we were, but how did we get from there to here? What difficulties did we face? What mistakes did we make?” Reading that kind of reflection within a romantic story is just beautiful to me.

As a reader, it made me think, how beautiful would it be to look back at ourselves twenty or thirty years ago? It also explores that universal question all couples face, can meddling with the past, starting right there in Seville, give this fractured pair any hope of a future? I’ve heard some couples, even divorced ones, say they wish they could go back and see what they could have changed, or find a way to rekindle the love they lost. Reading this book gave me a genuine sense of hope. It inspired me to work on what I need to, to cherish and protect the love I have. It’s such a sweet and heartfelt story.

If you’re like me and you love books that explore relationship problem-solving, or you crave stories where love ultimately triumphs through peace, calm, and reflection, then this book is absolutely perfect for you. I loved this read! 💖

Review: Seville by Paul Mendelson
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 stars)

Seville is a beautifully written and thoughtful story about love, time, and second chances. Paul Mendelson takes readers on an emotional journey through the streets of Seville, Spain, where William and Luisa, a middle-aged couple whose marriage has grown distant, return for a second honeymoon that becomes far more meaningful than either of them expects.

What stood out to me most was how the author mixes reality with a sense of quiet magic. When William and Luisa encounter their younger selves from thirty years ago, it feels less like fantasy and more like a powerful reflection on the choices that shape us and the love that changes over time. Mendelson explores marriage, regret, and rediscovery with honesty and depth.

The writing is rich and descriptive, and the setting of Seville comes alive through its colors, sounds, and atmosphere. William is not always easy to like, but that complexity makes his journey believable. Luisa’s warmth and patience add balance, and I found myself rooting for her throughout.

This is a slower-paced and character-focused story that rewards patient reading. By the end, I felt both moved and reflective. Seville is a heartfelt novel that reminds us that love, even when tested by time, can still find its way back.

#Seville #NetGalley

Thanks for the opportunity to read. This was a new author for me and enjoyed the writing and the story. Good luck with the book!

The main character William embarks on a second honeymoon with his wife of thirty years. Unfortunately they have grown apart and William is more about his work and business than his wife an family. The second honeymoon is chance for them to reconnect. However with the Easter festivities in full swing, there is more magic in the air than the tapas and Sangria.

William is difficult to like and when there are 3 versions of him running around, it can be a bit much so I felt for his wife Luisa. In fact it sounds like she deserved a medal to be married to any version of him.

This is a bit of a slow burner which took me awhile to get in to. I did enjoy it and felt that the story was unique. A few secrets are alluded to and it takes most of the story for the full details to emerge. This kept me reading and appreciated the intrigue. However it did become complicated at times and if you were not concentrating you could easily become lost and disengaged.

Amazing book loved the characters and plot. I couldn't stop reading I stayed up all night. I loved the book so much thank you for the arc.

The younger and older selves meeting would feel haunting: the hope of younger years, the weariness of older years, and the choices in between. The emotional tension, especially around suspicion, memory, and the fragility of love, would linger long after finishing.

this book brings us to a couple who aren't really coupling very well anymore. they have been with each other for decades and something isn't fitting anymore. so what happens now?
well the two are going to be going back to Seville. this is a gift from their daughter. and its going to be about going back to where they had the honeymoon, for a hopeful second one of sorts?
Luisa and William aren't keen.
but what we also see here is the story of a young couple Lu and Will. we see them as the newlyweds who are madly in love with each other.
but in the twist to this book the two couple paths! and this is almost like a bright light on where our older couple are now and just what they have lost.
can they find their way back. do they even want to?
i had so many thoughts and feeling surrounding this book. ive been lucky enough to witness long term couples. and i feel really lucky to have gotten to see that. but ive also seen the ones who i sometimes think" are you together simply because you have been for so long" but then i have moments of seeing some and yes wondering what on earth they give each other lives but also i really see what they do. there is a knowing there, a love that doesn't scream but is just a bond, a connection, a thing almost like another limb to them, its just there.
but this book also reminds me how much you need to work, listen, look and see those you love. make them feel all the things you can on how much love them. and there is a difference on just working on something when love is definitely not there. and then the work when love is there, it still take work! but not also the work we sometimes huff about thinking "what are you telling me this relationship is like a job" no no, love is a whole different kind of work. a different kind of effort.
im sure many could relate to the themes in this book.
the little almost magical spin on it was woven really well into the book to meet what Paul wanted to give to the story line and characters. i found this a really clever touch.
i do love a book that makes me ponder sometimes. and this was one of those books for me. because i admit when one part of the book comes along and is revisited it made me at once angry and falling on my judgements of a "Particular" type of event to happen within a couple. but then reading i just let that go and it was ok again lol. sometimes you just gotta read. dont get emotionally involved reader!

Seville starts out with long time couple Luisa and William heading back to Seville where they enjoyed their original honeymoon for a second honeymoon, a gift from their only daughter and her husband. One that is obviously not wanted, especially by William. The couple having been married 30 have definitely lost that loving feeling as many couples do. In flashbacks at the beginning of the book we also read about Lu and Will, the couple as newlyweds and how madly in love they are. In a twist the couple cross paths and the younger selves show the elders just how fr off the path they have fallen.
This is a book I think a lot of people in long term marriages and relationships (like myself) can relate too. There was a reason you fell in love with the person in the first place and there is a way to find your way back. I could really relate to this book and I like the fantasy aspect of it as well.

Seville by Paul A. Mendelson is a quietly evocative tale of love, regret, and second chances. Set against the sultry backdrop of Spain, it explores the emotional terrain of a man revisiting a past affair — not for closure, but for understanding. Mendelson’s prose is restrained yet resonant, capturing the ache of what might have been.

A bit too slow for me overall, but a good idea beneath the drudgery.

William and Luisa Sutherland are heading to Seville for their second honeymoon in 2025, courtesy of their daughter and son-in-law, and are returning to Seville, where they had their original honeymoon in 1988. William (whose POV is difficult to read at times) thinks his wife never listens to him, though the opposite is also true. Their marriage is a bit on the rocks going into the trip, which William is using as a work event as well, distracting him further from the point of the trip. The couple encounters their younger selves (called Will and Lu in an attempt to avoid confusion), who are in the midst of their honeymoon, and who show the older couple just how off track they may have gone, and that there may be a way back.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this novel for its rerelease.