Hello and welcome back to booksnbites for another fun stop on the 2020 Spring Reads Blog Tour for Harlequin. There were so many lovely books to pick from for this tour, so it was a difficult decision for me but I am so happy that I chose The Summer Villa by Melissa Hill. This beautiful tale of friendship and second chances at life was the perfect spring read. For me, Spring is always a beautiful season of renewal and new chances. I’m very excited to share some details and my review on The Summer Villa with you.
THE SUMMER VILLA
Author: Melissa Hill
ISBN: 9780778359982
Publication Date: April 28, 2020
Publisher: MIRA Books
BIO:
MELISSA HILL lives in south Dublin with her husband and daughter. A USA TODAY and international #1 bestseller, she is the author of 13 novels, including The Gift of a Charm and A Gift From Tiffany’s. The Gift of a Charm was a USA TODAY bestseller. Hailed “the queen of the big plot twist,” she combines all the warmth and humor of contemporary women’s fiction with plots that keep readers guessing from page to page. Melissa also cowrites forensic thrillers with her husband, Kevin, under the pseudonym Casey Hill, featuring crime scene investigator Reilly Steel. For more information, visit www.caseyhillbooks.com.
BOOK SUMMARY:
When a little white lie becomes the story of your life, what if the truth comes out?
For three woman, it’s a life-changing trip: one finds the man of her dreams, another discovers inspiration amidst Italian food and culture, while a chance encounter with a handsome local ushers in the ultimate life change for the third. But most importantly, it’s the beginning of a deep and lasting friendship between all three.
Now years later, Kim Weston – entrepreneur and owner of internationally successful Italian food and lifestyle business, The Sweet Life – has bought and restored the tumble-down villa to its former glory — and plans to reopen Villa Dolce Vita as a wellness/cultural retreat – a fitting honor to the root of her business inspiration.
To celebrate the villa’s grand opening, she and her Italian business partners are throwing a huge three-day party; flying a group of family, business and media contacts to the Amalfi Coast to join in the celebrations. And most importantly, the (still) close friends who started the journey with her: Annie and husband Nate, whose love story began at the villa, and single mum Eva, whose son was the result of an ill-advised Italian fling.
But in the run up to the planned weekend in Italy, it becomes clear that not everyone is happy about the party, nor are they on board with such ambitious plans for the location. And, as Villa Dolce Vita’s grand relaunch draws closer, old memories and past secrets come to light, and the three old friends are forced to question if anything that happened on that first fateful trip to the villa is at all what it seemed.
SOCIAL:
Author Website: http://www.melissahill.ie/
TWITTER: @melissahillbks
Insta:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/334579.Melissa_Hill
BUY LINKS:
Books-A-Million
iBooks
My Review –
This was the perfect spring read, of friendship, second chances and fighting for what you truly desire in life. The beginning took me a while to settle into the rhythm and the swapping of characters and timelines, but once I did I couldn’t get enough of it. I just had to keep reading to see how the storylines converged. I absolutely loved the setting in Italy along the Amalfi coast. Definitely a dream destination for myself and others, it added an extra sparkle to the story.
The main characters are three young women from different backgrounds in life and different countries. You have sweet Collette from England, who took over the family bakery after college while her mum battled cancer, spunky Annie from Ireland who was adopted and had a rough life and just doesn’t give up, and Kim who comes from an affluent NY family and whose parent’s shadows loomed over her so much that she decided to escape and create her own life. It was hard to pick a favorite, as each of the girls had their own quirks and likable traits. I felt invested in each girl’s storyline, from then and now. I really liked how it all wrapped up at the end and felt the ending could not have been more perfect! I might be biased though, because I was team Luca the entire story.
This is definitely a perfect book for anyone who loves Susan Mallery’s books.
Thanks for tuning in to my review and blog tour post for Harlequin’s Spring 2020 Tour train. I hope you enjoyed my review, and make sure to stay tuned as I’ve prepared quite the summer full of fun reads for reviews! 🙂
Positive Vibes and Happy Reading!
booksnbites 