Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Publication Date: 14th March 2024
Purchase Link (US): https://www.amazon.com/Invitation-Italy-Victoria-Springfield-ebook/dp/B0CF4S132C
Purchase Link (UK): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Invitation-Italy-Victoria-Springfield-ebook/dp/B0CF4S132C
Goodreads Book Page: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195963232-invitation-to-italy
3.7 Stars
One Liner: Heartwarming
Book Blurb
Abi is distraught when her ex-husband Alex takes
their twelve-year-old daughter, Chloe, to spend the summer with his glamorous
fiancée Marisa and her parents at their home on the beautiful Italian island of
Procida. Persuaded by her best friend to book a holiday at the island's Hotel
Paradiso, Abi finally meets the woman she's been avoiding for so long. Will the
two women's strained relationship survive the summer?
One-time teenage swimming sensation Loretta has run
the Hotel Paradiso since leaving Capri broken-hearted. When childhood friend
Salvo comes to stay, Loretta is forced to confront her past and the fears that
have kept her away from the water for forty years. But just as she finds the
courage to open her heart, she discovers all is not as it seems with Salvo...
It's a summer of new beginnings for Abi and Loretta
- and one they will never forget.
Take a trip to Italy with Victoria
Springfield for a summery getaway any time of the year!
My Thoughts:
The story comes in the third-person POVs of Abi and Loretta, with a couple of sections from Flavia and Chloe’s POVs.
I grabbed this book mainly for the setting and am happy with the results. The Italian island, Procida, comes alive on the pages; be it the alleys, the artwork, the summer sun (eek!), the food, or the sparkling waters surrounding it. With the characters exploring the place, it is easy to join them on a virtual tour and visualize the elements while reading about the local history.
The characters are decently done. Chloe is pretty
much a tween; a kid but not a kid. Kind of mercurial like most kids of that
age. Abi’s growth is well done, though I wouldn’t have minded a little more.
Loretta shines throughout! I really enjoyed the scenes with her and how she
manages the hotel.
Bill and Alex are a bit 2D. What you see is what you
get. That’s okay since they do their job to keep the story going. Bill has a
better arc and more space, which is a good thing. And oh, I have to mention
Cherry. Everyone needs a friend like her!
The stories run in parallel, and a couple of minor
threads open midway. One of those could have been handled better. It was summed
up in a line later.
The main tracks give us both stories. We see how Abi
and Loretta have to do something different than what they are used to and heal
from the past to move on and find happiness. There are quite a few secrets,
too.
The book has (squeaky) clean romance, which is more
of a natural progression of the plot rather than the primary focus. The
priorities continue to be clear from start to finish, making it easy to enjoy
the story.
Things do get worse before they get better, so in a
way, we have the third-act breakup and disturbance on multiple levels. They get
resolved one by one and it comes together in the final chapter.
There’s a short epilogue to tie up everything into a
neat bow. I like epilogues and wouldn’t mind if it was longer and a bit more
detailed.
To summarize, Invitation to Italy is a heartwarming
and steady-paced read with a wonderful setting. It’ll make a good beach read
you can finish in a couple of sittings.
Thank you, Rachel's Random Resources and Orion
Publishing, for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion
about the book.
***
About the Author – Victoria Springfield
Victoria Springfield writes contemporary women's
fiction immersed in the sights, sounds, and flavors of Italy. Victoria grew up
in Upminster, Essex. After many years in London, she now lives in Kent with her
husband in a house by the river. She likes to write in the garden with a
neighbor’s cat by her feet or whilst drinking cappuccino in her favorite café.
Then she types up her scribblings in silence whilst her mind drifts away to
Italy.
Connect with her: https://twitter.com/VictoriaSwrites
***
This has been a stop on the #InvitationToItaly blog tour conducted by Rachel's Random Resources. (@rararesources) Thanks for stopping by!
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