#Review: An Italian Island Summer by Sue Moorcroft @SueMoorcroft @AvonBooksUK @rararesources #blogtour #romance #Sicily #RespectRomFic #AnItalianIslandSummer

It’s an absolute delight today to be joining the blog tour for the latest book from Sue Moorcroft, An Italian Island Summer, and sharing my review. Published on 25th May by Avon Books, it’s now available as an ebook (via Amazon in the UK and US for kindle, also for Kobo), in paperback (via Amazon if you want to, via your favourite bricks and mortar or on-line bookshop, or on the shelves at your supermarket), and also as an audiobook. Thank you, as always, to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading e-copy, provided via netgalley.

Yes, I know you already know how much I love Sue’s books – so, just this once, I won’t run through a list of the many I’ve enjoyed, as you’ll easily find all my reviews by typing her name into my search bar (on the right hand side). Two books a year, one summer, one winter – and every single one of them unfailingly the kind of books I love to read. She’s one of the very best storytellers I know, hitting just the right note where the romance is concerned – always with the most engaging characters, plenty of light and shade, and with real originality to the themes she introduces, always with a contemporary flavour. It might be twenty-five years (goodness, a quarter century!) since I last visited Sicily for a holiday – but I do remember how much I loved it there, and I was delighted to be taken back there through the pages of this lovely read…

Will one summer in Sicily change her life for ever?

 

After her marriage falls apart, Ursula Quinn is offered the chance to spend the summer working at a hotel on a beautiful island off the coast of Sicily, Italy. Excited by a new adventure, she sets off at once.

 

At Residenza dei Tringali, Ursula receives a warm welcome from everyone except Alfio, son of the Tringali family. He gave up his life in Barcelona to help his mother Agata with the ailing business, and is frustrated with Ursula’s interference – and she in turn is less than impressed with his attitude. As they spend more time together, though, they begin to see each other in a different light.

 

But what with Ursula’s ex-husband on her tail, family secrets surfacing and an unexpected offer that makes Alfio question his whole life, there’s plenty to distract them from one another.

 

Can she face her past and he his future, and together make the most of their Sicilian summer?

When we first met Ursula in Under the Italian Sun, she was escaping from her marriage problems for a while on a break with best friend Zia – and I was delighted that this book picked up her story, at the point where she has some big decisions to make about her future.

Licking her wounds while staying with her family in Ireland (although her parents do have a few issues and challenges of their own) – her troubled marriage ended in divorce, the tattoo parlour where she works is closing, and the tenancy on her flat isn’t being renewed – Ursula’s thinking of a fresh start and a total change of direction, living in Italy for a while, learning more about ceramics. And, through some family connections, she has the chance to help out at a small hotel in Ortigia – the historical island city of Siracusa, linked by bridge to the Sicilian mainland – and learn her craft with a ceramicist in the afternoons.

The hotel is run by Agata – currently in poor health – and her daughter Nanda, not without their daily struggles to keep the business going. And that’s what brings Agata’s son Alfio home from Barcelona – leaving his rising career and English girlfriend behind to offer support to his family. He’s none too pleased at first to find Ursula doing all the work he thought he was needed for – but as they grow closer, he discovers what a troubled soul she is, and their growing friendship begins to develop into something more. Until… well, perhaps enough to say that an ex-husband who refuses to let go and a few distinctly unexpected family complications begin to make life rather difficult.

The characters in this book are – as you’d only expect from the author – quite wonderfully drawn. Ursula has been through a lot and certainly bears the mental scars, but it’s a joy to see her unwind and find a place she can call home, even think about a happier future – until her new life is impacted by some secrets it proves difficult to move beyond. Alfio is a character I really warmed to – caring and supportive, definitely one of the good guys – which made it quite difficult to take sides when things began to go awry. I really liked the realistic family relationships, and the friendships – and it was especially good to see Zia and Piero again, but worry not, their brief inclusion won’t be an issue if you’ve never had the pleasure of meeting them before.

I really must say a word or two about the book’s setting – immaculately researched and recreated in a way that made me feel I was there in the Sicilian sunshine, sharing Ursula’s walk to the ceramics studio or sitting on her small attic balcony. The buildings, the marina, the bridges – when I was able to tear myself away from the story and its superb descriptions, I lost a whole evening doing my own reading about beautiful Ortigia as a holiday destination (and it’s just teeming with small hotels just like Agata’s Residenza dei Tringali… so maybe next year!).

The story? Well, it’s just excellent – and beautifully told, as you really hope (but severely doubt at times…) that Ursula and Alfio might find happiness together. There are a few touches of darkness, especially in Ursula’s troubled past – a few tears too, but every issue is handled with the author’s unfailing sensitivity. And there’s also a great deal of joy – the whole book filled with warmth (and not only from the sunshine) and the promise of healing.

I always so enjoy the author’s books, but this might just be my new favourite – and it might just be yours too. One I’d recommend really highly for your summer reading list – I loved it.

About the author

Photo by Silvia Rosado of Silvia Rosado Photography

Sue Moorcroft is a Sunday Times bestselling author and has reached the coveted #1 spot on Amazon Kindle UK as well as top 100 in the US and Canada. She’s won the Goldsboro Books Contemporary Romantic Novel Award, Readers’ Best Romantic Novel award and the Katie Fforde Bursary. Sue’s emotionally compelling, feel-good novels are currently released by publishing giant HarperCollins in the UK, US and Canada and by other publishers in other countries. Her short stories, serials, columns, writing ‘how to’ and courses have appeared around the world.

For more information on Sue and her books, she has an excellent website, and a blog: she also has a Facebook author page, and you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram. If you’d like sign up for her newsletter, you can do so here: and if you’d like to join her street team, you’ll find the details here.