A summer in Italy, a summer to never forget

Synopsis

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 review

Abi is heartbroken when her ex – husband takes their daughter Chloe for the whole summer to the Italian island of Procida, with his fiancée and her parents. It’s not about the plans that Abi made herself, but more the fear that she is losing her daughter to the more glamourous side of life.
S when her best friend persuades Abi to book a holiday at Procida’s Hotel Paradiso, Abi takes off, ready for the confrontation too with the woman that took her husband.
Once upon arriving at Hotel Paradiso, Abi befriends the owner, Loretta, who has run the hotel since she left Capri heart – broken many years ago. But also for Loretta it’s time to face her past when an old friend appears to be staying at her place…

A story set in Italy? Do I really need more to pick a book up? Of course not! And it being set in a place so near my own roots, of course it has an advantage!

At first I have to admit, I didn’t truly warm towards Abi. Not because she is a bad person, or a terrible mother. But it felt like she was too clingy towards her daughter Chloe. I understand that Chloe is all Abi has left, but I also felt that Abi was relying a bit too much on Chloe being around and Chloe wanting to spend her time with her mother. Because Chloe is a teenager, and there can be nothing more humiliating for a teenager to be seen with her mother! 😊

So with those thoughts in my mind, I found it over the top that Abi flies over to Procida to check on her girl. I felt that Abi should have let Chloe enjoy a wonderful summer in a wonderful place, without having a mother lurking around each corner.

Yet it was bittersweet to see how Chloe needs her mother, even in a wonderful place like Procida, because no matter the setting, it’s clear that Chloe isn’t having the best summer ever. And being a teenager, not wanting to need your parents, yet wanting to need your parents, is only adding more confusing in the head of Chloe.

While I initially not truly liked Abi’s decision to go to Procida, it turns out to be that in fact it was the best decision she could make, as it’s clear that not only she is needed, but also that Abi is slowly learning to move forward and even perhaps think about her own future, and not let it rule by her daughter.

Of course there are some awkward situations, as Abi finds herself slightly forced to spend time with her ex – husband, his fiancée and her family. I felt the odd one out in her place! But just like any real Italian would, Marisa’s family welcomed Abi like she was truly a member of the family!

This book is a treat, as we get two stories for the price of one, because we also get to know Loretta, the owner of Hotel Paradiso.
It’s clear from the start that Loretta has been through some dramatic moments in her, life, making her escape Capri and start a hotel in Procida.
Not only is it the heartbreak she endured after a phenomenal achievement, but she is also haunted by an event that took place not that much later.

No matter how much Loretta tries to hide her demons, with the appearance of Salvo, it all quickly resurfaces. To only show us that sometimes hurt and shame can linger for a very long time.

But it was also sweet to see how with the arrival of Salvo, Loretta now is able to put everything into perspective, and put it behind her, even being able to look positively towards her own future, and even daring to open up her heart again…

I found this a heart – warming story, about two women at different stages of life. But somehow, they  have both been holding back, because of their pasts.
In that matter, it was inspiring to see how one summer can impact people. Yes, even during that one summer mistakes are made, miscommunications happen and fear is still holding them somehow back.
But in this one specific summer, with meeting new and old people again, both Abi and Loretta find the courage to look forward to a future, a future with much more and brightful colours, because that is what opening your heart can do, make you take that plunge into the unknown.
And yes, of course it helps to realize your potential in a setting as wonderful as Procida! 😊