By Chrissie Manby
The cover and title of this novel jumped out at me as I was perusing NetGalley for my next book to review. I immediately requested to read the book as I am too taking a short trip to Florence later this year and can’t wait to see how the descriptions match up to the actual place.
So, a quick low down on the book… Kathy Florence Courage has a pretty uneventful life, seemingly waiting hand and foot on her boyfriend Neil and his teenage children. Neil and Kathy are certainly not the typical type of couple and after five years of being together their relationship is what I like to call stale. They are all invited to Neil’s brothers wedding set in the glorious and romantic backdrop of Florence, Kathy’s namesake.
Years prior to this her parents holidayed in Florence for their honeymoon and her mother had insisted her daughter be named after the city. It holds very special memories for her family and she has always been desperate to visit, but never had the time to go. Life has passed her by.
On her visit to Florence Kathy bumps into her own Italian stallion, Henry, and the spark between them is too hot to handle. After lots of flight mishaps Kathy ends up stranded in Florence, her bag is stolen, along with her phone and her engagement ring and she is rescued by none other than Henry’s sister where she learns all about Casa Innocenti and the family history. Will Kathy find her one true love and finally be happy? Have a read to see.
The storyline to this novel is brilliant. It kept me hooked the whole way through. I was excited to find out what path Kathy was going to take and also to see through her eyes the wonders of Florence. Chrissie Manby manages to describe these perfectly and so many times throughout the narrative I felt slap bang in the centre of Florence myself, with the sights and the sounds worked through descriptive passages effortlessly.
The further Manby got into the book the better the writing became. At the start I felt as if it needed to be edited more to create crispier prose and sometimes it led to it all feeling a little 2D. Saying that Manby writes with utter sincerity at times, especially when she is dealing with grief. Roberta’s tales about her husband brought tears to my eyes, and the letter from Kathy’s father was heartfelt and honest.
Packed full of vibrant fun characters Manby brings the Innocenti hotel to life and I just wished it was somewhere I could visit. Manby truly brings the non-tourist part of Florence to life and it was exciting to see the quiet paths and streets packed full of imagery to, again, create an effortless way of placing the reader right there with Kathy.
I was very pleased with the ending of the novel, but again, as always, I won’t spoil the surprise. Although I wish there was an Epilogue, just so we could have a small snippet to see where Kathy ends up. But then again, I’ve never been one for a romantic cliffhanger of sorts.
Overall, great storyline, interesting characters and a beautiful setting. It makes for a charming easy read, just enough to get you in the mood for your own summer journeys. A perfect holiday novel set in a beautiful part of the world.
Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for the advance copy. It was well received.
On to the next one book lovers. Ciao for now.
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