August 13, 2021

Our Italian Summer by Jennifer Probst

Genre/Categories/Setting: Contemporary Women’s Fiction, Mothers/Daughters, Family Life, Italy

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

My Summary:

Special thanks to Sammie @ The Bookwyrm’s Den (@srbetler on Twitter and Bookstagram) for the giveaway win and a shout out to Gina @ Gina Rae Mitchell (@GinaRaeMitchell on Twitter and Bookstagram) for the recommendation!

With individual reasons for wanting or not wanting this trip, a grandmother, her daughter, and her granddaughter travel to Italy for a month’s summer vacation. Sophia, the grandmother, feels that this might be her last chance to visit her homeland and also hopes it will be an opportunity for her daughter and granddaughter to heal their relationship; Francesca, her daughter, is a workaholic and a single mom (by choice) and is suddenly having difficulty with Allegra, her teenage daughter. It’s the trouble that Allegra gets into that finally convinces Francesca that a trip to Italy might be the best option for them even though it will be difficult to extract herself from work. Although Sophia and Allegra are close and share a love of cooking, tensions run high for both of them when Francesca is around. Will this trip to Italy be Sophia’s dream of a lifetime? Most important, will this trip help heal relationships?

My Thoughts:

Pefect escapist read for armchair travelers!

Characters: Our Italian Summer is told from three perspectives and I enjoyed each one equally. We hear from Sophia as she worries about her family and her health and grieves the loss of her husband; we hear from Francesca as she shares the burdens of having a high pressure career as a single mother, her efforts to connect with her daughter, and her surprise at considering a romantic relationship; and we hear from Allegra as she finds her voice, ponders her college goals, and rebuilds a trusting relationship with her mother.

Setting: What’s not to love about Italy? So many lovely locations and food experiences are described! If you’ve been to Italy or have always wanted to go, you will thoroughly enjoy the setting and vivid descriptive details.

Themes: Thoughtful themes in Our Italian Summer include second chances, mother/daughter relationships, finding your voice, trust, and intergenerational relationships.

Recommended: I’m warmly recommending Our Italian Summer for fans of multigenerational family stories, for readers who love mother/daughter themes, for those who are looking for a light and entertaining vacation or weekend read, and for bookclubs. Perfect escapist read for armchair travelers!

My Rating: 4 Stars

Our Italian Summer Information Here

Meet the Author, Jennifer Probst

Jennifer Probst wrote her first book at twelve years old. She bound it in a folder, read it to her classmates, and hasn’t stopped writing since. She holds a masters in English Literature and lives in the beautiful Hudson Valley in upstate New York. Her family keeps her active, stressed, joyous, and sad her house will never be truly clean. Her passions include horse racing, Scrabble, rescue dogs, Italian food, and wine—not necessarily in that order.

She is the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of sexy and erotic contemporary romance. She was thrilled her book, The Marriage Bargain, spent 26 weeks on the New York Times. Her work has been translated in over a dozen countries, sold over a million copies, and was dubbed a “romance phenom” by Kirkus Reviews. She is also a proud three-time RITA finalist.
http://www.jenniferprobst.com.

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QOTD:

Is Our Italian Summer on your TBR or have you read it?

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