An utterly wonderful read that I just loved. A super story and wonderful characters. Highly recommend and a five star read for me,

I can't quite believe it has taken me so long to get around to reading this and sat in rare British sunshine was the perfect setting for the imagination to whisk me off to two separate eras of this Spanish Isle adventure. It was lovely to see Charlotte evolve in the modern day sections as she explored the area around her grandmother's family home of Marisal but I have to confess it was the historical storytelling sections that stole my heart in this one. By Charlotte finding her ancestors on the island we were sent her grandmother's sister Maria's who took us to the past to tell the story of Cesca and Esperanza sisters from centuries ago.

This book seemed to have all the makings of a great book. I'm a huge sucker for a book set in a "destination" setting and to read about this villa on a Spanish island seemed like the perfect way to start summer. However, it just didn't meet my expectations. This book is written in a dual-timeline format going back and forth between the current day when Charlotte receives the villa posthumously after her husband dies and the early 1700s when there was a secret family rivalry that Charlotte discovers. I didn't mind the premise of the two timelines, but I didn't think they were very balanced in this book. And the ending seemed to end suddenly with loose ends to wrap up. Overall, I found this to be an okay read.

This is an engrossing read, perfect for long summer evenings. It really resonated with me because it explored the ancestry of the heroine. As someone who has spent many years exploring my own family history, I was fascinated with the impact Charlotte’s family history had on her present.

Once I got in to this I struggled to put it down. Ended up putting a pizza in the oven instead of actually cooking like I planned to just so I could read this for a bit longer! This was a well written story with remarkable characters. A solid storyline, beautiful setting and another fab story from Lily Graham.

The Island Villa is a romantic drama set on the island of Formentora. Based on historical fact, it tells the tale of a new widow whose late husband buys her the old family home of her Spanish relatives. Reconnecting with her great aunt, she is told the story of her ancestors on the island who hid their true heritage from the authorities. This is an absorbing tale and a perfect summer read.

This is such a beautiful and moving novel. I was drawn to the stories of Charlotte and her grandmother, tissues were needed. The themes of the importance of love and family underpinned this book,.
I loved Lily Graham’s writing, the prose flowed and she brought the characters and Spain to life. The Villa is an engaging and emotional read and one I highly recommend.

was given an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review by Bookouture, Lily Grahams publisher. This is something I'm more than happy to do.

The Island Villa is a beautiful read. It begins as Charlotte and daughter Sage have lost their beloved husband and father James to cancer - neither can contemplate life without him and are getting through each day - just.

On the day of his funeral Charlottes brother hands her a letter from her husband, a letter that contains only a few words but will change her life completely. He has bought her a house, not just any house but a house that used to belong to her family on the island of Formentera, a Spanish island off Ibiza.

As Sage heads back to University Charlotte plans a trip just to look at the house - she cannot contemplate life as a widow and doesn't know how to even begin to pick up the pieces.

The Island Villa holds the key to her past and her future, Lily Graham has intricately pieced together Charlottes past and future like a jigsaw - inserting one, then another as the past meets the present. I was touched and saddened by the back story yet it's that that lifts Charlotte out of her 'funk' to a point where she can contemplate the future. The story unfolds around a community, shared meals and the Villa and is totally bewitching, I was totally lost, my heart sqeezed with sadness, then lifted as the sunshine and happiness gradually began drifting through the threads of the story.

I've never read a Lily Graham novel before but this will definitely not be my last - sensitively constructed, totally absorbing and mesmerising. A beautiful read that I have no hesitation recommending.

I really like Lily Graham's books. This book is written in a dual-timeline format alternating between the 1700's and the present day. The main character is Charlotte who, after the death of her husband, has inherited a villa on the Spanish coast that used to belong to her grandmother. The story then alternates between her story and her female ancestors one. It is an interesting, well researched and written story that you will surely enjoy. Perfect for the holidays!

A beautiful story by author Lily Graham with visual descriptions that show the vivid tapestry of history. A poignant read wherein Charlotte, a widow, found out that her husband had bought her a villa, her ancestral home before his death. The story is told in dual timeliness going back into history of Charlotte's father and his family. The secrets revealed make this fun and the way Charlotte starts to live life again makes this an inspiring read.
A good read over the weekend.

Loved it, beautifully written and draws you in. You can visualise the setting and really feel the characters. Didn’t want this story to end

I am a big Lily Graham fan and cannot turn down one of her book. This was a lovely read and I really enjoyed it. Having recently been through some difficulties I found this a refreshing read.
Full review to follow.

This was a very interesting and inspiring read about a recent widow, Charlotte, whose husband, as a surprise prior to his death, has purchased her family's ancestral home on an island off the coast of Spain for her. The story goes back and forth between the present and 1718 and tells the history of Charlotte's father's family. I found this to be a relaxing and completely enjoyable read - perfect for vacation reading!

I just loved this book and couldn’t put it down! I loved the dual story lines, the historical story of a time and place I knew little about and the setting in Spain. The characters were easy to involve yourself with, I especially loved the story of the sisters and how they overcame their challenges. This is a book I will recommend to many and look forward to reading others by this author!

I enjoyed getting to know Lily Graham's Charlotte and, through her, an interesting group of friends and family on a lovely island.

When Charlotte's husband James dies she is devastated and can't see a way forward in her life until she she finds that before he died he bought her a house in Formentera, Marisal, the house that belonged to her grandmother's family for generations and one that had intrigued her and her brother Allen since their childhood. Arriving on the island she soon gets to know the locals and also finds out that her grandmother's sister is still alive and well and living on the island. Once she gets to know her family and makes new friends will she want to return to her old life in Surrery

A great book I loved the way that Charlotte found out the history of her family and the secrets that they had kept for generations. The story worked well slipping between the 1700s and the present day and it was definitely a book that I couldn't put down and had a great historical content as well

This is a great feel good read perfect for reading in the garden with a lovely glass of wine. I loved everything about this book. Charlotte Woolf is a mystery writer who has lost her husband recently to cancer and is heartbroken. Her husband bought her a villa Marisal which had been her grandparents home many years before. She goes over to view the villa and while there begins to discover her family history through her grandmothers sister who still lives on the island. A lovely time split story develops in which Charlotte discovers her family history and begins to get over the loss of her darling James.

Charlotte has lost the love of her life, her husband James, and can’t seem to find a way out of her grief. Of course her family is trying to motivate her to see the next day: she’s not particularly interested, even as she’s past due on her latest book contract, and can’t seem to write a word. Her days are spent carrying (and chatting with) James, his urn being a constant companion. But a surprise from James comes from out of the blue: purchasing her grandmother’s cottage on the island of Formentera (off the Spanish coast, next to Ibiza), and Charlotte feels duty-bound to investigate the cottage and his reasons. Because, you see, James always knew what could (and would) motivate Charlotte.

Arriving on the little isolated island to the small cottage named Marisal, Charlotte has few plans to do more than spend an allotted week in the warmth, before returning to her life in Sussex. But, James had other plans: leaving her a letter in care of the estate agent, with a link to her family, a great aunt, still on the island. Here is where the story becomes a must-read: Formentera was at the epicenter of the salt trade, many families relied on the salt mining and sale to make ends meet – with a dash of subsistence farming and fishing providing an existence to the very isolated and insular islanders. Charlotte and her brother only ever had the barest of stories about Formentera from their grandmother Alba, who left the island, she said, after the Spanish civil war. But, Alba had a sister left behind, a sister with the family story and history, and several revelations (and a quasi-explanation) as to Alba’s close-lipped unwillingness to share much about her life or the island.

Slowly, almost without realizing it, as Charlotte cleans and rehabs the cottage, meeting locals and learning of her family from her great aunt, little moments of sunshine and healing start to lighten her burden of grief: James did know how to help her find a way to live and move forward without him. A lovely story liberally sprinkled with history and hope from the past, giving Charlotte new insight into her own life and family traditions while providing her with a space that is open to possibilities, potential and light.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-9U0/” > <a> I am, Indeed </a>

Charlotte is a widow who has been deeded a villa on the Spanish Island of Formentera that used to belong to Charlotte’s grandmother. Once she arrives amidst her grief she soon immerses herself into the island life and the rhythm of life in Spain. She soon discovers her Grandmother had secrets and sets out to solve the mystery of the secrets with help from the local people.
I loved this book ! It is enthralling from page one. The setting is sublime and the perfect summer read.
The people are delightful and I enjoyed the dual timelines of present and past on a island in Spain. A perfect summer read !
Thank you for the ARC which does not influence my review. I appreciate receiving this wonderful book for review. I look forward to further works by this fine author. Very well done !

I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of this book, alternating between the 1700’s and present day in Formentera, an Island off of Ibiza. Charlotte’s husband dies, leaving her a note that he bought a villa for her. Charlotte goes to the island, and finds out her grandmother has a sister still living on the island. Explaining about the family’s history in the villa, Maria tells Charlotte about the secret Jewish community that hid in plain sight on Formentera during the Inquisition and afterwards, living as conversos but holding on to their traditions. I highly recommend this book.