This was a most enjoyable book. One that pulled my in right at the beginning. Unfortunately, I had many interruptions while reading it and if not for that, I would have finished it in a day. Oh well. No worries as I got to spend a little bit more time "traveling" to London and to the Castillo de Sammezzano in Florence, Italy (one of my favorite cities). Ms. Corcoran's descriptions of the Castillo were so detailed that I became fascinated with this Castillo that actually exists and had to look it up online. What an amazing and stunning place! I was mesmerized by the photos! The book had a great cast of characters. It was captivating and charming with a little mystery and some romance, and it is one that I recommend for a nice summer read! After reading The Peacock Room, I will be adding Ms. Corcoran's other books to my reading list.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

The Blurb :
The Peacock room in Sammezzano Castle is an actual place in Tuscany, Italy.
This story is a liberating, romantic read - an absolute page turner. It will take you to magical places, both in the past and the present; you will never want the story to end.
The Peacock Room at Sammezzano Castle.
When Allegra discovers her husband’s infidelity, her world crashes down around her. It is the ramblings of her elderly grandfather that awaken her interest in historic, interior architecture. On a trip to Florence she visits her grandfather’s birth village in Tuscany. Ready to meet someone new, Allegra ends up beguiled by a handsome Italian man and becomes involved in a dangerous situation that is the catalyst for an unexpected discovery. Allegra returns to London only to be confronted with bad news. In the wake of her grandfather’s demise she commits to the promise she gave him to solve a family mystery. Sammezzano Castle provides the perfect historic backdrop to stimulate Allegra’s love of architecture, and allow her to discover her true heritage while indulging in a passionate love affair

My Thoughts :
Allegra sadly discovers her husband Hugo has been cheating on her and is now in love with another woman. She is heartbroken and decides to get away from it all by going to Italy.
Her family originate from the country so she is excited to go back there.
Once there Allegra falls in love with the history and country once again, she wants to discover more about her grandfather and what happened to him when he disappeared. There is also a connection with the Peacock Room which is in the castle she comes across while on a trip to Florence. Can she solve a family mystery or has she taken on more than she can handle!?.
Also added to the mix is meeting two handsome Italian men, she wants to get over the heartbreak Hugo has left her with and have some fun, jumping in feet first she only has to listen to the way they speak to her and she just melts at their feet.
There is a lot going on in this story, one that will keep you entertained throughout. You can see the passion Merryn Corcoran has in writng her stories, especially the descriptions and vivid surroundings of beautiful Italy.
Looking forward to more soon from this Author.

One of the strongest and most striking locations I’ve ever come across in a novel in a long while. I had trouble believing such a fairytale like castle and room could exist, and although it’s fallen into disrepair now, the castle is very much a real fixture in the Tuscan countryside.

Allegra heads out there from England after her marriage collapses. Her grandfather has dementia but in his lucid moments often talks about a castle in Tuscany and so she heads out there to investigate. She needs a break and decides to spend her time looking into her family’s past. There’s a few dubious moments and bad decisions when she first arrives (Allegra, really) but the mystery soon gets going and draws you deeper inside that castle and that room with the peacock colours….

It was the story about the family history and that gorgeous peacock room which grabbed me from the off. The grandfather had an interesting past! Sometimes this was overshadowed by family dramas and some very bad decisions on Allegra’s part but, on the whole, the mystery stood firm. I do think it would have been even stronger had it not been for the many moments of Allegra’s rather tangled love life though!

I will never forget this visit to Sammezzano Castle. I have spent ages looking at the gorgeous Peacock Room and all that it represents. It’s a very clever idea for a novel as it’s real, mysterious, crumbling, gothic and has that dark fairytale vibe about it.

The vivid description of the castle and its many unique rooms (365 one for every day of the year!) is a character in itself, one that will make you want to transport yourself there immediately.

And in a book where a location is such a strong feature and character, that’s no bad thing.

This is an easy read. Set in London and Italy there is some beautiful scenery described in this story. I would have liked there to be more about Italy and the history of the Peacock room and the family in the book. I also did not like the way everything was rushed at the end. Overall I liked the story and the descriptions of the scenery.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Dialogue should drive a story, not hold it back from offering up meaning or context. There is a nice romance, a beautiful setting, alluring mystery, and horrible dialogue. Stoic conversation that doesn’t showcase passion is hard to believe, especially when relationships are beginning or ending. I was also confused by all the “mom doesn’t like guns” talk, especially since it makes it look like police officers are the ones perpetuating violence, so it’s not really a relevant connection. But this book is to be read for location and love, not for boring conversations and politics.

Brimming with mystery and drama, THE PEACOCK ROOM by Merryn Corcoran is an unusual tale of secrets from start to finish.

When Allegra discovers that her husband has been cheating on her and has fallen in love with a much younger woman, she is devastated. She put her dreams to one side for him and it was all for nothing. Needing a break, she travels to Tuscany where her family are from, and falls in love with history and architecture all over again. Determined to discover more about her grandfather and the mysterious Peacock Room that he always mentions on his lucid days, Allegra soon finds herself trying to solve a family mystery and there may just be a hint of romance along the way.

There is a lot going on in this story - from family betrayals, a mystery from the past, art history and architecture, and romance, so you will never get bored. The characters are interesting and I really enjoyed the descriptions of each setting that brought the beauty of Italy to life as I read.

THE PEACOCK ROOM by Merryn Corcoran is a blend of history, mystery, drama, and romance and is sure to have something for everyone among its pages.

I loved this book! It was reminiscent of a Nancy Drew book, only an adult version. The idea of the Peacock Room being real has my imagination. I really hate to see this story end. Thank you to Red Door Publishing & the author, Ms Corcoran, herself for the gift of this free ARC.

Ever since I visited Italy for the first time last year, I’ve had this fascination with the country that I didn’t use to have. Therefore, I’ve also been craving books that would take me to Italy and make me relive the beauty that I witnessed last summer.

The Peacock Room definitely promised a world of beauty, history and mystery, but it only partially delivered. I had rather high expectations, at the prospect of a romantic novel set in Tuscany, which also goes into the family mysteries of the main character, Allegra.

While I definitely could imagine the sun and the lovely landscape, the architecture, the wine and castles, I fear a lot of this was on my own volition and came from me, not the book, per se.

On its own, The Peacock Room was trying to be too many things at once, and that was its downfall. It started with family drama, which turned into a historical mystery, which grew into a romance, wash, rinse, and start from the top. At one moment we were in Italy, trying to solve the disappearance of Allegra’s great-grandfather (I absolutely refuse to go on with the “grandpapa” which was heavily abused in the book), next thing you know, Allegra is texting her soon to be ex-husband and flying back to the UK to deal with her family.

And the romance… my god, the romance. If there was one thing that lost this book one entire star, that was it. Allegra was at an age somewhere between 40 and 45, and she met not one, but two random men that she wanted to sleep with basically right away, while simultaneously being angry at her best friend that she went to Italy to have sex with her lover. What’s so much worse than this hypocrisy, however, was this sentence (bear with me, she did hook up with one of the abovementioned two guys, and that was it, insta-love):

"She so wanted to be his darling."

This, at least, was maybe about a week after they met.

This quote below, on the other hand, was from somewhere around their second date, and I might be wrong, it could as well be the morning after their first date:

"When you smile, Allegra, the sun dances. So be assured I always want to make you smile."

If a guy spurts this kind of bullsh*t on your second date, that’s one sleazy motherf-. Run.

This book could have been so much better if it had focused on being only one thing. Had it been a romance novel full of quotes as the two above, it probably would have appealed to someone, albeit not myself.

Had it been a thriller through and through, it would have been great. Who doesn’t love historical mysteries full of culture and… well, Italy?

It could also have been a novel about a woman struggling through divorce and trying to find herself after so many years of being her husband’s shadow. This is realistic.

Or maybe not even that – I could have gone with a mix of mystery and romance, had it not been so choppy and had the flow of the book not been interrupted by the change of story. You see, a romantic mystery is one thing, a chapter about this, then a U-turn and a chapter about something else entirely, all of those things clashing with each other, making you forget what was going on with that other story, is a different thing altogether.

I did find enjoyment in the richness of the background, as well as the tidbits of things that I liked, and which didn’t manage to bloom into a full story in this book. Too bad there weren’t more of those.

There are so many things I could write about the Peacock room. The Peacock room is enchanting and I was hooked from the very first moment I found out the Peacock room actually exists inside Tuscany. I instantly felt transported inside these pages. Reading this book has been a delight and I recommend it for everyone.

After Allegra finds out that her husband has been cheating on her, she decides to recover by going to Tuscany. She learns that there is a Tuscan Castle that is connected to her family. I like Allegra. I found her to be a very sympathetic character. I also like the setting of the Tuscan countryside. There were times that the novel dragged. Still, I recommend this for those that love Lucinda Riley, Melanie Dobson, and Kate Morton.

I gave this book one ❤️ because the cover is so beautiful!
Another❤️ because the writing is gorgeous and so colourful. Merryn’s writing transports you right into Tuscany, Italy.
And another ❤️❤️ because the story was well structured, the characters well defined and it was an easy read.

I had a hard time relating to Allegra and she was frustrating at times because of poor decisions. I still like the plot and the ending brought a closing to the mystery.

Thank you RedDoor Books for sending me an advanced copy of this beautiful book.