I did not like this book
I hated the main character.
Everything seemed very odd
This book wasn’t for me

The cover is very pretty and caught my eye right away.
I enjoy books such as this one that involve multi-generational women. One of the women makes choices then goes back and forth in her mind if she did the right thing or not. Overall, it was a satisfactory read.

I was given a complimentary copy of the book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Under Almond Blossoms is a story about Mila, who inherits her grandmother's souvenir shop in Spain. The novel is about how Mila travels to Spain, works in the shop and makes relationships with the community. This novel will be of interest to contemporary women fiction readers who love a touch of travel.

Found this to be slow and dry... Could've come from a 'lost in translation' perspective, but the impetus to read the words felt lacking, no real flow to them, and the characters themselves felt a tad lacklustre. Unfortunately, did not enjoy

I start this review by saying what a beautiful book this is.
Milla lives in Germany with her fiancé Paul when she receives a letter to say her Grandmother Abigail has died and left her precious Shop to her. This comes as a massive shock as Milla mother Sarah also told her that she had died years ago.
Milla has a very strained relationship with sarah as sarah did with Abigail so she decides to travel to Mallorca when her grandmother lived to find answers to why her mother lied to her. Sarah decided to go with Milla and together they meet with friends and neighbours of Abigail to see if they can uncover the truth.
The story is told in the past and present learning about Abigail’s life as a young woman and of the man she loved johann.
I enjoyed reading this beautiful book from the very first chapter. I couldn’t wait to see what the outcome was going to be.
Thank you NetGalley and Lakeunion Publishing for this lovely book.

I opted to read this book mainly because I was taken in by the beautiful cover and the premise sounded promising. In the end it was just an alright book.

The story is told in dual timelines: one in the present covering Milla's journey to Mallorca Island after she comes to know that she had a grandmother whose existence was hidden from her and who has bequeathed her souvenir shop to Milla and the other covering the backstory of Milla's grandmother as a young woman with Jewish roots living in Mallorca. Although the grandmother's story was interesting enough, Milla's was quite clichéd. I couldn't relate to the characters and for me that is an important factor when I read any book. The book is a translation from the German original. I have read a few translated fiction novels and have enjoyed them but the writing was just okay with this book . I completed it but can't say I enjoyed it very much.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publishers Amazon Publishing UK / Lake Union Publishing and the author for the e-Arc of the book.

Under Almond Blossoms, by Anja Saskia Beyer, is a strong and touching tale that tells the story of Milla as she discovers her past. I enjoyed reading this book, although struggled to digest the historical back story.

The premise of the story is good and it has huge potential. Family secrets and a woman searching for answers under the shadow of some very interesting political history. However, the writing falls short of the mark. It reads as though it was written by a child, although the subject matter is far from childish. This book is translated from German and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out whether it was badly written or simply an awful translation, which distracted me from the story.

This is the story of Milla, a German woman, as she discovers the souvenir shop her grandma has left her in Palma de Majorca and so much more: her roots, her family's history and her love. This is a heroine journey that heals the feminine line of her ancestry. This was interwoven with social expectations of what it meant to be a woman, as well as the roles of men. It also included racial bias, sexual abuse, domestic violence, aging in society, and end of life. This love story is set in Berlin and on the island of Mallorca. Some of the backstory involves a group of Jews forced to convert to Catholicism on Mallorca, along with other interesting historical facts about this island. Since I knew very little about this part of Spain, I found the setting intriguing. The story also explores life in Europe after WWII, which is a little explored - but fascinating - topic in historical fiction.

This is a light read about a woman uncovering her past. Milla lives in Germany and is soon to be married. She receives a letter in the post to say that she has inherited a gift shop in Mallorca left to her by her Grandmother. Milla was told from an early age that her Grandmother had died. Intrigued she sets out to discover her history.
This is a translated novel and tells of the horrors of living as a Jew in Mallorca in the 1950s.
I enjoyed all of the history of life in Mallorca - some of it was hard to read - but in the end it was a lovely story and I enjoyed how it ended .

I was drawn in looking at the beautiful cover.Loved the story the setting the characters.This was a warm wonderful book that I enjoyed from beginning to end.An authorI will follow and a book I will be recommending.#netgalley #amazonuk

I was disappointed by this, I really liked the sound of the book, but sadly expectation didn’t live up to reality. I found the characters and writing style to be flat, no connection or anything I could relate to and just a bit soulless. Unfortunately not for me at all.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

2.5 stars.
It is a really nice cover, that is a plus - but i didn`t find the book enjoyable it wasn`t anything wrong with the book, it was just boring for me.

not very well done. was a pain to sit through it. i would say its the translation but i don't think there was much to work with in the first place. the cover was enticing though.

I loved the premise of this book but I could not get into the story and sadly did not finish the book

On the verge of marriage, an uncertain woman suddenly finds herself the heiress of a small shop left to her from a grandmother that she had thought long-dead. When confronting her distant mother gives her few answers, Milla finds herself traveling to her inheritance. There, she is able to find threads of her family history, given to her by those who knew her grandmother and her reluctant mother, which she must weave together to fully understand both herself and her mother.
A beautifully written tale, alternating between the present and a past that Milla is trying to discover.

This was a really interesting story providing an insight into a history and prejudices that I didn't realise existed. However I felt as I was reading the book that the characters and story lines could do with more description and depth and that the language didn't flow as smoothly as I would expect. When I realised at the end of the story that this is a translation the lack of depth and beauty in the language made more sense. I don't know if it is just in the quality of the translation or the difference in use of descriptive language in writing within German. I enjoyed reading this but felt as though it could be so much better if it was more developed.

A great easy to read book about two mother-daughter relationships; both very strained, both surrounded by secrets. Can Milla find out the truth before it's too late?

Under Almond Blossoms by Anja Saskia Beyer is a beautiful story about finding your true self. Milla discovers she has inherited a shop on Mallorca Island from a grandmother she didn't know she had. Milla's mother has always been distance, and she wants to learn more about her grandmother. When she lands on the Island, she is attracted to the shop's owner next door, Leandro, even though she has a fiance back home. This book was translated to English from German, so it doesn't always read smoothly, and it has a fairy tale quality, but I enjoyed it. I highly recommend this sweet romance.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

While the backstory of the main character's grandmother was interesting, the weird love triangle in present-day was a bit much for me. It seemed very unnecessary. Also, there were still several unanswered questions, and the "reunion" at the end seemed rushed and stilted.