I am a huge fan of Fredrik Backman's books. This book's blurb says it's perfect for fans of Fredrik Backman. Take that plus a pinch of set-in-Italy and a white lie snowballing, with the promise of humor, and sign me up. Many thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for making this available to me.

A vacuum repairman, who repairs precisely zero vacuums in this novel, and self-appointed mayor of a tiny town at the boot of Italy has just been visited by the Water Commission and told that he needs to come up with 70,000 euros to repair the town's plumbing, or all the residents will be forced to disperse. In desperation, he ends up claiming that a famous movie actor will be filming a movie set in the town, and from there, it snowballs, with the town's residents coming together to take part in making this "movie" happen.

Carrying on about Backman. This is like Fredrik Backman's works, but more light-hearted. Backman often will have a heavier theme supporting the charming antics and personalities of his characters. This has a heavy theme as well, but it's not quite as dark of one. A lot with this story is over the top and had me snorting with laughter. I especially loved a section in the book about the flatulent Pomeranian. You just can't top some of the ridiculous humor. What's best is I can actually imagine THIS being optioned for its own movie.

I especially loved the sense of community. Everyone, literally everyone, even the main character's 93-year-old uncle was involved in projects for the movie. It completely woke up this sleepy little Italian town, including the narrator's daughter, who has been struggling for a time. This eventually causes all to become closer. But what will happen when the famous movie star ends up wanting to participate in the movie as well? Well. It's definitely worth reading to find out and laugh some more!

This book is an absolute charmer, and you should definitely pick it up.

PATRON SAINT OF SECOND CHANCES

DEBUT NOVEL by CHRISTINE SIMON

Atria books

Publication date April 12, 2022

This is a beautifully written and hilarious story with loveable and relatable characters. The author’s great sense of humor comes through in this heartwarming novel.

The setting is the charming town of Prometto, Italy with a population of only 212 and a big water pipe problem. Without expensive repairs to the system, the commission will shut off the water and the residents will be forced to leave. Vacuum repairman and self-appointed mayor Signor Speranza has been a life-long resident of this tiny town and will stop at nothing to save the village. In an effort to boost local revenue he starts a rumor that a famous movie star has chosen the village for his next project. The plan works too well after his daughter post it on the internet. The entire town wants to be involved and soon he realises he must make a movie for real. Can he keep the residents believing the movie star will show up and what happens if he actually does.

Even though this story takes place in Italy, it is relatable to any small town. Fans of Julia Claiborne Johnson and Elyssa Friedland, Fredrik Backman and Maria Semple will enjoy this.

I look forward to reading more from Christine Simon.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with this Advanced Readers Copy for a fair and honest review.

The Patron Saint of Second Chances is such a fun book. It really is laugh-out-loud funny in spots. It has wonderful characters and an interesting setting. The plot is perfect, the more things snowball out of control the better. The main character means well and is so set on fixing things that he gets in deep. His internal monologue is one of my favorite things about the story. He really has the town's best interest at heart, he just needs money. It is the perfect story to read if you need a mood lift. I loved it.

This wasn’t for me. The writing was dry and felt forced. Nothing charismatic about the town or characters. Seemed like everything here has been done before and just felt like a bad attempt at rewriting other books. The premise sounded good but really the whole thing fell flat.