Set in Italy after the world wars, I really loved the descriptiveness and beauty of the story! It did drag at times, which made it harder to stay invested in the story. I admit I skimmed ahead a few times over thing I felt were more filler than required reading for a cohesive story. Absolutely perfect for Downton Abbey fans, I just wish the book had more depth to keep me invested. A little more fluff than was necessary was added.

🌟🌟🌟/5

I received an advanced copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you to NetGalley, Blackstone Publishing, and J.P. O'Connell. ❤️

A fun sweet read! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my ARC.

I fully enjoyed this book! Well written, great storyline, perfect amounts of humor, romance, mystery, and scandal. Would absolutely read more from this author!

I enjoyed reading this book and could see it being made into a great mini series. The large list of dynamic characters makes the books engaging. I loved the time period it was set in and the fact that it featured ex-pats. Highly enjoyable if you enjoy a historical fiction read.

As a Downton Abbey fan, I picked this up on the recommendation that it might appeal to me. It did not disappoint. Bella's story unfolds as the novel progresses and the descriptions of Italy under Mussolini were chilling. I enjoyed the setting, the family and their struggles.

Set in post war Italy. The Hotel Portofino guest are thrown in a mysterious theft. I found the book dragging at times. It wasn’t for me.

Thank you #Netgalley, #BlackstonePublishing, #JPO’Conneell and #HotelPotofino for the copy for my honest review.

if you enjoy rich people drama, family secrets, blackmail, forbidden love and a hint of mystery you should pick this up. The book is set in the 1920s so the cast is still learning to adjust after being plagued by Influenza and the first World War. the descriptions of the costumes, food landscape and the hotel are beautiful. It is also set in Italy so there are a few seaside scenes that make me miss the beach. The book was also made into a miniseries which was exactly the same as the book so if you fall in love with these characters and want to watch them come to life I think you would love to watch it.

Wonderful summertime read. Enjoyed much better than the PBS series (although the scenery was breathtaking)..

I’m not a big historical fiction person, but I love Italy, so I was intrigued by this book. While overall I enjoyed it, there were just too many characters for me to keep track of. Thanks for letting me check it out!

Have been unable to review due to illness. Review coming soon! This novel looks fantastic! An what a beautiful cover!

taly-six years after the Great War. Bella Ainsley and her aristocratic husband Cecil escape to the Italian Riviera with their widowed daughter Alice and granddaughter Lottie along with son Lucien who survived but was broken by the war. Bella focuses on restoring a hotel that will provide a living for the family and help to heal her family. Patronizing the hotel are a number of English guests including Julia one of Cecil's old flames and her beautiful but vapid duaghter Rose who is dangled as a poassible "match" for Lucien. The many characters who stay in the hotel inlcuding Count Albani and his son, a closeted gay Indian medic who is a pal of Lucien and a number of locals who either support or protest against Mussolini create an atmosphere of intrigue. The audio version of this story is absolutely delightful and has been announced as an upcoming Masterpiece Theater production. It reminds me of the film Enchanted April (based on the book by the same name) and the sometimes zany series of events also has echoes of the Durrels of Corfu. I was, however, surprised by the extremely abrupt ending but it is likely the author is gearing up for "Season Two" of the family adventures so I expect more will be coming soon. This engaging story should definitely be enjoyed before the television series creates images of the characters in our head.

This book lived up to my expectations of a Downton Abbey like story. I look forward to the next volume.
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher. This is my honest and personal review.

I received this from the publisher as an advanced reading copy from NetGallry. I agree with other reviewers and that this resembles Downton Abbey on the Italian Riviera. it takes place following World War I and has a large cast of characters that come to stay at the hotel’s first opening. There are multiple storylines and I do not feel that they were all well developed and would have preferred fewer more developed storylines. There is also reference to Agatha Christie however the caper in the novel is not really developed as a main story line. I think this book had a lot of promising storylines but there were just too many of them. As a television series, there are certainly be multiple places to go in subsequent seasons. As a shorter novel, there are just too many storylines to develop.

I couldn't get into this book and never finished it.

I received the audio and an e-copy. I do plan on trying to finish it soon.

This novel takes place in Italy in 1926, right after the end of The Great War. It was a remarkably average read for me. There was nothing bad about it, but also nothing super great. Just average.

Enjoyed this tale of guests with secrets (some not so secret) at the "Hotel Portofino. I can see this as an entertaining little bit of Masterpiece Theatre!

The rights have been sold and filming has already begun by PBS for a series based on this novel before it even came to publish. Premiering later this year (2022), Hotel Portofino (TV Show) has created a rather big hype around this novel and getting to be one of the few approved for an ARC. Thankfully, I was one of the lucky ones selected by NetGalley – even though my blog has come more of a past-time instead of my driving hobby. I must say though, this novel did not disappoint.

The Great War [WWI] has ended, and much of England is feeling the effects of the Trench War. Many have lost loved ones, and those lucky enough to have returned have been experiencing a touch of shell shock. Bella Ainsworth, our protagonist, decides that the best decision for her family is to start life anew by opening a luxury bed and breakfast in the Italian Riviera. After searching the newspaper classifieds, the perfect property is finally found – The Hotel Portofino.

I must say, this story is extremely character-driven, very stylistic of the novels of the time period, and can become a little confusing. The high volume of characters too means that plenty of them seem rather flat then well-developed. This also limited the amount of character development in a few of the guests.

Overall, I give this novel a 4 out of 5 stars!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Bella ,her husband , and family go to Italy to open a hotel in 1926. This story is about the family, guest and staff. i really wanted to like this one, but the characters were pretty under developed for me. I had a hard time keeping track of who was who ( there were a lot of people). In short this book was just ok for me. I would probably try another book by this author. This book is really good for fans of Downton Abbey or The Crown

This book was just "meh" for me, unfortunately, so I did not finish it. It might be a case of "it's not you, it's me," though! Thanks for the opportunity to preview the title.

This is an unusual book because there has been a miniseries made about it apparently before the book has been released! Touted as “perfect” for fans of Downtown Abbey and The Crown, I get the DA comparison, but not TC so much. I’d like to add it has a little bit of Hotel DuLac thrown in and maybe even The Durrells.

Here we see Brits abroad running a hotel in Portofino in the 1920s. Much of the help has been imported from the UK, with locals mixing in for some tasks. The guests include Brits and Italians of some stature, along with a few shady characters. All of this set within the looming menace of Mussolini, the Black Shirts, and Fascism.

There is decent character development, romantic entanglements, black mail, theft, and some other intrigue. Some characters are endearing, others grotesque. It was an enjoyable read, and I wonder if there will be a sequel.