I received an ARc from Netgalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.

This is an enjoyable read about Sophy who’s lost her mother and seeks to solve the mystery of a missing painting by her Mum. She travels to Greece and in searching for the painting, she finds love in Theo, a Greek fisherman. Their journey is torturous and angst filled but thankfully it all ends happily.

I was bored by the side story of Tasha and her IVF problems, and of the abusive ex fiancé who turns up and causes trouble between Sophy and Theo. The mystery of the painting was well developed but at times, I felt there was too much detail, too much info dumping and too much exposition.

I’m not fond of first person POV but the author does a good job.

An enjoyable story - if overlong- and I’ll look out for more by this author.

An absolutely beautifully written book. It was gripping from the very beginning. It was heartbreaking to read about the death of Sophie's artist mother. I loved reading about her finding the lost painting and her efforts to try and find it. I loved how the story unfolded which kept me hooked to the story from beginning to end, So many twists and turns. Who would have thought that a daughter would walk in her mothers footsteps their lives following the same path, Simply wonderful.

A heartbroken daughter travels to a small town in Greece to search for her mother’s missing painting. During her stay she finds peace and love in the community and in the arms of a wonderful, caring man.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wow I’ve just finished reading this and there are still tears in my eyes. Such a powerful book. I loved the twists and turns, will they won’t they with Theo and Sophia. The amazing story of Sophia’s mum and her paintings. Of Theo’s dad who has the most marvellous green eyes. I could feel the heat of the Greek sun as I was reading it. Tasha, Sophia’s best friend and her ups and downs (I don’t want to give any spoilers!). I loved it

I have never been to Greece but this book is so descriptive I feel as if I have! It is totally immersive and covers so many topics, food and friendship, miscarriage, abuse, stalking, and the grief of loss. All wrapped up in the hunt for a missing oil painting and a burgeoning love story of two damaged people. I found it hard to put down, an excellent debut novel.
Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

Following the death of her artist mother, and Sophie follows a clue to her mother's past all the way to Methoni in Greece. Here an emotional story of enduring love, loss and secrets unfolds in the most gorgeous setting. I couldn't put this book down, staying up til the small hours to finish it! A stunning debut novel and I eagerly await the next from this author.

This is a great novel. Easy to read and hard to put down. It deals with many topics that we deal with daily. Caregiver for aging/sick parent, grief and mourning, fertility/miscarriages, domestic/emotional/stalking abuse, as well as secrets, bffs, and love.
I loved that Emma included words in Greek with English translation. Including PORTOKALOPITA. (Orange Cake) I wished the recipe was included.
This is Emma's first novel and I look forward to reading more.
I highly recommend this book.

An emotional journey to Greece for Sophia that undoubtedly will leave every reader feeling and understanding the pain of grief. Sophia finds the strength to emerge from a challenging last few years to once again take charge of her life and maybe discover real love does exist!

I was intrigued and engaged by the summary of this book and I was definitely pulled into the story once I started it.

Sophie has recently lost her mother and as she copes with her grief she discovers some mysteries in her mother’s past and sets out to search for some answers. She finds more than she expected on her trip to the Greek community that was so integral to her mother’s paintings and life.

Sophie is a well drawn character. Having been a caregiver for an aging parent and having lost them not too long ago, the grief layered in this book really resonated with me. All the little things, small moments, scents, belongings that catapult you into memory and loss. This was very well delineated here, with care and accuracy.

Theo, the love interest, is less clearly characterised and I would have liked more depth and development of him as a character. We get some of his history and motivations but I still felt we had some blank spaces there.

Considering Sophie’s previous serious relationship (and all its grim history) I was a bit surprised at the speed of the romance connection here.

The secondary characters are vibrant and interesting, sadly with the exception of Theo‘a dad. I wanted to see more of his personality and history than we got.

I liked the sprinkling of the Greek language in the book and the setting described seemed visually gorgeous.

The inclusion and treatment of fertility issues, pregnancy and pregnancy loss was handled sensitively and it was good to see them addressed directly.

Overall a good read. 3.5 stars

My thanks to the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I REALLY liked this book. It is a solid 4.3 stars from me.
The fact that i loved is that it doesnt shy away from addressing grief and trauma and it is such a great story. It is- and i've never called words gorgeous- but they are in this book. All in all, i really did love it.

the summary of this book was so good and i was really excited when i got approved for it but its execution just did not live up to my expectations. to be honest, i liked the beginning and the fact that it was setting this book up to deal with important issues such as the death of a parent, getting out of an abusive and toxic relationship but my interest in the story became less as the story progressed. i liked the idea of sophie going to greece to find her mother's lost painting and simultaneously dealing with her loss and maybe finding love again but what i didn't enjoy was how sophie was written around theo and since it was a big part of her story i just couldn't manage to enjoy it as much as i would have liked to. i'm sure others will enjoy one last letter from greece more than i did.

Well this will be one of the summer reads of the year. Absolute perfection. I expected this to be a stereotypical love story but it is so so much more than that.
I felt well and truly whisked away with the Sun on my face- and by the time Theo enters I needed factor 50!
Like how the paintings of her mothers are used to get her exploring Greece, and the people in it,
This isn't afraid to tackle difficult subject matters and does so in an empathetic way and very sensitively. Taboo subjects such as grief, domestic/emotional violence, fertility and miscarriage all feature. This does not dampen the spirits of this escapism read but makes the characters feel more rounded, even more human and relatable. I am incredibly excited to see what this author does next. Simply beautiful.

Lovely book. Sophie is looking for a lost painting of her mum's. She discovers something in her mum's belongings that take her Methoni where she finds a totally secret side of her mum

A secret and the action taking place in my homeland? I was STOKED!!!

Sadly this book didn’t live up to my expectations at all.

I really felt with Sophie and the loss of her mother. But whenever she was around a certain somebody her inner monologue sounded like a teenager’s.
As the story progressed it became very predictable. I knew who the staring man was before Sophie found out and the connection to her love interest was so predictable too.

The description of Greece wasn’t really good either. I’ve never seen a weekly market where you can buy ready-to-eat food.
The Greek dialogue was mostly okay but I didn’t like the way it was translated.
What I don’t understand is that all the Greeks had some kind of accent? While most of them can’t speak English well, I don’t think that all the imperfect English speakers of Greece are living in Methoni. Especially Theo should’ve spoken better English, considering his university degree.

The Greek names were all wrong though. Christophoros would be Christos, not Christoph. Grigorios would be Grigori, not Grigor. Mary would be spells Mairi but considering her age probably more Maria, not Mary at all.

To be honest, I skimmed over the last chapters and still don’t think I missed anything important.

This book was sent to me for review electronically by Netgalley. This is a quick read and a great story…the daughter wants to find a lost painting for her mother and also escape her life as she mourns…great friends…mystery…love…breakups…death…mourning…surprises…this book has it all. The author has woven a story that keeps our attention from start to finish…beautiful…