I’ve read one of the travelling series of books by Rebecca before and throughly enjoyed it, so jumped at the chance to read another. Unfortunately, this one fell a bit flat for me.

I loved the descriptions of the bookshop, the maze of books and rooms filled to bursting with old forgotten books - who wouldn’t! The cats were an added bonus, all with their own personalities and war wounds. The overall storyline of Luna loving for her lost family was good, she did jump to conclusions a few times but got to the truth in the end, but the traveller/hippy side just didn’t do it for me, there just seemed to be too much of it and it just didn’t feel right. It’s difficult to put a finger on exactly what I disliked about it but I didn’t feel it added to the story for me, or a lot of it didn’t.

Overall, a nice cosy novel that was enjoyable but isn’t one I’d pick up again unfortunately. It hasn’t put me off reading more by the same author though.

The Little Venice Bookshop was a beautiful, lovely and uplifting story about love (no exactly romantic), and finding yourself.
I really liked the setting, who wouldn’t love to work in a bookshop in Venice? And I really liked the characters. Luna was a very different character from what I’m used to but it was refreshing. I really liked Gigi and Oscar and Aunt Loui and all the cats!
I enjoyed reading it and when I felt the story was finishing soon, I started reading slowly so I could enjoy it for a longer time.
I loved the daughter-mother bond and I think the author approach the whole grief subject in a good way. Overall, it was a heartwarming story that even when it broke my heart a little bit at the beginning, it put it back together in the end. It felt different from other stories by Rebecca Raisin, but in a good way, I deeply liked it.

This was my first experience of reading a Rebecca Raisin book, and it definitely will not be the last.

The Little Venice Bookshop is a heart warming, sincere story about a young woman finding her place in the world after the loss of her Mother.

In this romance story, with the main character Luna, we cover love, loss and connection in so many different ways.
We follow Luna, and her best friend Gigi, as they travel to Venice. We get to meet so many fantastic characters, with Oscar and Giancarlo being amongst my favourites, and follow the story of finding lost relatives and restoring a beautiful bookshop back to its former glory. The plot line was sweet, adventurous and as a huge book worm I loved it.

The twists and turns of the story kept me interested to the very end, and for a romance novel the ending was perfection for me personally.

I gave this 4 stars as the continued theme of spiritual connections and practices that were spoken about in the story were not really my thing. I would have preferred less of this. However, I do appreciate this is important to many so I understand the authors choice to go into detail about the practices of spiritual healing.

I highly recommend this book, it was easy to read and I loved so many of the descriptions on Venice, the Bookshop and Luna’s adventures!

Rebecca Raisin's novels are also perfect for a bit of escapism, and The Little Venice Bookshop was no different. We meet the main character Luna as she is travelling around Thailand with friend Gigi. But she comes back down to earth with a bump with the death of her beloved mother. As she is sorting through her mother's things, Luna comes across a letter which might lead to the identity of the father she never knew. Luna heads off to Venice in search of him, and gets a lot more than she bargained.

The Little Venice Bookshop is a great light breezy read, which will make you yearn for Italy, and bookshops!

A really lovely feel-good book jam-packed with books & cats, family & friendships and finding romance. I really enjoyed reading this book. Perfect for the summer, take it with you when travelling or, if staying at home escape to Venice through the pages.

A beautiful book that made my bibliophile heart sing. The strong sense of place, made it an ideal escape to somewhere warmer and atmospheric.
I was immersed in the bookshop and characters lives

I was drawn to this book by the cover and synopsis and I was excited to read it. I enjoyed The Little Venice Bookshop but I didn’t love it. For me the beginning dragged on, I felt like the middle of it focused on things that weren’t all that important, and the ending...what should have been a big, beautiful ending was rushed beyond belief and I felt cheated. Even an epilogue would have helped to bring this book full circle, but alas that did not happen.

After her beloved mother passes away, Luna finds some letters she’d kept from a man named Giancarlo. A man who obviously loved her and had a life with her at one point, something she and her mother’s best friend knew nothing about. Luna and her mother lived an interesting life; living in communes and building a network of other women who became their family. Luna never knew her father; her mother always told her she was a gift from a new moon ceremony in Thailand. With her best friend Gigi in tow, Luna heads to Venice to unravel the mystery of the letters and hopefully find Giancarlo.

I felt like this book was all over the place and instead of focusing on Luna, her quest for answers, and even the slow building romance with her co-worker Oscar, the book spent too much time with Luna seeing another man she met the first night she was in Venice and sneaking around trying to find the letters her mother had written to Giancarlo instead of just sitting down and asking him. There were some interesting twists that weren’t hard to figure out, but once Luna got her answers and made her discoveries the book was pretty much over. We were told there were conversations and spending time together but sadly we didn’t see any of it. On top of that Oscar was basically absent towards the end instead of us seeing them moving forward together.

I loved the bookshop setting I could envision it perfectly, I loved Giancarlo (I’m pretty sure I met his counterpart in a bookshop in Edinburg, Scotland), I enjoyed Luna and Oscar basically resurrecting the bookshop with their innovative ideas, I just wanted more of that and Luna enjoying the relationships she grew while in Venice.

Anyone who loved books and bookshops will love this one. Luna is a sweet character and although I couldn’t see the fascination for continually travelling as she does, her love for the written word was a huge positive for me. The bookshop on the canal sounded magical and I loved how Luna and Oscar worked together to give the shop a new lease of life. The descriptions of Venice were beautifully captured and the romance of the city flowed from the pages.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Luna has grown up travelling the world with her mother Ruby and when her mother decides to settle down in America, Luna continues on with her travels. This comes to a sudden halt when she gets the call she had been dreading from her aunt Loui telling her that her mum has passed on. When Luna and her best friend and travel buddy Gigi return to the commune to say goodbye to her mum they find old love letters to Ruby from someone that Luna had never heard of before. Luna gets hopeful that this man may be the father that she never knew and as soon as her mum is buried Luna and Gigi are off to Venice in search of the elusive writer of the love letters and the bookshop that he hopefully still owns.
his was another one sit read for me and I had tears in my eyes from pretty much the beginning and they didn't stop until the end but not all were tears of sadness some are from happiness and some from laughter.
Although initially it seemed to be quite predictable with what would happen, the twist near the end was unexpected.
Loved the characters although Luna was a bit airy at times which seemed contradictory with her character. Gigi was awesome and I really enjoyed when she was in the story. The romances seemed a bit predictable but did not take away from the enjoyment. The bonus was all the cat content who with their own personalities Madde the whole thing just the little bit better.

A heartwarming, feel good, gentle read.
Love the descriptive writing and there was a lovely aura about Luna, the main character, she was a total free spirit
Totally related when her beloved mother passed away, and the love letters that were found after her mother’s funeral were a lovely twist as to how she ended at the Venice bookshop.
Loved the recurring theme of the importance of books - “I live and breathe books. They’ve been there for me when I’ve been all alone and not sure of my place in the world”
The ending to the book was perfect, leaving potential for a possible follow up book (please!!!) to explore the relationships with her new love interest Oscar and and her newly found half-sister
Perfect summer read - switching off and taking you to the Country of Gondola’s

Loved the bits about Luna, the cats and the quirky little book, shop. Great ideas for an independent book shop and ways to promote it to tourists on limited visits, but not so sure about the hippy back story. Those bits just didn't flow for me.
A bit of a mixed bag.

Luna discovers her mother has tragically passed away so sets off on a mission to explore who her father is.

This leads to a stay in Venice where she gets a lot more than she bargains for.

I discovered Rebecca’s books last year and she’s now my go to comfort read author. This one didn’t disappoint. It was another delightful read. The story takes you to all corners of the globe before settling in Venice. We are then introduced to the most amazing sounding secondhand bookshop. Complete with an eccentric owner, bookshop cats and some interesting sounding displays that I don’t want to spoil! You really need to read it discover them yourself.

Luna was an interesting protagonist and I enjoyed reading about her nomadic lifestyle she had with her mother. I felt heartbroken for her after her mother passed away and was glad that she had her Aunt Loui and friend Gigi for support. I cheered along for her as she discovered Giancarlo’s letters to her mother and went to find out him and discover what their connection was.

As with Raisin’s other books there was also a dash of romance. A love triangle between rival Oscar and the perfect sounding Sebastiano. All parts of the story were expertly woven together and it finished up with a satisfying ending.

A sweet story. The characters were all likeable but just not quite as well developed as I would like. They were kind of inconsistent. I understand that people change even in books, but somehow both Luna and Gigi had personalities that changed daily. I also found the dialogue a bit challenging and often had to reread a passage to figure out who was actually speaking.

I would still absolutely recommend the book to someone looking for a sweet romance! Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC.

DNF at 28%

Sadly this one wasn’t for me. I didn’t care for the overly hippy/new age vibes which totally detracted from the story. Luna was flat and boring whilst Gigi was annoying. I’m not sure who the love interest was going to be either. At the point I stopped reading we had seen one guy and met another.

The pace was excruciatingly slow and had very little substance to it. I normally enjoy this author’s work but this one fell far short of my hopes and expectations.

This is a warm book, a book about a book shop in the beautiful city of Venice - what is not to like!! It started in a very emotional manner and there are a few tears along the way. Although you might quickly see how some of the story is going, the journey provides an enjoyable and easy read.
I definitely wanted to visit the book shop and the nods to different books/stories was good fun.

After her mother dies, Luna discovers some letters which sends her on a journey to Venice in search of the man who she believes is her father. Luna uncovers more than she bargained for!

This is a pleasant and easy read, some of it sad and some of it happy. It’s a little predictable, not that that bothers me too much! I’m just mentioning it. It’s set in a beautiful location. Venice is one my favourite places to have visited. I doubt whether I will visit it again but have some fantastic memories which will last a lifetime. The descriptions of the city are evocative and I was able to visualise it well. The bookshop sounded wonderful! I loved the book references. With some zany characters and an engaging storyline, it’s a lovely piece of escapism and will take you away from life’s trials and tribulations, especially in the current climate.

This may be a great book for some, but unfortunately not for me.
Too many “flower child” vibes for me. I kept expecting somebody to bring out the peyote and marijuana.
If you’re into “being one with the Cosmos”, give it a read.
DNF for me.

📚Slow, sad start, terrific ending😍

I found this story really caught me in its thrall soon after Luna, the lead character, arrives in Venice with her BFF Gigi. Luna's story is bittersweet; she so misses a close family connection and goes to great lengths to solve the mystery of her recently-deceased mother's early life. And a dusty, failing, second hand bookstore in Venice with a taciturn owner and oodles of cats is the target of her efforts to find purpose and answers.

The descriptions of Venice itself are not detailed, just enough to provide a framework for the action and the way Venice itself interacts with the bookstore and Luna's clever idea for bringing in high value customers and social media attention. The focus keeps pretty constantly on Luna, her thoughts and feelings. The character number is kept down to make it easy to follow each. There are actually almost as many cat as human characters! After the sad beginning, the latter 80 percent just flows so well and I couldn't find anything I did not just lap up. The ending, with so many threads resolved, was sublime.

So glad I picked this one up! Really uplifting by its conclusion and a lovely plot.

Thanks to HQ Digital and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

I enjoyed this for the most part, it was an easy read and I liked Luna as a character, although I would’ve liked some more character development for her. The plot was good, I was kept entertained throughout but something just felt like it was missing for me personally, I wanted something more from the story.