In this book we meet Gillian who has been with her husband now for 25 years. The sparks seem to have gone and things are feeling a little bit rocky and so when her husband goes to Sicily on a work trip. Gillian decides after too many drinks that she must go out and surprise him. But as you can probably guess when she gets there things aren't what they seem and the trip really doesn't have the outcome that Gillian wants. As her life and marriage blows up by what she discovers Gillian decides that she will stay in Sicily and figure out what her next steps should be and what she wants out of life, now that she can start again. However Gillian was a little hard to connect with. I mean for one she decides to stay in Sicily. But she doesn't really embrace it. I mean who goes to Italy and doesn't eat lots of yummy Italian food and treat. I mean I thought that was a given when going to Italy. But especially if you are mending a broken heart. I thought it was a little bit of a travesty that she never really embarrassed it. Also I understand that she was freaking out a little bit about being 40 and I get that. But to get so hung up on the fact that she had a younger lover who was only 3 years younger than her felt a little bit off kilter. I mean I have a husband who is 3 years younger than me. Its no big deal at all. I mean you don't notice the age gap at all when it's only a few years. I could understand it more if he was like 10 or 15 years younger than her. But three. That was a bit silly in my opinion. It was also all a little predictable. Which isn't always a big issue. But I think because I wasn't the biggest fan of the main character. I think it felt a bit more obvious and so a little bit more annoying. Also what happened to her husband. Did he return home? Were they both living in Sicily at the same time? I mean you usually know the outcome of that. But it felt like that got forgotten about and just disappeared. It wasn't an awful story. But I just don't think it was for me.

I need to go to Sicily now. I've never been anywhere but Sicily is calling me!

This wasn't my favorite book but the author did a great job of detailing the locations and fully romanticized all of it - to great effect!

Gillian and Mattia, even after reading the story I still don't fully get it, and maybe that's OK. Gillian's continual self-doubt was wearing on my about halfway through the book. Both she and Mattia were so quick to react and not think things through, which while realistic at times, got to be a bit much as well.

Their "relationship" was the slowest burn ever without the payoff and I think many readers will be disappointed by that. The tiniest bit of spice would've been welcomed by me for sure.

I'm not sure I'd recommend this book as more than a get-away type thing. I feel the author wrote a love story about Sicily more than she wrote about Gillian & Mattia, or even just Gillian learning to love herself.

This is a really uplifting and moving story about a middle aged woman’s growth and development. Gillian comes to Sicily to surprise her husband Tony. However the trip backfires on her as Tony has got himself a younger and richer new fiancée!
Having lost her luggage Gillian has to start to get closer to the locals than she expected to do. However Gill is resourceful and funny as she manages to make good friends and even start her own business. Romance comes to her with Mattia who helps her buy a new home and even shares a dog with her.
This is an uplifting story that proves that even when you are dumped you can get over it and develop into a stronger person. You just have to keep your sense of humour like Gillian manages to do

I liked this book, with some flaws in the story. Overall, it was enjoyable.

Gillian flies to Sicily to surprise her husband while he is on a business trip and get the spice back in the marriage. As you can probably guess, the outcome of the trip is not what she thought it would be.

Once her marriage is blown up by what she discovers, she decides to stay in Sicily while she figures out her next step. One issue I had with this book, is she is very concerned that she will soon be 40, and her Sicilian love interest is "Younger". Younger as in 36, so three years. That is younger, but hardly anything to bat an eye at. She also has self-esteem issues about her weight and I understood that, however, who would not want to eat yummy Italian desserts while fixing a broken heart?

This had a nice cast of characters, a lot was so perfect, it was a little Hallmark-ish, but who doesn't need a little bit of that once and a while. One unanswered question, was what happened to the husband? She told him only to speak through attorneys, but she kept extending her stay, and that part of her story never came back.

All in all enjoyable, I would like to give 3 1/2 stars, but rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley for the preview.

this was a good one from the start. must read and really enjoyed this from page one. I am loving this author more and more. Every book does it for me.

It was a nice and cute start. Personally wasn’t a fan of the writing style. I unfortunately had to DNF it but i hope some else will find interest in this book.