Gina longs to return to Greece where should long ago vacationed with her mom and fell in love. Her marriage is crumbling and she feels alone when she arrives, but makes two quick friends as they enjoy their vacation and look for her lost love. I enjoyed this quick read, which is a book on friendship and growth rather than a romance primarily.

49-year-old Gina has long dreamed of returning to the Greek island of Kalosiros, the site of summer holidays with her mum and her teenage first romance, but after her mum's death she settled down in a sensible life with a sensible husband, and put her dreams aside.

When she is finally able to save for the trip back to Kalosiros, she is devastated to discover her husband is unable to get time off work, but buoyed by the support of her employer, Anne, Gina decides to travel back to the site of her childhood happiness alone. But not alone, as she soon meets fellow solo travellers Deedee and Rosie, and have a rollicking girls holiday that enables Gina to lay the ghosts of her past to rest, search for her first love, heal her soul, and rethink her future.

This is a heartwarming tale of friendship, and rebirth, of rediscovering oneself after so many rudderless years. It's marketed as "Mamma Mia meets Shirley Valentine" book, and it is exactly that - a warm uplifting, story of what women can do when supporting each other.

It's refreshing to read a book with "older" protagonists - Gina is 49, Rosie 50, and Deedee 69 - who are not staid background characters; rather these women are all full of life and joy and vivacity. (A minor quibble - some of the timelines don't quite add up, but I'm convinced time has gone sort of wibbly wobbly. And as one of the last of the Gen-xers, I'm horrified Gina doesn't have social media).

There was no holding back from the realities of getting older - perimenopause and its accompanying brain fog, sudden hot flashes and rages, are all mentioned here, along with HRT.
Gina is an awkward, perimenopausal, relatable everywoman who does the goofy things we all think we'd do in [x] situation. Rosie is the driven, outgoing Planner type, and Deedee is the auntie/mother figure who encourages Gina to fly while being there to catch her.

This was a fantastic read. After starting it and getting distracted, I ended up reading the lot in a night. There were tears, there were laughs, there was righteous indignation, there no surprises ... but the book is filled with a whole lot of love of all kinds.

A beautiful read.

~ Many thanks to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Alex Brown for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~

Love this story about new opportunities, second chances and mature characters. Alex Brown stories are full warm of love and I really enjoyed that it was settled in Greece.

The perfect treat - Bring Me Sunshine is a gorgeous holiday read and has transported me to Greece with the all of the sunshine and some mouthwatering good food.
This is so wonderful- just like all of Alex Brown’s other books, it’s filled with brilliant characters, a gorgeous setting and lots of love.
Gina, Rosie and Deedee had such an instant rapport and I loved how they built eachother up and gave eachother confidence in learning how to fly again. Deedee sounded a hoot and seeing her encourage Gina to take that leap out of her comfort zone was a joy to read.
With little nods to Shirley Valentine and Mamma Mia this is a fabulous summery read.

This book is all about second chance romance. Gina is about to turn 50, she’s queued two jobs to save for a vacation trip to the Greek Islands she used to visit as a child/ teenager. Gina has been married for almost 27 years when her husband Collin cancels and says he has to work instead of going on their anniversary trip. Gina decides to go solo and has the run of her life. Gina meets DeeDee and Rosie at the resort and they develop a fast friendship and then they make l it a point to help Gina to find her true love who also happens to be her first love. Nico was the love of Gina’s life that got away, will Gina find Nico on the island after 30 years. Or has their time already passed. Come find out in this fast paced, mature romance novel. This was my first book by this author but I already got her other books too.

This book is all about second chance romance. Gina is about to turn 50, she’s queued two jobs to save for a vacation trip to the Greek Islands she used to visit as a child/ teenager. Gina has been married for almost 27 years when her husband Collin cancels and says he has to work instead of going on their anniversary trip. Gina decides to go solo and has the run of her life. Gina meets DeeDee and Rosie at the resort and they develop a fast friendship and then they make l it a point to help Gina to find her true love who also happens to be her first love. Nico was the love of Gina’s life that got away, will Gina find Nico on the island after 30 years. Or has their time already passed. Come find out in this fast paced, mature romance novel. This was my first book by this author but I already got her other books too.

I love Alex Brown books. This is a fabulous story about being unlucky in love. Everyone remembers their first love. Gina jets off to Greece alone. She soon makes friends and they enjoy exploring the island together. I enjoyed these characters and the twists that unravel in the tale. I highly recommend this.

I was invited by the publisher to read this book. This book was a bit of a burst of fresh air. Gina and her estranged husband travel to Greece, and Gina goes off on her own to relive her memories of traveling there when she was younger and her lost love, Nico. She then connects with two other women who quickly become her friends. I liked this book because of the character development, in that Gina was able to find who she was again, but also because of the friendships. I felt that was a strong theme in this book, rather than focusing on romance.

Finally, I did feel transported to Greece; I thought the author did a great job of describing the scenery and food, and I felt like I was there (wishing I were there!).

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another fantastic book from Alex Brown Following Gina and the new friends Rosie and Deedee who she meets as they all solo holiday to a Greek island. The theee new friends get on amazingly but determined to find Gina’s first love. However is he still on the island and can they track home down. Thanks to Alex and her publisher. Thanks also to NetGalley

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

When Gina is informed by her husband that he can’t go on the holiday she has been looking forward to for ages, Gina has had enough.

She goes on the holiday by herself and travels to the gorgeous Island of Kalosiros. This is a place that holds lots of happy memories for her, it’s where she came on holiday when younger with her Mother, and also where she met Nico, who was her first romance

Whilst at the hotel, she meets Rosie and Deedee, they become friends, attend art classes together, go out for meals and drinks, one of those times, Gina, in a drunken state mentions Nico.

After which her new friends decide to help her find her Nico.

I loved the setting, the food which made your mouth water.

I highly recommend this book.

This book had very strong Shirley Valentine vibes with a smattering of Mamma Mia vibes alongside. I really enjoyed the scenery setting of Greece and the strong female friendships that were quickly formed. Parts made me smile and it is easy to settle in for a read in one sitting. Fabulous.

A very enjoyable story about a woman who's had enough of her uncaring husband and his cranky mother, who lives with them, and decides to go on holiday alone when her husband decides he can't make it.

Gina has very fond memories of the little Greek island of Kalosiros, as she used to holiday there frequently when she was younger with her deceased mother, and had a very special friend, Nico, her first love, that she used to meet every summer. But life moved on, her mother died and she stopped going, and eventually lost contact with Nico when she met her husband. But she's been saving for this holiday for a few years now so when her husband decides he can't go it's the last straw and Gina decides she's going on her own and they agree to a trial separation.

Once there Gina meets another two female solo travellers, Rosie and Deedee, and they bond quickly, enjoying each others company. When they find that Gina had a long lost love on the island they make it their mission to find out if he's still living there and what happened to him. She also finds the place she used to stay in with her mother, and the elderly lady that still owns it, although it had fallen into a bit of disrepair. So whilst there she helps her tidy things up a bit.

This was just such a lovely read, set on a beautiful sounding island, with Gina taking back her life and getting rid of the useless husband! Great escapism, a lovely book that will leave you with a big smile on your face at the end of it.

I love Alex Brown books and this did not disappoint. The perfect summer read, great characters, perfect sounding location - I want to be part of their gang!

Bring Me Sunshine by Alex Brown

A truly ray of sunshine , lives up to it's title.

Gina Bennett has had enough after her husband of twenty-seven years lets her down one time too many. Deciding to choose herself, she embarks on a transformative solo journey to break free from the monotony of her life.

She escapes to the gorgeous Greek island of Kalosiros, where she holidayed in her youth, and where she had her first romance with the handsome Nico. Encountering two kindred spirits in Rosie and Deedee, the women bond over art classes and cocktails, renewing their lust for life and a shared quest to find Gina's lost love.

A great story set in a wonderful place , you can almost feel the sun and see the clear blue sea.

Gina goes to Kalosiros on her own after her husband lets her down. She meets Rosie and Deedee who become great friends. Gina also wants to try and find Nico who was her first love from many years ago

A really enjoyable book which I will certainly recommend to others.
Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it.

I love Alex Brown books!
I love Mamma Mia!
I love Shirley Valentine!

So combining all three into one book was always going to be a winning combination for me, and it really was!

I got the Alex Brown vibes instantly, not just because she is the author of the book, but because the small bit before the action moves to Greece, was set in Tindledale, a setting that is very familiar to Alex Brown fans.

And equally, just on meeting Gina's husband and the first couple of chapters, I was very strong on the Shirley Valentine vibes. I could see many parallels between the two, which just made me smile

And once Gina finally makes it to Greece, she starts to come into her own, she meets on her first night two other solo women and a friendship is strike-d up instantly, and from there the trio were inseparable - a bit like Donna and the Dynamos - in fact I really could get the Mamma Mia feelings too - not least as Fernando is a song that kept buoying Gina's confidence.

Between Rosie and DeeDee they encourage her to search the island of Kalosiros for her lost love Nico, while she also ignites her artistic abilities too. She also has far too many messages from her husband each day, despite them being separated.

With plenty of sun, sea, cocktails and a whole lot more, this is a perfect summer escapist read. I devoured it, loving every single word. Another totally fabulous book from one of my favourite authors. I couldn't get enough of all of it.

It's brilliant and totally transported me to Greece.

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I’ve been enjoying Alex Brown’s books for a long time now, so I couldn’t wait to read Bring Me Sunshine. It didn’t disappoint - I enjoyed it so much.

I loved reading about Gina’s journey, rediscovering herself. And the growing friendship between Gina, Rosie, and Deedee was wonderful to see. They’re so supportive of each other.

The characters were all well drawn, especially the three ladies. They all had distinct personalities and backgrounds.

The sense of place was excellent, it made me feel like I was really on a sunny Greek Island. As well as all the above, there’s some romance too.

Overall, this book was a fun and delightful escape. I recommend it.

I was given a copy of this book, my opinions are my own.

At first I wasn’t sure I’d really enjoy this novel just because it started off a bit slow and Gina seemed to be a little annoying but having said that the more I read the more I enjoyed it.

The only thing I will say is maybe it needed a bit more involvement of Nico, their relationship seemed a bit rushed but overall it was a lovely summery read and I loved the relationships between the 3 women.

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read Bring Me Sunshine by Alex Brown, the most perfect escape book I've read in a long time. Greece! Good friends! Perfect! I loved every word.