With her talent for interesting and fun plots and light-hearted banter, I've been a big fan of Portia Macintosh for a while now, so I was eager to read 'It's All Sun and Games'. Advertising rep Robin and her colleagues - including crush James and nemesis Liz - is sent to Italy to secure a big account. To her delight she's going to Bari where her teenage pen pal Andrea lives. Throw in language barriers, name mix-ups and you have the recipe a fun rom com.

However, I think this book needing tightening. I found the pace slow-going at times with a lot of long-winded inner monologues and no real character development. I skimmed the first eight chapters to skip ahead to Italy because it was excruciating waiting to get to the main action in Bari. Also there was no real chance for Robin and Andrea to really get to know each other and bond so I felt I was told more than saw their romance develop. The villians were pretty pastiche and frankly James was a sexual harasser so I was stunend why Robin was falling for his nonsense despite saying she knew he loved the chase. I also could've done with less of Rick's team bonding games.

Overall, this is a solidly, a light escapist fun for a beachside (or fireside) read.

Thanks to Boldwood and NetGalley for the ARC.

LOVED. I was cheesin so hard as I read this, once I really got into the meat and bones of the story. The MMC was perfect and the two of them together -chefs kiss- so much chemistry. Swwwwwoooon.

I need this to be a movie now. Definitely recommend for a Summer, vacation read if you want happy, fuzzy, adorable and no smut. If you’re looking for funny and light hearted, and have ever dreamed of Italy and Italian men, you’d like this for sure. The scenery of this book is beautiful. I ate it up in one sitting and feel no shame about it haha.

About: Robin works in marketing and is going on a big work trip to Italy, where the team will fight to stand out and become the boss’s favorite. Robin might also be able to win the heart of her co-worker James and win against her work rival. Coincidentally, they’re going to the city in Italy where her old, childhood pen pal lived and still lives. Except Andrea isn’t the person she thought he was.

Tropes:
* Fake dating
* Childhood friends
* Closed door/fade to black

Notes:
* Liking the opening immediately
* And now I hate boss
* Ouch
* “Push them in the sea” dad gives Ron Swanson vibes in my head when he giggles
* Not the spaghetti straps!!
* James sucks
* Fake dating to get family off your back isn’t original, but the scenes and the activities in this book are + they’re delicious.
* I want a hot Italian chef to suddenly fall in love with me
* I’m 100% translating these Italian lines and dying inside at how cute and also hot

Feedback: I couldn’t give it a 5 because of how much I didn’t like James and wished the story moved a little more quickly in the beginning. I almost wish he was somewhat likable first and I wish the big issue was a little more fleshed out to feel appropriately dramatic and then get some resolution.

ITS ALL SUN AND GAMES by Portia MacIntosh
⭐️ rating: 6/10

read if you like:
👩‍❤️‍👨 romcoms
✈️ travel
💁🏻‍♀️ fake dating tropes

summary:
This book is about Robin, a 31 year old working for a marketing agency, who is sent with her team to Italy to wine and dine a new client. The trip is a chance for her to impress her boss and her work crush, James, while getting a taste of Italy. Coincidentally, the country is also home to Andrea, Robin’s childhood penpal who she was never able to meet in person. When Robin finds out Andrea isn’t exactly the person she thought they were, she finds herself in the middle of a love triangle between her work and her new Italian romance.

The premise of this book is fun, cute and light, with a touch of humor. The story is pretty predictable in of itself, but the Italian landscape adds a beach theme that makes you want to travel. Robin is also a character we all can relate to — a 30-something year old juggling work, love and life and trying to succeed at all three. It leans heavily into the fake dating trope, so if that’s your thing, you’ll LOVE this story. The rest of the characters are cute and entertaining, and even with a simple plot line, it’s hard not to get sucked into this.

I’ve been wanting to go to Italy and this book made me want to go even more. If you want a fun and light escape in a beautiful setting with some amusing characters, check out this book when it releases on July 11! Thanks to Boldwood Books and Net Galley for the ARC!

This was a light and easy romance. The romance is lightning quick. Our heroine travels to Italy for an unbelievable work trip. Supposedly, they’re planning an advertising pitch for an Italian company. Meanwhile, they’re staying in a luxury resort. And get this, no one has put together their pitch for the account yet. No ad agency would pay for their lead people to spend a week at a resort and do company building activities rather than work on their pitch.

In addition, our heroine, Robin, meets up with her teen pen pal whom she hasn’t communicated with for about 14 years. Then she finds out that “she” is actually a guy. And he thought she was a guy. So they’re both surprised. And then for totally unbelievable reasons they end up pretending to be engaged. The romance develops absurdly quickly. Andreas, the pen pal, seems like a lovely, charming guy. Plus he’s a hunk and a chef and is Italian. I can see why she falls for him. I’m not sure why he falls for her, but I guess we can just go along with that.

If you don’t mind totally suspending disbelief and don’t need much of a plot, you might enjoy this. It’s like cotton candy for dessert. Not much substance, but still sweet and light.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review

I’m a big fan of Portia’s novels so I was delighted to get a chance to read this new novel.

This was a fun cute romp of a novel. I enjoyed all the characters and following their story was a fun read. Great for reading by a pool!



Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this novel in exchange for and honest review.

This was a quick easy read. Loved the chemistry between the main characters. My only negative was I did mot like any of Robin’s coworkers at all. This made it impossible to believe that she had feelings for James at all. Overall, I truly enjoyed the book and would recommend.
Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There are so many things that I just loved about this book! It had me laughing and daydreaming of Italy. The characters are well developed, unexpected twist! Who wouldn't have fun soaking up the sun in that Italian atmosphere. The tension between Robin and James is chef's kiss!! This is the perfect summer read, and keeps you turning the page! The wild stories, secret family recipes and matchmaking from grandma Nonna Rose truly brought a smile to my face! Portia Macintosh does not disappoint!

Very fun rom-com. Perfect to read this summer. Great characters and an all around wonderful read!
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

Loved this one! Great and fun read. Highly recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for my ARC.

It’s All Sun and Games with such a fun book to read!

In “It’s All Sun and Games” we begin the story with Robin. Robin is the FMC who works at an advertising agency. We get an insight to Robins life, feelings, etc. Robert, Robins boss decides that he wants to pitch to a new client in Italy so a work trip is planned. Robin has a childhood pen pal that lives in Italy. Unfortunately, between one thing and another, they never officially met in person but they did often exchange emails. Robin reaches out to her pen pal, Andrea. To Robins surprise, Andrea turns out to be a male! In the process, due to a series of events, Robin and Andrea end up fake dating.and as a result truly fall in love.


The book was a quick read, which is what I enjoy from Portia MacIntosh. If you’re in between books, this is a good palette cleanser and honestly, Portia’s books crack me up!


The characters are well developed and likable. Honestly, the only character I really disliked was James who was trying to come between Robin and Andrea!


Tropes in this story include: fake dating, friends to lovers, and only one bed romance, this is the one for you!


Thank you NetGalley and Portia MacIntosh for an opportunity at receiving this ARC in exchange for an honest reviews, thoughts are all of my own.

I really loved this book and once I started it I couldn’t put it down! This book is about Robin and Andrea who were pen pals when they were younger and they wrote to each other for a good while but unfortunately it stopped due to being a teenager and wanting to do other things. Flip forward and years later Robin is working in advertising and the new client they are trying to get is an Italian ready meal company so part of this means that they have to go Italy and it just so happens that Robin’s boss has planned to get married out there. This reminds Robin of her old pen pal friend so she decides to contact them and see how it goes with them again after all the years that have gone past but when they start chatting it’s like they never stopped, so they agree to meet as where Andrea lives is near where they are staying, this then ensues lots of fun going forward. The characters in this book are all different you have Robin who tries her best, James and Liz who are just ruthless and really will go all in but aren’t very nice and are suited to each other,there is Priya who is who is Robin’s friend at work and then you have the others and Rick her boss who’s a bit annoying but he loves Andrea and actually turns out not to be too bad on reflection. Andrea’s family are just amazing and Robin’s family are quirky too.

I would highly recommend reading this book if you are looking for a good book with a heartwarming twist and that has lots of amazing and interesting characters.

I would like to thank Boldwood Books and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book early.

I haven’t read a book by Portia Macintosh and was excited to get this one! I’m very happy that I loved this book and it is an amazing summer / holiday read. It’s giving the best Italian vibes and the book being a rom com with one of my favourite tropes - fake dating - hit the spot for me. Overall it was more of a closed door romance and even though I expected how it would end I questioned what will happen next during reading.

Such a fun summer read! This one gave Italian vacation and food lovers dream. More of a closed door romance but the chemistry was perfect. Andrea and Robin start in the most unconventional of ways but it’s too good. Fake engagement when 5 minutes before Robin thought Andrea was a girl lol I ate this one up. Also the way Robin is always getting things wrong in Italian should make me cringe but everything about it made me giggle. They were super cute and I loved the story. Definitely the perfect quick read if you’re looking for an adorable romance!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Robin can’t wait for her week away to Italy. Yes it’s a work trip, but it’s a work trip where her work crush, James, is also going on. And her work rival Liz but that’s not as important.

She can’t wait to divert James’s attention away from Liz during the trip, and what better way to do it than pretend she’s an expert on all things Italy. When she realises her old pen pal Andrea is from the exact same place they are all going it also seems like fate that they would finally meet.

But when she finally meets Andrea, she realises that everything is not what it seems. And they both are going to have a lot of explaining to do…

I absolutely loved this book, from start to finish I just couldn’t put it down. It was such a fun, light romance. And yes, everyone knew what was going to happen, but it’s how it happens that makes it such a brilliant story!

Portia MacIntosh is so reliable.

Her new novel focusses on Robin and her work colleagues who all have to fly to Italy for a work pitch.

I say all, but Priya was cut from the story fairly on which I thought was a shame, I liked the added dynamic that her relationship with Robin brought to the story.

There is always humour in this author’s work, I loved the chapter set in the gym, the mix-up with her pen-pal’s parents and the inflatable banana race.

I wonder if I am the only person who will ikon Rick, James and Liz to people they have worked with in the past.

This is great fun, it’s not particularly deep but I don’t think it’s supposed to be. It had a Mediterranean warmth which was perfect for this type of year.

All in all, an enjoyable read with plenty of smiles.
 
Thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for providing me with an Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

They begun as pen pals, one from Manchester the other from Bari. Suddenly, one day a situation presented where they can meet for the first time. Robin and Andrea, they know each other since they were little, only through their letters, but when they see one another a different story begins. Robin goes to Italy for a work retreat and Andrea is accidentally asked to help in the retreat by Robin’s boss.
The story is full of Italian flavors, sun and beach. is a fun read for vacation time.

I really loved this story, such a magical mix of heat, Italian food & family and a great love story!
Initially I wasn't sure where the plot was heading, I was concerned about the love interest and what the work trip was going to lead to, then ooomph it all revealed itself and I was hooked! Absolutely brilliant, fun, feisty and fabulous throughout!

3.5 stars
It’s all sun and games by Portia MacIntosh is a catchy, fast paced, short story about Robin and her pen pal Andrea. Robin works in advertising and her firm has a new client in Italy so they go on a work trip there, in Andrea’s home city. They meet for the first time on this trip and Andrea is not the person she expected.
The book had a promising start, but in the beginning the writing became confusing and a bit childish at times. It definitely got better once Andrea was introduced.
James was a really weird character and his behaviour seemed overmuch. Andrea was nice, but his reaction to her not coming to nonna’s party was a bit exaggerated.
I felt like we weren’t told much about Robin and the fact that they were pen wasn’t really exploited. I would’ve liked more if we could see what they talked about and how their relationship as friends developed hence I think it would’ve helped the story. However I liked their relationship in the present and their dinamic.
I also loved how the author included different traditions for the weddings and overall the italian culture.
It’s all sun and games is the perfect beach read, friends to lovers, fake dating romance full of charm and humor.
Thank you netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book early.

Set mainly in the fabulous Puglian city of Bari this is a lovely fake dating/fiancée story. The main characters are relatable and supporting characters varied. This is a fantastic holiday read for lovers of rom-com novels. This is a new author for me and I think I’ve been missing out! Great looking back catalogue which I’m off to investigate..

Such a cute fun summery book, I love anything portia writes and this was no exception! Thank you so much for this early read, smashed it as usual go read it as soon as you can xx