Last of the Summer Vines

This is my first book i have read by this author and will read more as it's such a good book so well written and with great characters and so warm and funny read with romance and emotional while being sexy a real feel good factor book and full of beautful countryside and vineyards as well. Loved it from the first page and wanted to read more.
Sarah has worked so hard with no holidays she's so ambitious but she makes a very rare mistake at work and her boss decides it's time for a holiday. As it would happen her estranged father has just passed away in Tuscany where he lives and she's to inherit everything so she takes the break from work and heads over to sort it all out. Once she is there she learns laws are different and she didn't inherit everything and infuriating but gorgeous Tommaso has got the vineyard and he doesn't want to sell to her. She wants it sorted quickly so she can get home and back to work but the longer she stays and with a glass or two of wine what will happen. Will she fall in love or will she come home how does he life plan out. She also finds things from her father that shows he does care and her mother turns up answering she's never been close to her but can they make ammends or not.
Great feel good read.

This book was an absolutely delicious read. It was summery, it was full of yummy sounding food, it had beautiful scenery, and I absolutely adored all of the characters. For some reason when I first saw this cover reveal, I thought it was going to be set in France - which to be completely honest, was the main reason I put in a request to read it. I love books set in France, not sure if it's the scenery or the food that does it for me but I really enjoy them. However, having said that, I absolutely loved this book too - even though it was set in Italy!

The cover is so, so stunning and I love it all. The bright green rolling fields in the background, the cute little table with wine and the basket of goodies on the side, the pretty flowers at the bottom and the grape vines surrounding the cover all bring the story out and it just looks beautiful. I'd never read a book by this author before, but since setting my eyes on the cover I just knew I had to read it straight away - plus I had an inkling that I would enjoy it.

Except I was wrong. I didn't like this book - I LOVED it! If I could rate this book more than 5 stars then I completely would. It had everything you could possibly want in a storyline. It had a beautiful setting, delicious sounding food that will make your mouth water, lovely friendly characters and not to forget the wine! Although I'm not a huge fan of wine, and it plays a big part in this novel (obviously), it's still an enjoyable thing to read about - and you'll soon find yourself being educated about the different types of wine, and how to taste it.

The main character, Sarah, whilst not completely relatable to me (perhaps because I'm not a hardcore career focused woman) was lovely and I really felt for her with what she had been through with her parents and how that effected her overall view of life. Although I loved Tommaso as well, when it got to about half way through and Fionella (think that's how you spell it!) came into the story, I was begging he wouldn't jump ship and ruin it all! A couple of the characters, including Luca, made my blood boil in places and I was hoping what I was thought was happening - wasn't true! However, I needn't have worried because it all came together in the end for a beautiful ending. Overall, a lovely enjoyable and lighthearted novel which I loved (if you couldn't tell) and the perfect summer novel. Thank you to the publisher for a chance to read this novel via Netgalley, which I have reviewed honestly.

Firstly, I’d like to thank Romy Sommer, Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for a copy of this book for review on NetGalley.

Before I start I would like to point out that this book should come with a health warning, YOU WILL PUT ON AT LEAST HALF A STONE AND FEEL PERMANTENLY HUNGRY whilst you are reading it! OMG the food in it, wow!

The story is about Sarah, a workaholic from London who thinks she inherits her late father’s castello in Italy, but when she arrives she finds that due to Italian law she will co-own it with Tommaso his business partner. Initially I had a bit of a dislike for Sarah as she seemed to think she had a right to her inheritance even though she admitted that her and her father had little to do with each other. (Oh, how often do we see that scenario in real life!) So, it took me a couple of chapters to really get going with this book and I was unsure that I was going to like it. But then I loved it!

This book has been written with such clarity that I could picture the setting. I loved the romance of Sarah living in and renovating the castello, and how her character progressed into someone that found her love of baking again, and enjoyed life away from work in London. I loved the big family mealtimes with the importance of locally sourced fresh ingredients and just taking time to be with each other.

There is a bit of mystery to the story and I thought I knew the outcome about half way through but I just wanted to keep reading to see what happened next - it obviously wasn’t going to be as clear cut seeing as there was still lots left to read. The story is filled with anticipation. I even found I was looking forward to seeing what fresh foods the delivery driver was going to bring for Sarah to bake with each day! Yes, see the above warning, this story is filled with the most mouth-watering mentions of food throughout. And wine of course!

Although Romy Sommer has written fiction, I found I learnt so much about Italy and its culture, and about grapes and the whole wine growing process. And surprisingly for someone who is tee-total I found it absolutely fascinating. So, this gets a big thumbs up from me. A perfect Summer read.