My February reads were a month of dreaming of hotter climates in the Tuscan sun, I took a trip back in time to eighteenth century Mount Vesuvius and visited a bookshop in Dubrovnik with a mix of non-fiction and fiction that whisked me away on multiple adventures. As February is the month of love, I dived head first into romance, the love of found family, the love of nature and travel and self-love and acceptance.
Once again I want thank NetGalley and the publishers for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
February Reads
My Fake Italian Wedding by Romy Summer is a book that has been on my TBR list since Christmas and with the dreary wet weather, I’ve been dreaming of escaping to the Italian coast. This book did just that, it whisked me off to a Tuscan vineyard where a failing vineyard needs investment fast otherwise the family risk losing everything they’ve worked to gain for generations. Cleo is sent from the London bank to assess the severity of the vineyard’s financial situation. Luca, the son and temporary manager of the vineyard, is tasked with either charming Cleo to avoid looking too closely to the cracks or make her leave as quickly as possible. Cleo and Luca are forced to worked in close proximity as chemistry sizzles between them. Can they save the vineyard and overcome Luca’s hesitancy to take on the responsibility of the managing the vineyard full time.
The writing style was good and I was hooked from the start with both the main characters, especially as the contrast between Cleo and Luca created an interesting dynamic. I also liked the fact that Luca wasn’t presented as the stereotypical player that uses and disregards women. However, the chemistry and romance was a little off at the start, but soon became better as the character’s backstories were revealed. I think there needed to be more scenes that showed their differences as well as their similarities that showed their attraction was deeper than just physical. The setting of Tuscany was well described and created a sweet romance and distinction away from the grey London. The author focuses on breaking self-imposed stereotypes and overcoming years of self-doubt.
The pacing was good until the 70% mark, which seemed to drag on without any real action aside from the conflict. The fake wedding added an extra interest to the plot but didn’t appear to have any real repercussions aside from being a lie. When Cleo meets her ex-boyfriend Evan with his new fiancée at the wine show, this prompts Luca to pretend her and him are married. I would have liked Evan to have more dialogue or a larger role in causing trouble for Cleo in London. This fizzled out and Evan was only used as a point that created romantic tension between Cleo and Luca. The marriage was unbelievable given Luca’s playboy attitude made the whole situation a little false.
Overall, I did enjoy reading about this struggling vineyard in Tuscany, but would have liked a more complete ending such as an epilogue that explored Cleo and Luca’s future together and how they grow as characters and save the vineyard. The pacing was good until the last half, but I still wanted to continue reading and find out what happened next. This is a light-hearted read with a sweet story of family and finding love.
*Thank you to the publisher and Aspects of History for providing a copy of the book for review* Read my full review on Aspects of History.
Volcanic by John Brewer is a non-fiction publication that analyses the imposing and compelling Mount Vesuvius located in the Bay of Naples from the rise of tourism to the the volcano as the Sublime. This is a thoroughly detailed book that has been researched to great length with inclusion of letters, eye witness accounts and images to help readers understand the why tourists flocked to the walk the path of a treacherous force of nature. I particularly enjoyed learning about the discovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum, as this is a city frozen in time that allows visitors to fully understand what life was like before the eruption.
The discussion on tourism is also compelling as the English travel agents sanitised the journey for travellers meaning that English representatives were housed at each point of the trip so travellers wouldn’t need to interact with the locals. This is something that has only grown throughout history and is the foundations for many holiday packages today.
Overall, this is a fascinating read that is perfect for readers interested in tourism, Italian culture and Ancient Roman civilisation and wish to understand why Mount Vesuvius has become a site of awe, danger and fascination.
Marial Spark is a witch with a powerful prophecy hanging over her head, yet she is a terrible spell caster and with the constant high standards set by her mother, she is always falling short of living up to the Spark reputation. Her spell casting is a health hazard to herself and others and when she accidentally summons a demon in to her kitchen instead of flour, she’s doomed to spend eternity with Ozroth the Ruthless until she relinquishes her soul. But this demon is just the push she needs to stand up to her pushy family, unlock her power of herbology and help Ozroth see the light in a world that is dark. Not all demons are evil – this one has a soul that makes him feel too many emotions all at once!
Overall, the concept was intriguing and the characters were fairly well-rounded but the pace was off, with moments being very quick hooking me into the story and then very slow that I needed to skim-read chapters. Towards the end, the plot was confusing and messy with many threads of Mariel’s power, her relationship with her mother and her prophecy that the actual conflict of the forest became lost. I liked Ozroth and his personality, but he was lacking towards the end. The idea of a demon with a soul was a unique angle in his character arc, but he didn’t seem particularly ruthless when Mariel was in danger. The dynamic between Oz and Mariel was cute and their dialogue was funny in places, but as soon as they became a couple their scenes together did very little to drive the plot forward.
Some parts read like a fanfic with little world building and the ending clearly being used to set up for a sequel. The novel is set in Glimmer Falls a fantasy world in USA, but the was no explanation of how these beings interacted with the rest of the world. Overall, I was hooked but the pace slowed considerably towards the end and I don’t think the title is representative of the actual story.
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.*
A small book club forms in a Dubrovnik book shop that draws unlikely characters together and help each other to heal from previous trauma and begin the path to self-acceptance. The group attempt to help solve the mystery of Vedran’s girlfriend, Didi’s murder and clear his name from accusations and social disgust. This book does deal with topics that some readers may find upsetting or offensive, so this is an acquired taste. Personally. I thought the topics detracted too much from the overarching story and were all fighting to be the main issue of discussion.
The prologue set the scene for a gripping mystery with a disorientating narrative style that does not reveal too much about any of the characters or what the rest of the story will involve, however this didn’t continue. There are several narratives and povs happening all at once that reads as if they are separate from the main story or mystery of Didi (Vedran’s girlfriend), seem to converge oddly. The setting of Croatia was well written and I hadn’t read any books with this setting so this was a unique starting point. This is set in modern day Croatia that deals with poignant political and social topics such as homosexuality and mental illness that is not usually openly spoken about in Croatia.
The character point of views relied heavily on emotional or personal trauma that brings these characters together at the bookshop, however this detracts from the over arching storyline, which I assume is Didi’s murder. From the blurb I was anticipating that this mystery would take shape in the traditional way of looking at clues etc and working as a team, but this didn’t happen. Claire with the help of Luna and Ezra instigate re-opening the case of Didi’s ‘murder’ but it isn’t followed through, instead Vedran solves the case through healing from his trauma and piecing his memories together..
The author writes the character’s individual traumas with a lot of depth and finds a way for each to heal and find closure to a point and tackles significant issues such as homosexuality in Croatia, grief, abuse in a relationship, COVID and illness. I didn’t enjoy the realism and continual repetition of these issues that many might find upsetting – such as COVID. It is still an event that many are struggling with and in living memory that needed more care when addressing.
Overall, I wasn’t too bothered about these characters aside from finding out the truth of what happened to Didi and even that didn’t have closure. The plot needed streamlining and building a better foundation if the author’s intention was to focus on the ‘murder’ – for example have a contradiction that Didi was a likeable character yet abusive to Vedran but it needed to be written in a way that people wouldn’t believe him because she had built this loving facade. I also think the book needs an epilogue to show that closure is possible despite having these traumas. This will appeal to a certain type of reader and I don’t think I was quite the right readership as I wouldn’t usually read books with such heavy and emotional issues.
Final thoughts
February has been another great month of reading a diverse writing style, characters and themes that were fascinating, exciting and emotional. I enjoyed reading about warmer climates as winter continues to dig its claws deep into the dreary English weather and hope to discover more books that whisk me away to Europe. I hope March brings more wonderful reads and some warmer weather!
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