Secrets of the Italian Guesthouse by Sue MoorcroftMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Jade has lived with her Scottish grandmother and Italian Nonno since she was a baby. Her mother left immediately and her father Giovanni was always a free spirit, drifting here and there, so his parents looked after Jade. After her Nonno died, Jade and her grandmother ran a small four storey guesthouse in Como, Italy with the help of a few staff. Jade always assumed that she would inherit the guesthouse when her grandmother died, as her father (who his mother called Joey) had agreed to relinquish any claim he might have.
However, when her grandmother does die, Jade discovers that feckless Joey had two other daughters by two different women, her grandmother knew but Joey had forbidden her contacting them. Under Italian law, Jade's two hitherto unknown half-sisters are each entitled to one-third of the guesthouse.
Leo was Jade's first love, his parents run a larger hotel in Como, which they bought from Jade's grandparents. Jade always assumed the two of them would get married and live in Como but Leo felt stifled and wanted to travel, making a name for himself rather than taking over the family business, or working for his parents. Leo spent four years in the UK building up his own hotel with his girlfriend Isabella, until she brought her father Teddy into the business. Since Teddy's arrival Leo has been excluded and overruled two to one so often that in the end, his relationship in ruins, he agreed to let them buy him out and he has returned home to Italy to lick his wounds and figure out what to do next.
Will Jade lose the guesthouse? Will the two old flames rekindle? Will Leo stay in Como?
I have to confess I love Sue Moorcroft's UK-based novels but I am never that enthralled with the ones set overseas. Nevertheless, each time I request an ARC thinking maybe this one will be different. I don't know why I feel so meh about the overseas books ... maybe its that they lack the touch of grit?
Anyway, this was pleasant enough, there were numerous surprises/shocks along the way but overall I was just left with a vague feeling of lovely weather, lovely food, and an inevitable romance that was never in doubt. However, the less cynical will probably love it - recommended for a holiday read (or maybe dead of winter when you fancy reading about an Italian summer).
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
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