Book Review for One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

 One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle 

Hardcover, 272 pages

Publication: March 1st 2022 by Atria Books

Genre:  Chick Lit, Magical, Italy, Romance

From Goodreads:  When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: two weeks in Positano, the magical town Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.

But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.

And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue.

My Thoughts:  I finished this book in one day.  I could not put it down.  I was so intrigued by Katy and how her life would continue after losing her mother.  She took the trip to Italy that they had planned together and I was hopeful that she would find peace and acceptance that her mother was gone but she still had her memories. 

Rebecca Serle, author, did an amazing job bringing Italy to life for me.  I have never been there but I could picture the hotel Katy was staying at, the places she visited, and the people she met.  I could the accents as they spoke Italian, taste the food that she ate, and feel her pain as she visited the places that she had planned on seeing with her mother.  It is not often that I find a book that comes to life for me, but One Italian Summer did just that.

One Italian Summer is a book that I will recommend over and over again.  I cannot wait to talk about it with my book friends.  I highly recommend picking up your own copy and traveling to an amazing place while meeting wonderful characters.

**Thank you Karlyn Hixson at Atria Books for a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. 

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Meet Rebecca Serle:  (taken from her website) Rebecca Serle is an author and television writer who lives in New York and Los Angeles. Serle codeveloped the hit TV adaptation of her YA series Famous in Love, and is also the author of The Dinner List, and YA novels The Edge of Falling and When You Were Mine. She received her MFA from the New School in NYC.