This week....

 I'm reading

After finishing reading The Italian Island Secret by Victoria Springfield (my review here) I then moved onto The Paris Chapter by Victoria Walters. I reviewed that book last week too which you can read here.

I am now reading Paris Bookshop for the Brokenhearted by Victoria, I mean Rebecca Raisin.

Do you see the themes here? I have already read three books this year by authors whose first name is Victoria, and the book I am reading now is my third book with the Paris in the title. I have started to do a visual count for all the books I read this year set in Paris. We will see where I end up!

Here's the current count of completed books:

I'm watching

I went and visited a friend of mine who spent a couple of years living in Japan. We started watching a Japanese show called The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House which is about a young woman who wants to become a geisha, but she doesn't make the grade and ends up becoming the cook for the geishas instead. I will finish the series in due course.

Robert and I watched the new Cunk on Life. It's very silly, but it is a lot of fun!

Here's the trailer

Life

I have so much to talk about this week! So many photos!

I mentioned above that I went and visited a friend who lives in a small town called Yarrawonga which is about 3.5 hours from Melbourne. She moved up there to retire around 3 years ago and we have been up a couple of times, but this time I went up there by myself as Robert had to work. 

We spent most of the time just chilling, chatting and taking dips in the pool, particularly on the really hot day. We did go for a truly delicious lunch at a winery in a town about 45 minutes away.

I caught the train back to Melbourne but she drove me to the station and along the we stopped at a few silos and this gorgeous mural in a tiny church. Most of them were ones that I have seen previously, but there were two that were new to me, and a couple of other interesting stops as well.

On Friday night we went to the Yayoi Kusama exhibition which is on at the National Gallery of Victoria. The exhibition was in two parts. We weren't blown away by the first part, but the second half was fantastic! We loved the immersion rooms and the pumpkins and polka dots. I might even go and see the second half again!

And then we visited down to Geelong for the Festival of Sails. It was a lovely way to spend the day! And we got to see the Roulettes which was pretty cool too!

And there was a bonus silo as well!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Most Recent Additions to my Kindle

Blog Tour: Something in the Air by Helen Rolfe
Blog Tour: An Italian Island Secret by Victoria Springfield

Blog Tour: The Paris Chapter by Victoria Walters

Cook the Books: A Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang

Sunday Salon: Spell the Month in Books - January


I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date and Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz

Blog tour: An Italian Island Secret by Victoria Springfield

 

Recently I was watching one of Joanna Lumley's shows, Great Cities of the World, where she visited Rome. One of the segments in the show was about the 1950's when Hollywood came to Rome. She interviewed Gina Lollobridgida, and talked about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and other big stars. In this book, a lot of the action centres around the same time period, when big name Italian film stars came to film their movies on the small island of Ischia, which is just off the coast of Naples.

When Ornella moved to England from Ischia, she knew she was leaving her previous life behind. She didn't want to talk about her life before the UK, about her family or the experiences that caused her to move away.

One day Ornella and her granddaughter Alessia see something celebrating the life of a famous, glamourous movie star from the 1950s, Alessia is surprised when her grandmother starts taking about her previous life. She is even more surprised when they decide to visit Ischia. Given that Alessia has had her heartbroken and lost her job recently, there's no reason not to go! The plan is to go to the island, stay for a couple of weeks and then return. However, plans have a funny way of not working as expected, and Ornella runs into one of her best friends not long after landing.

When Alessia meets a handsome journalist named Roberto, she doesn't realise that their paths are going to interconnect. Roberto is writing a piece about a reclusive famous film star whose beautiful wife and daughter were killed in a tragic car accident. It turns out that Ornella worked on the film set of his last hit film, and her own family's fate was intertwined with that of the star.

We get to see the stories unfold and Alessia and Roberto visit various landmarks and uncover some of the story, plus we see some of Ornella's story in flashback scenes. There are many secrets, twists and turns, until the truth is finally revealed. There are a lot of threads running through the book and the author does a great job of bringing them all together.

The last book I read by Victoria Springfield was set on the nearby island of Procida. Once again, the author does a great job of bringing the island culture to life on the page. I am not sure that we will ever get back to Naples, but if we did, I would like to visit Ischia and Procida!

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. 

Rating 4/5

About the book

An Italian Island Secret

Escape to a beautiful Italian island with this wonderfully romantic story, threaded with secrets and intrigue.

It’s time to return to Ischia…

Alessia knows her grandmother grew up on the beautiful Italian island off the coast from Naples. But Ornella seldom talks about her life there – or why she never went back.

So Alessia is amazed when Ornella reveals that, in the months before she left Ischia, she had worked on the set of a famous 1950s movie filmed on the island. Is there a link between the film set and the tragic death of Ornella’s teenage sister?

Ornella has kept her past – and the heart-wrenching promise she made – a secret for over sixty years. She has tried not to think about the love she gave up. But now, perhaps the truth should finally be revealed…

Travelling to Ischia together, Alessia falls in love with the utterly captivating island. Meeting handsome journalist Roberto helps her dig deeper into her family’s past, too. Just what happened to Ornella’s sister? What heart-wrenching secret is her grandmother hiding?

This summer, can Alessia and Ornella put the past to rest and find the happy ending they both deserve?

A wonderfully escapist, romantic and compelling story of secrets and sacrifice, love and loyalty, that is perfect for fans of Karen Swan, Louise Douglas and Rosanna Ley.

Purchase Link - https://mybook.to/anitalianislandsecret

About the Author

Victoria Springfield writes contemporary ‘wish you were here’ evocative women’s fiction set in Italy. Her feel-good books follow unforgettable characters of all

ages as they deal with love, loss, friendship and family secrets. Readers can feel the sunshine!

Social Media Links –

Facebook: VictoriaSpringfieldAuthor
Twitter: @VictoriaSwrites
Instagram: @victoriaswrites

This week...

I'm reading

It's been a busy reading week!

I finished my first 5 star read for the year! Midnight in Paris by Gillian Harvey. I was already a fan of this author, and this book took it to the next level for me! You can read my review here.

Next up was The Storyteller's Daughter by Victoria Scott, which features a WWII mystery, an old house and so much more. My review is here. 

I also read the third book in the Skylarks series by Helen Rolfe which is called Something in the Air. My review for this will be up later this week. 

My current read is An Italian Island Secret by Victoria Springfield, which has whisked me off to the Italian island of Ischia. I wish I could visit for real, but alas, it isn't to be as we have other travel plans for this year.

I'm watching



I am very excited as Bake off : The Professionals is back for another season! I love this particular version of Bake Off which features professional bakers being set the most amazing and difficult challenges. There are some amazing creations. There are also some disasters!

Another thing that was back this week was Sail GP. They changed one of the key elements on the boats for this race and it led to some very exciting racing!

I started watching the TV adaptation of Beth O'Leary's book, The Road Trip. I will get back to that next week I think.

We watched a new movie on Netflix this week called The Six Triple Eight, which tells the story of an all African American female battalion who are tasked with the almost impossible task of clearing a huge backlog of 17 million letters and packages during WWII. It stars Kerry Washington, and features a couple of notable cameo appearances. We really liked it and thought it was pretty well done.

Life

Last week was a pretty quiet week really. 

My thoughts have turned towards actively looking for a new job! Wish me luck!

Max

A couple of  months ago, Max was really sick, but he is pretty much like he was before now. He still has quite a few big patches of hair missing which you can see on his head and belly, but he is wanted to play tug of war, chase the ball and so much more, which is quite a relief.

Here he is lying on the cool of the tiles because it is hot here at the moment!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Books and Blogging Goals for 2025

Blog Tour: Widows Waive the Rules by Julia Jarman
Blog Tour: Midnight in Paris by Gillian Harvey
Weekend Cooking: What We Ate on Holidays - South Australia

Sunday Salon: 2024 Year in Review

Blog Tour: The Storyteller's Daughter




I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date and Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz

Top Ten Tuesday: First books

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Debut Novels I Enjoyed (A debut novel is an author’s first published book. You could also choose to share genre or age group debuts if you’d prefer, such as an adult fiction author’s first YA book or a mystery writer’s first romance.) (submitted by Angela @ Reading Frenzy)

I keep track of a lot of things on my two spreadsheets, whether a book is the author's debut or not is not one of them. So I am going to twist the topic a little bit and share the last ten books that I have read where I hadn't read the author before.

Champagne Widows by Rebecca Rosenberg - If all goes to plan I will be reviewing this next weekend.

The Itinerary by Penny Pentley - This was a fun trip through Europe

Family Tree by Susan Wiggs - I can't believe I hadn't read this author before now. (My review)

A New Dawn at Owl's Lodge by Jessica Redland - I would like to read more from this author (My review)

Come Fly With Me by Helen Rolfe - I will be reading my next book from this author soon  (My review)

The French Cookery School by Caroline James -  This was so much fun! Made me want to do a cooking course in France. (My review)

Invitation to Italy by Victoria Springfield - I'd be happy to visit Italy or France. Either one really. (My review)

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - i can't wait to see the movie of this! The cast looks stellar. 

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa - I have the next book on my Kindle already.

The French Adventure by Jennifer Bohnet - Say yes to adventure! (My review)

Blog Tour: Invitation to Italy by Victoria Springfield

Last week I was in Greece! This week I am in Italy! Not literally, but through the pages of the books I am reading. 

When Abi's daughter Chloe goes to Italy for the summer with her father, his fiancee and their little girl, she feels a bit lost. What happens if her daughter needs her and she is so far away? It doesn't take a lot of convincing by her friend to convince Abi to go visit. 

Abi checks into a beautiful boutique hotel which has been run by Loretta for years. She takes great pride in the little oasis that she has created on the island of Procida, which is situated in the bay of Naples, but she is beginning to wonder if maybe running after her guests, cleaning and her other duties are getting to be too much. 

Among the other guests are Bill, who is trying to relax from a busy job as an importer and Salvo who turns out to be an old friend of Loretta's and who knows at least some of her secrets.

I am not sure how my son would have liked it if I had of turned up while he was staying in Adelaide with his dad, but I guess it was different because Chloe was going to be gone for an extended period. Chloe is at that tricky age where she is almost a teenager and therefore thinks she is old enough to be independent but also needs her parents. There were a couple of awkward moments for Abi when she is invited to dinner with her ex husband's new in-laws and a couple of other times, but I guess that is something that we all need to deal with as we navigate the extended relationships that come after parents re-partner. 

Whilst Abi needs to be available for Chloe, she also gets to experience the island of Procida and surrounding areas. What this holiday is really good for Abi is in helping her realise that she can begin to find a new life for herself, and to accept that she doesn't love her ex anymore. This gives her the freedom to explore a fledgling friendship with Bill. He too has some growth. His marriage had fallen apart several years before and he wasn't as confident as he could have been.

As much as I enjoyed Abi and Bill's story, I also liked Loretta's story, as she began to face the demons from her youth. These days she would never swim, but back in the day her nickname had been the dolphin, and she even achieved some great feats as a swimmer. Slowly we began to see why she had so many trust issues, and why she had moved away from her home at such a young age. Despite this, she has managed to make a success her life as a hotelier, and she needs to protect the life she had built.

When we visited Italy early last year, our plan was to visit the island of Procida. Whilst it is a much lesser known island than it's neighbours Capri and Ischia, it was also named as the Italian Capital of Culture in 2022.  Unfortunately, we couldn't make it work during the short time we had in Naples and now I am really disappointed that we didn't get to see the sites and sounds of the island. The author really brings the setting to life through the words on the page! I was totally intrigued by the descriptions of the island, of the ceramics and more.

I haven't read Victoria Springfield before and I was really pleased by how much I enjoyed her storytelling. From looking at the backlist titles, it is clear to me that she has a real love for Italy and it shows through her writing.

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Review

Thank you to the publisher, Rachel's Random Resources and Netgalley for the review copy. Be sure to check out other stops on the blog tour below

Rating 4/5

About the book

Invitation to Italy

Abi is distraught when her ex-husband Alex takes their twelve-year-old daughter, Chloe to spend the summer with his glamorous fiancée Marisa and her parents at their home on the beautiful Italian island of Procida. Persuaded by her best friend to book a holiday at the island's Hotel Paradiso, Abi finally meets the woman she's been avoiding for so long. Will the two women's strained relationship survive the summer?

One-time teenage swimming sensation, Loretta, has run the Hotel Paradiso since leaving Capri broken-hearted. When childhood friend Salvo comes to stay, Loretta is forced to confront her past and the fears that have kept her away from the water for forty years. But just as she finds the courage to open her heart, she discovers all is not as it seems with Salvo...

It's a summer of new beginnings for Abi and Loretta - and one they will never forget.


Take a trip to Italy with Victoria Springfield for a summery getaway any time of the year!

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Invitation-Italy-Victoria-Springfield-ebook/dp/B0CF4S132C

https://www.amazon.com/Invitation-Italy-Victoria-Springfield-ebook/dp/B0CF4S132C

About the Author

Victoria Springfield writes contemporary women's fiction immersed in the sights, sounds and flavours of Italy. Victoria grew up in Upminster, Essex. After many years in London, she now lives in Kent with her husband in a house by the river. She likes to write in the garden with a neighbour's cat by her feet or whilst drinking cappuccino in her favourite café. Then she types up her scribblings in silence whilst her mind drifts away to Italy.

Social Media Links –

https://twitter.com/VictoriaSwrites

This week....

I'm reading

This week I finished reading Summer at the Santorini Bookshop by Rebecca Raisin, which I really enjoyed. I reviewed this last week. 

I also started and finished Invitation to Italy by Victoria Springfield which I will review later in the week. Lets just say that after finishing this book I might have gently mentioned to my husband that we didn't make it to Procida so maybe we should think about going back to Naples. Don't like my chances anytime soon though.

After a few books set in locations like Italy and Greece, I started reading Making Memories at the Cornish Cove by Kim Nash. This is set in Cornwall and is part of the Cornish Cove series. 

I can definitely see an escapist theme in my reading at the moment, which is probably understandable given how stressed I am at work. 

On the audiobook front, I finished Before the Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi which counts as a bookclub selection. Last week I mentioned that the theme for our next read on a theme bookclub is related to Writers Festivals,  which could be an author you have seen at a festival before or one who is coming to a writers festival soon. I have tickets to see Toshikazu Kawaguchi at Melbourne Writers Festival in May.

Another author who is appearing at Melbourne Writers Festival is Shankari Chandran. I wasn't lucky enough to get tickets to her session. That didn't stop me from starting her latest book Song of the Sun God on audio, which will also count for bookclub. This audio is around 12 hours long which is longer than I have been listening to given that I have such limited listening time. I imagine it is going to take me a couple of months to get through this book.

I'm watching

This week we watched the first episode of a couple of series. We started Three Body Problem and also Nell Renegade. Two very different series.

Continuing on the escapist theme, I also watched My Big Fat Wedding 3. It was entertaining enough but does rely on the same old jokes. I did laugh out loud once.

Life

Like most of Australia, I have been shocked by events in Sydney over the weekend, and I think that this is just another example of events around the world that are affecting my stress levels. Work is very intense and then when you hear of events like this happening it just makes things worse. 

We had a very quiet weekend. The only thing that we did was going to brunch when we did the food shopping. I don't know if not doing anything was just what I needed, or if it gave me too much time to think about things.

Posts from the last week

Blog Tour: Summer at the Santorini Bookshop by Rebecca Raisin

Weekend Cooking: Figolli (Take 2)

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - March statistics

I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date