The Island Love Song

Emma Cowells third book which once more takes us to Greece, this time the beautiful island of Hydra….

Ella and Georgia spent their early years visiting Hydra with their mother, who owned a home there, and after her death it seemed the perfect place to scatter her ashes.

Super organised Georgia has the trip planned to perfection and not so organised Ella is happy to go with the flow and joining them is Georgias 17 year old daughter.

Both sisters have mixed feelings about returning, as so much has happened there in the past and sometimes the past and it’s secrets shouldn’t be revisited.

But Hydra has other ideas and the sisters are about to face a few truths which have been long forgotten!

A must read for summer, a wonderful story with lots of twists, turns and revelations all
set with Hydra as it’s beautiful backdrop.

Highly recommended to read on your sun lounger this year.

Thank you to NetGalley for the early copy to read.

This is the third novel by Emma Cowell which I have read, all set in Greece. "The Island Love Song" is set on the island of Hydra, south of Athens. At the heart of the story are two very different sisters who travel to the island to scatter their mother's ashes. Georgia is married with a daughter called Phoenix and is very much the stay at home wife and mother, as well as being a bit of a control freak. Ella, five years younger, is a free spirit who travels the world as a professional photographer. Through the course of the story we gradually get to understand the family dynamics, and fall in love with Hydra.

This is a complex and thoughtful book which will keep you engrossed.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book which offered a mix of a slightly predictable outcome as well as a shocker to keep you on your toes! A great read set in a location that sounded beautiful!

sisters Georgia and Ella go to Hydra to spread their mother's ashes.. both sisters are hiding a secret. it was hard to put down. read in one afternoon.

Ella and Georgia go back to Hydra to scatter their mothers ashes. Ella hasn't been back since she had her heart broken and is finding it really hard to deal with

A beautiful setting for a very deep book at times. So many family secrets . It is a very deep love story. Two sisters go back to a Greek island to scatter their mothers ashes with one of their daughters and you follow their lives unravel and come back together .A very moving read and I loved it. An author to follow and read

I very much enjoyed this novel. It is a story about secrets and how they can destroy relationships. By the story’s end I felt empathy for all three women, Ella , Georgia and Phoenix. They all grow through the experience of a summer fortnight when they come to Greece to scatter their mother’s ashes on the sea off the island of Hydra. It is also a novel about discovery. The sisters Ella and Georgia rediscover Hydra, and they put their fractured relationship to rights. They discover how to relate to Phoenix who in turns discovers her father and Zina is a superb character who also has an important secret to reveal. . I liked the novel’s structure, how the island of Hydra has its own say, a delightful voice, with a nod to the eternal nature of Greek myth. I live half of the year in the Greek Mani and know Hydra well. It is a magical island. It’s very special. And , of course, it is a glorious setting for this beautifully written novel. This is a book for book groups because there are very important themes within its narrative well worth discussing. The atmosphere of this wonderful wise and heart-tugging story will stay with a reader long after the last page is turned.

I have never been to Greece but this book is so descriptive I feel as if I have.
The Island Love Song by Emma Cowell is an absolutely beautifully written book. It was gripping from the very beginning. I loved how the story unfolded which kept me hooked to the story from beginning to end.
This book was very descriptive, you could picture everything so perfectly.
The author deftly explores love, friendship and second chances in showing readers the journey towards self-love and moving forward.
A wonderful novel about sisterhood, determination and new beginnings

Thank You NetGalley and Avon Books UK for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

“Maybe on Hydra, I will find a way back to me and the island will release me from my secrets.”

Feel like escaping to the Greek islands? Some of us are in desperate need of a slice of sunshine right about now!

Emma Cowell writes beautiful novels set in Greece. This time she invites readers to return to the Grecian shores of Hydra, and while it may seem beautiful to us and a sanctuary, it’s where sisters Ella and Georgia’s secrets reside. Returning to scatter their mom’s ashes brings the past crashing into their present.

Two sisters.
Decades of secrets.
And a love song that changed everything.

Ella, 37, just wants peace to mend her broken heart so that she can move on with her life. Hydra was her happy place and Harrison had ruined it for her. She avoids her birthplace to keep the unhappiness at bay and when she finally agrees to return with Georgia, it’s as if fate arranged it.

Georgia, 43, pretends all is well, but she’s hiding a secret. Wrong. Secrets. Plural. It’s an “ever-growing pile of destructive deceit.” She’s hoping a return to the island will give her closure, even without the support of her husband. Georgia and Ella are like vinegar and water. Can they put aside their differences for two weeks and scatter their mom’s ashes? Or is being trapped on the island more than they can handle? Will Georgia finally break the cycle of fixing her sister’s mistakes?

What you’re going to get:

✔️Romance, forgiveness, legacy, fate, sacrifice, confronting the past
✔️A haunting love song
✔️Sibling secrets and family drama
✔️Infrequent dual timeline; London and Hydra in both 1997 and 2015

This book about a secret legacy, the damage we can do in the name of protecting someone, and the warning about not letting love from someone else define us, has a spectacular double-meaning title! I was swept up in this emotional story and couldn’t set the book down. Just when I thought there were no more secrets, BOOM. Another one. I love how Emma Cowell writes and can’t wait for another story.

I was gifted this copy by Avon Books UK and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Who doesn’t love a love story? And also one set on the beautiful Greek Isles? I’m so excited to share my thoughts and review on this gorgeous novel I apologize I’m a bit behind due to some unexpected health issues, but am slowly catching up very soon. I cannot wait to share my thoughts on these two women’s adventures and the mystery of the “love song” as well.

What a wonderful story. Heartwarming with lovely characters. This was one book that I just could not put down and spent a happy weekend reading it. The setting is idyllic and the plot has twists and turns, many of which I could not have guessed. All in all a perfect page turner, thoroughly recommended.