The Place we Met. Isabelle Broom.


Emotional and atmospheric.

Starting at a slow burn this dual narrative quickly turns into a gripping story that is impossible to put down with its clever twists and turns as we enter the world of the two protagonists Taggie and Lucy. In alternative chapters told from first person view points the separate but inextricably linked lives of the two women unravel in the beautifully described Lake Como.

We see the two grapple with the emotional damage they have suffered in the past as they try to come to terms with things and move forward. Taggie has escaped from London to escape her demons and work in Como a place she has loved since childhood but although she is trying to build a new life she cannot let go of the past she finds too awful to talk about. Lucy is happy in London but wants to take a special trip with Pete, the new man in her life; the man she has fallen in love with. She is trying to forget past hurts and be someone different for Pete who has yet to utter those three little words that will make her feel secure in their relationship. Seemingly straightforward and simple he is actually a complex character and like Lucy the reader must decide if he is really the man of her dreams or a bad person.She is trying to forget past hurts and be someone different. For Lucy there is Marco who is extremely attractive but while he is friendly and wants to be more she senses that he too is holding back. She is wary of him and resists his advances but as their friendship develops so does the trust between them.

This is s different romance. Yes there is tenderness and passion but Broom also lets us see the hidden angst and emotional disasters of the characters. The elements of traditional romance are there but the novel gives more. It is thoughtful and beautifully written with a supporting cast of engaging, well drawn characters from the eccentric Elsie to the quirky Shelley and the the two male interests - Pete and Marco.

There are some real surprises in this novel which is well worth the read.

A very enjoyable romance set in the area of Lake Como. Hard to put down, well written characters and the beautiful scenery described really clearly, I could imagine myself in the setting.

This book was the for me I'm sorry to say, I found it hard to get I to.

Another masterpiece from Isabelle Brooke! Her knowledge of the places she sets her stories is amazing and you feel like you can't wait for it to made into a film! As usual the plot draws you in and full of interesting perspectives - not the usual heartbroken victim finding love again. Her heroes are strong inspirational women with guts! I can't wait for the next book! The two main women in this book have the setting in common with other things in common that unfold as the book progresses . I found the book uplifting but challenging and I would highly recommend it.

The descriptions of Lake Como. are wonderful. The story is about 2 girls Lucy and Taggie who don't know each other but their lives keep colliding.. Lucy has Pete but Taggie isn't interested in finding a man as she tries to escape everything that happened in England until Marco comes into her life. Set at New Year's Eve Lake Como gives great descriptions of how New Year's Eve is celebrated there.

what a fantatsic read, this is my second book by this author and i have been left feeling so happy.... she writes with the readers following her and feels like you are there in the spotlight and thats what makes her brilliant. The setting is out of this world in Lake Como, Italy for the whole of the festival time of year this christmas and new year.
It took me a little longer than normal to get 'into' the book but once i was there, it was flowing quickly... so stick with it because the stories are merged together and make complete sense.
Taggie leaves England for whatever reason to work as a tour guide in Lake como....she takes people all over the area and to christmas towns and does chrismasy activities... sounds like bliss doesnt it?
Then we have ;Lucy who takes her boyfriend to her favourite place she used to visit. Lucy is insecure and then feels Pete is holding a secret from her.......
Taggie meet Lucy by chance and believe me it is not the place to make new memories.
Brilliantly written, the story opens up as you get into it, the scenes are breathtaking and we all love an italian man to appear in our novels, even to keep us thinking on our toes.

I loved this book. Beautifully written, the setting is so wonderfully drawn that it brings the story to life. It made me laugh and it made me cry, taking me on a journey that I did not want to end. This is the first book I’ve read by Isabelle Broom, but it most definitely will not be the last. A mesmerising and moving 5 stars.

A lovely, indulgent and relaxing read, perfect to snuggle down with alongside a cuppa and a blanket. Now I want a holiday!

I’m so pleased that I was sent an ARC of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review. On reading it I also breathed a massive sigh of relief. Isabelle Broom’s novel, “A Year and a Day” made me a huge fan, I thought for life. But I was so disappointed in her next one “Then, Now and Always”, with, to me, it’s daft story line and immature heroine. I was almost afraid to try this one. I needn’t have worried. This talented author is right back on track again.. I loved everything about this book and felt so empty when it ended..

Isabelle’s trade mark is to set her books in a fabulous tourist location. This time it’s Lake Como with a tiny bit of London thrown in as a dreary contrast.. Her gorgeous locations always seem under populated although it’s the height of the tourist season and it has never quite rung true. Now she has got even this right by taking us to Lake Como at the end of December, the beginning of January when few tourists are around. There are many glorious descriptions of the scenery in the area . She loves different times of day and different light effects.She observes colours as they really are and not as traditionally perceived and she is a sufficiently skilled wordsmith to be able to convey these sights to her readers. I just want to go there.

The tale is told in relatively short interchanging chapters by the two British heroines, Taggie and Lucy., both of whom have happy childhood memories of holidays spent at Lake Como. Taggie has been deeply hurt, and runs away to Como to try to recover. She gets a job as a tour guide in a local hotel, but it’s some time before we gradually understand what happened to her. She meets Marco, a young Anglo Italian waiter, but wants no more male involvement again.. Lucy has booked a few days holiday in her favourite place for herself and her fairly new boyfriend of five months, Pete. The author manages to get right inside her characters, understanding their feelings and motivation. She makes their emotional upheaval seem perfectly authentic. There’s also a supporting cast of interesting characters of varying levels of believability.

I’ve become very weary of late of the current crop of “psychological thrillers”. Here the bad things have already happened and we witness the main characters dealing with the after math , getting to understand and handle with their emotions, working towards a better future.. You know that there will be hope. Such a pleasant change. This is an absolute gem of a book and I only wish that I could award more than five stars. Where will Isabelle Broom take her readers next.? I can’t wait.

Lake Como at around Christmas and the New Year is the setting for this book. The story alternates between two rather different women, and my feelings towards both of them changed regularly as the story progressed.

I did though find the book felt a bit slow to start, and it took for the two stories to merge to really hold my attention at which point I really did want to know what was going to happen next.

Taggie is working as a tour guide in her beloved Lake Como having escaped misery back in England. It is not clear for a long while exactly why she is in Italy, but I found myself drawn into her life there anyway I loved the various towns that are visited and all the various Christmassy activities that are happening in the area.

Lucy decides to take her new boyfriend Pete on holiday to Lake Como, a place she loved as a child. I loved their initial sight seeing, especially the Christmas market. Yet Lucy is a very insecure woman and is convinced that Pete is hiding things in his past, little does she know yet what it is.

I found though that I struggled to really like or connect with any of the main characters, in fact Elsie, Taggie's friend was probably one of my favourite characters and she wasn't even in the book that much.

As much as I tend to love Isabelle Bloom's books, this one just left me slightly flat, and to me although is still a very good book, is missing the brilliance of her other work.

Thank you to Netgalley and Michael Joseph for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Amazing setting!! Great characters. Just so beautifully written.

As soon as I saw that this book was set in Italy, I knew I had to read it. Through books I have fallen in love with Italy; the stunning Lake Como is now one of it's places I must see, thanks to Broom's wonderful writing and descriptions. I must admit this is only the second of this author's books I've read (along with A Year and a Day) I have the two summery ones sat at home, so I promise to get round to reading them when the weather improves.

The Place We Met weaves together two women's stories, each told from their own point of view. The women are both extremely different people, but they both have hidden secrets in their past and one thing they do have in common is that Lake Como is a very special place to them both.

Taggie is a strong, independent woman, but she likes to be in control of everything and everyone around her. She fled to Lake Como after she was left completely broken hearted; she just wants to try and move on from the past now. Working in a posh hotel, she's putting her organisational skills to work by arranging the big New Years Eve party - in the hope for a promotion down the line.

Lucy is a bubbly A&E nurse who loves what she does, but she has a need to please everyone in her life and always just goes along agreeing with people, not standing up for herself. Boyfriends in the past have cheated on her and pulled her down, leaving her being constantly paranoid and comparing her curvy figure to others. Now, a few months into a relationship with new boyfriend Pete she thinks it's a good time for them to take a holiday together.

This is a story about love, loss, life and heart break. It's very much about acceptance of the person you are and being happy in your own skin - we all have faults, nobody is perfect, but it's what makes us individuals, and the right person will always appreciate those little things about you. It's also about making our own happiness, we all have things in our pasts that we don't want to think about, but it doesn't have to shape our futures - we can control that happiness.

I think pretty much everyone reading this book will find these ladies relatable - we've all at one time or another compared ourselves to someone, and thought ourselves not good enough, or hidden many of our characteristics to please someone...but quite frankly we shouldn't!

This book will make a wonderful wintery day read... but, if you're still not sure, there's a rather dishy, dark haired, Italian in it....

Taggie has come out of a relationship breakdown and to make a complete break moves to Lake Como where she has a job as a tour guide. Lucy is a nurse in a busy A and E and she books a trip to Lake Como as a Christmas present for her new boyfriend Pete, who she thinks is "the one"

Taggie and Lucy meet by chance but when Pete is introduced to Taggie he has an extreme reaction and Lucy is determined to find out why!

A lovely bittersweet book, good believable characters but to me the book was made by the descriptions of
Lake Como, it definitely made me want to go there

With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book, but I didn't love it. I found it very slow for the most part, but rushed towards the end when the two main characters, Taggie and Lucy, began to change. Although the description of the Italian Lakes was lovely, and really set the scene, there was too much of it in my opinion. As for the plot, I think Broom tried to build us up to something bigger than what it turned out to be, 'it' being what Taggie's ex had done. I thought the ending was predictable, and I found Taggie and Lucy at times to be irritating. I did enjoy the development of Taggie's new relationship. An okay read.

I loved this. Beautifully written. This is the perfect book when you want a nice easy read. Something you don't want to have to think too much about. But want to get lost in the story and characters.

Another gem from Isabelle Broom, every book she writes is a winner. This was a lovely story, set in a gorgeous setting (as she tends to do!). It was intriguing, emotional, funny and heart-warming. I would certainly recommend this to my friends, especially now we are in winter it will warm us all up.

My review as posted on Goodreads:

I chose to read this book based on the location in which it was set. Based on this criterion, it did not disappoint.

At times, especially in the first half of the book, I found it to be a bit slow. However, the descriptions of the Lake Como area kept me reading. Now that I have finished the story, I can appreciate the slow way in which the characters were developed.

There is a level of predictability to the story, especially during the second half of the novel. Although there are a few unexpected twists thrown in along the way for interest.

On balance this is between a 3 and 4 star rating; I have settled for four because of the good use of the geographical setting.

My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin UK (Michael Joseph) for a copy in return for this review.

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Taggie is working in Italy, suffering the loss of a relationship and is emotional and struggling.

Lucy, a nurse, has taken her boyfriend, Pete, to Italy for the new year but is tormenting herself about Pete's previous relationship as she has niggles about their future.

Set in lake Como, Taggie and Lucy are drawn together to tackle their issues separately but intrinsically woven together.

This was the first book I have read by Isabelle Broom and it certainly will not be the last. Her descriptions of the place and the emotions were beautiful and I was swept away with the story.

A holiday read with a difference based not in the summer but Christmas and New Year around the beautiful Lake Como.
Lucy who spent most of her childhood around Lake Como surprises her boyfriend Pete with a holiday there for the New Year.
Tiggi who is hiding from a trauma that is revealed later in the book has gone back to Lake Como and happy childhood memories to recoup and forget.
But unknown to the reader these three people's lives are intricately involved which lead to a lot of sadness and soul searching.
A beautifully written book with lovely discriptions of the lake and the towns and villages surrounding it that can make the reader believe that they are in fact there observing the drama that is unfolding before their eyes.
A lovely book to read at any time of the year

The Place we met by Isabelle Broom a fabulous five-star read. This is my first read by this author and I really hope to read more; the writing was great and I know this is a read I will be giving to many of my relatives who like a good read. It’s a beautiful and captivating read that many will enjoy as there is something for everyone in this read. It won’t disappoint you, I adored the backdrop of Lake Como and both of the leading ladies have their own unique story to tell. I won’t reveal more as its their story to tell and you need to read the story to find out.