Thank you Netgalley and Penguin for letting me read this Arc. As always its a pleasure to read a Jo Thomas book and this didn't disappoint I absolutely loved getting whisked away to Italy. Loved this book.

A lovely Summer read about Italy. Interesting characters and brilliant descriptions of food.
Thanks to Netgalley for an A.R.C.

Lucia (born to Italian parents, but growing up in Wales following the death of her father and the remarriage of her mother) has been working on landing a promotion at her Welsh Law firm, the decision to come in after she leaves on her annual holiday to Italy.

Her arrival at her grandparents is bitter sweet – her Grandmother’s cooking, care and attention provide a level of coziness, her Grandfather’s restaurant is still providing people with traditional food, and many of the customers are the same visitors who come back time and again. This allows Lucia to start to relax almost immediately. However, it also turns out that things are also changing – her grandfather is getting old and wants to pass the restaurant on to someone who has similar passion as himself. In the absence of Lucia, her almost-ex husband Giacomo has been lined up to take over.

Lucia, Giacomo and Lucia’s Grandparents come to an arrangement – a competition to cover the next month, where Giacomo and Lucia’s cooking are pitted against each other, but the competition is to remain a secret. Not only does Lucia have to fight the memories of her marriage, the belief that Giac is sabotaging her, and that locals would not accept a female pizza maker consumes much of the book

Lucia also finds support and friendship in various women, including a young widowed friend (who needed to branch out to being more than a “kept mother” by her in-laws), Lucia’s Nonna and one of the local now-ex prostitutes

The decision day comes and yet still, things dont go quite according to plan. However, things work out in the best possible way, as you would hope and expect.

This was a lovely read during a summer break, with a suitable romance, lovely food, the chance of redemption and that perhaps you can go back to somewhere before where you get the chance to reinvent yourself, and help others at the same time

I was looking forward to an easy fun summer escape read when I picked this up, and I'm sure a lot of people would say that it is. Unfortunately I found it disappointing.

The story was pretty predictable and there was way too much repetition for my liking. The constant "I can do this / I can't do this" was annoying and I got so tired of the protagonist jumping to conclusions before knowing all the facts

What I did enjoy were the descriptions of the food and the family feel the story evoked around Nonna and Nonno, who were just adorable.

This was an excellent book, i really enjoyed it and thought it was well written, pacy With numerous engaging characters. I liked the descriptions of the Italian village life. I would recommend this book.

Some books challenge. Some inform. And others fill us with joy and offer a wonderful escape. Chasing the Italian Dream does just that.

Lucia is on holiday in Italy, staying with her Nonna and Nonna, and helping out at the family pizzeria. It made me want to taste the authentic pizzas described so evocatively. The fresh cheeses and tomato sauces, the fresh dough cooked in the traditional wood fired stove. Mouth-watering!

When Nonno announces his pending retirement, a face from Lucia's past reappears - her ex-husband Giacomo - he is interested in taking over the pizzeria. But he wants to break with tradition and Lucia wants to preserve it. Leaving her job in Wales, her and Giacomo begin competing - whoever has the most orders in the next month, wins.

Lucia takes on an awesome all female team but has to cope with salacious gossip, sabotage and tensions with her ex. But it's clear her and Giacomo's story is far from over. And in a final and last challenge to decide who wins the restaurant, he proves his love for her is truly unconditional.

A sweet and charming story of love, family, food and a testament to strong women everywhere.

I love Italy so it is a joy to read books about life there. This one finds a lawyer going home each summer to her grandparents and helping them in the pizzeria. She did not anticipate working with her ex so how to get rid of him and prove to everyone she was capable of running the restaurant. Did she want to give up her job that she had worked so hard for? This is a super story that all turns out in the end so they all go on to enjoy lots more pizzas.

Started this with high hopes to escape to Italy but I only manager to read 30% of the book before I gave up. I couldn't connect with any of the characters which was a real shame.

What a sweet summer read. Just what you need on a summer holiday. Thanks to netgalley for this Arc.

3.5 stars

What a lovely read. I felt like I was there. Could almost taste the food. Perfect holiday read. Highly recommend

A light escapist summer read with a sprinkling of romance. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

Very good book to read just wanted to keep turning the pages till the last one, Heart warming read and just wanted to be in Italy eating pizza.

A nice summery holiday read.. I loved the location and felt like I was there at Nonnos pizzeria almost smelling the pizzas being cooked.

Jo has a knack of transporting her readers to the places in the books by her accurate detail and I could see Giac performing for the customers with his pizza making skills while the ladies with Luce were making their meals in the intense heat of the kitchen.

Several setbacks along the always but with a happy ending eventually for Nonno, Nonna, Luce and Giac. It was a little bit drawn out in places I felt, hence the rating but still loved it and wished I could have been there with Luce. She made the right decision which I knew she would.

Thank you once again Netgalley for this lovely Arc. I do appreciate it.

This book is like summer on a page or the perfect pizza on a plate.

Lucia takes her annual vacation to visit her grandparents in Italy, but when she gets there she finds out that her grandfather is planning to retire and sell the family pizzeria….to her ex-husband. Rather than being the usual relaxing weeks away her trip normally are, Lucia finds herself questioning what it is she want from life.

Reading this book by Jo Thomas, you are transported to the sunny streets of Italy, I felt that I was part of the Lucia’s family, sitting at the table being served nonna’s delicious food. The writing in this book makes you feel like you are there in Italy with Lucia.

Not only is the setting gorgeous, so are the group of characters. Lucia is the lead character and we meet her grandparents as well as her ex-husband, Giacomo, as well as her friends. Nonna and Nonno are what you imagine the elder generation of Italian’s to be and you feel reading this as if they are welcoming you in as the reader with open arms. Giacomo, seems as unsure with life as Lucia does, and they both end up re-evaluating what it is they want from life now.

This story shows the passion for local community, especially with the nonna network, everyone pulling together to help one person, Lucia, achieve their dream.

This is the second book I have read by Jo and what this does, as did the other, is pull you in from the very first page and transport you into the pages of the books.

This book makes you smile, and I can’t wait to read more from Jo.

I enjoyed this book and it definitely made me want to go back to Italy for the sights, sounds, and most importantly - food! I craved pizza while reading this. The characters and storyline were a bit predictable at times but this was altogether a very light and excellent beach read.

An enjoyable book which took me back to our holidays in Italy (not that I ever cooked the pizzas, but I certainly ate them!). Have to be honest and say the story wasn't earth shattering, just a pleasant easy to read book, where I suspect most people will probably guess where it is going to end up. I also found that some parts / themes seemed to be repeated quite a bit, which was a little boring / frustrating.

Thank you to Net Galley & the publishers for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review, which is what I have given.

The ideas in this book are lovely but predictable, not the best that I have read by this author. This would make for a good summer read when you have nothing else to think about except relaxing. I must admit you will really wish to be in Italy as you read this. I am still giving this 4 stars as I know a great number of people will enjoy reading this.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC

Lovely escapist tale. The usual formula of building a business, romance, mixed with local information and detail. This time it's Italy and pizza. The romance is between Lucia and her estranged husband, Giacomo and a competition about which of them will take over her grandfather's pizzeria.
A tale of tradition vs updating and modernising pizza, viewpoints and how to be your own person and find your own way.
Jo Thomas has done the research making this story authentic. A warning:all the food descriptions make you hungry!!
Recommended

The book follows Lucia who is visiting her Nonna & No no in Italy for her annual summer holiday.
The setting was lovely but unfortunately I found the storyline a little predictable and not as good as previous books I have read by this author.
Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for this read.

My first book by this author and I absolutely adored it! I’ve always wanted to go to Italy and I almost feel like I’ve been after reading this, the descriptions of the ‘piazza’ were so vivid I could almost feel the sun on my face and smell the gorgeous food cooking in the restaurants. I found the story uplifting and it was a breath of fresh air to have a subplot that was so gripping alongside the romance side of the story. Lucia was so relatable as a character and I enjoyed watching her grow in confidence and strength as the story progressed. The books ending was pure perfection. All in all a fabulous read.