Wow I love Mandy's books but the way she wrote this and to bring in the relevance of everything to do with the Pandemic was just amazing! Beautiful story and it left me wanting to visit Corfu! Also really loved the humour that comes in this book. Can't wait for the next one!

Another wonderful book by Mandy Baggot! This author is becoming one of my favorite!!! Everytime I pick up a book by her I already know in advance that i will have a good time! And "Staying Out for the Summer" was no exception!!! I loved that book! It was really entertaining and a page turner! It was so nice to travel to Greece with Lucie and Gavin, two nurses who needed a break from their hard job at the hospital and it was so nice to meet this gorgeous and mysterious Greek doctor who also needed a break from his life at the hospital.
It was the first time for me to read a book where we imagine life after covid. I really liked that. Also I really loved the fact that I found that book really funny at times and it really felt good to laugh! And finally if you like a nice romance, you won't be disappointed by the one you will find in that book!
All in all a very good book that I warmy recommend!!!

Mandy Baggot never fails to write uplifting and humorous storylines and even within this storyline she covers the pandemic with natural aplomb. Granted we all want that book that carries you away from your current life situation and everything going on in the world, but at least in this case it’s discreetly discussed with reverence and with some lightness of being!

Lucie is a Nurse and she is ready to shed the lockdown and is headed off to Greece! Her friend Gavin has promised a perfect getaway and she hopes he had it under control because he can be a disorganized person where as she is a person who likes to know what is happening and when.
The Island goes into a lockdown and Lucie is not the only one who is starting to have nightmares. Dr. Michael Andino has returned for a respite and has been talked into holding a village clinic three days a week while he is on vacation. However, the lockdown has him in a state of quarandary and Nurse Lucie recognizes the signs.

Will this trip be a relaxing trip or a trip or horrors? What about the Doctor looking for time off? His family has mixed feelings of him being home! Does Gavin put a spoke into everyones wheels on this trip? Will a new COVID outbreak occur. Read this book for the twists and turns!

I received a free advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.

Another very well written Mandy Baggot novel. Twists and turns with good characters. I enjoyed this and give it 5 stars. When written by Mandy you can't go wrong, lovely summer read.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC

Mandy Baggot completely whisked me away to the beautiful island of Corfu with Staying Out for the Summer. Her love for the location shone through every page.

Nurses Lucie and Gavin, after a year working for the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic are exhausted and in desperate need of a break, so they head to Corfu together for some fun in the sun. At the same time, a Greek doctor, Michalis, heads to Corfu to spend time with his family following a difficult time dealing with the pandemic in Thessaloniki.

I must confess to being apprehensive about the inclusion of the pandemic within the story, but honestly it was so sensitively handled that I think Mandy needs the highest of accolades for her handling of it within this story. It was very much an acknowledgement of how dark it has been, the cost of lives, friends, families, strangers, and the intense pressure it placed on the medical community across the world. Having addressed it, we then stepped out into the sunshine and heat of a Corfu summer, filled with love and the ability to reconnect with laughter and fun. Seriously this book is jam-packed full of Vitamin D!

This book had so many wonderful characters and so much humour. I adored the cute but seriously kick-ass sister of Michalis, Nyx an absolute demon with a knife, Lucie’s aunt Meg, and Gavin who reminded me so much of a friend of mine. In addition to the main characters, some of the quirky characters in the village were hysterically funny. I was particularly fond of Miltos the local fruit seller/taxi driver, and his 101 year old grandmother and her identical twin sister, both dressmaking legends.

This was the perfect escapist summer romcom, with a very hot doctor, and so many funny moments that it made me want to hop on a plane to Corfu as soon as it is safe to do so.

Favorite Quotes:

She clamped her hands to the few inches of little more than dark brown stubble, now covering her entire scalp. ‘Gavin! What happened?! My hair! I was… I was… always getting called Sandra Oh and now I’m… I’m—’ ‘Sandra Oh No?’ Gavin offered unhelpfully.

‘Why does everybody want me to marry and breed?!’ She dropped her fork and folded her arms across her chest. ‘I am not a horse.’

‘You were the one who stopped talking, Michalis,’ Dimitri told him. ‘I never wanted to stop listening.’

Lucie eyed up the tiny test-tube Melina was holding carefully like it contained tears of a dragon.

Simon’s softer and more cautious about everything. He literally caresses that coffee machine at work. Unlike Jez, who goes at it like he wants it to bleed.

They were both a little red-faced with the frenetic pace Mary and Ariana were setting, leading dancers holding handkerchiefs in a zig-zag formation around a little girl dressed as an effigy of a virus. Earlier there had been an interpretive dance with a troupe of schoolchildren in tortoise costumes battling against another group dressed as dark evil organisms…


My Review:

I adore Mandy Baggot’s cunningly wry, snort-worthy, and clever sense of humor. Her latest missive features a unique Greek odyssey in a tiny and quirky village with storylines infused with a bit of everything including family drama, well deserved vacations for exhausted pandemic fighting medical professionals, a new and an old holiday romance, diverse characters, terrapin home invasions, culture clashes, divinely amusing comedy, and an oddly conceived festival with fierce costumes for the Flying Tortoise King. I savored Ms. Baggot’s comical and evocative words between family dramas of my own, which made her sweet and humorous tale exponentially sweeter.

Mandy Baggot's stories are always entertaining and fun to read, this one is no exception.
It is an engrossing, fun to read story that made me feel good and kept entertained.
It's recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Ready for a fun summer read? May I suggest reading this Rom Com , Staying out for the Summer by Mandy Baggot? This is my first read by this author and I'll be sure to look for more by her.
A fun Summer time fun read mostly taking place in Greece. Unexpected and funny mishaps are abundant in this fun and feel good laugh-out-loud romantic comedy .

Pub Date 01 Apr 2021
I was given a complimentary copy of this book. Thank you.
All opinions expressed are my own opinion.

I have been a fan of Mandy’s work for a while now. I love her feel good and light hearted stories with lead characters who are impossible to dislike. I read the synopsis for ‘Staying Out For The Summer’ and it certainly sounded like fun. So without further ado I grabbed my Kindle and settled down for a fun afternoon of reading. I absolutely loved reading ‘Staying Out For The Summer’ but more about that in a bit.
As soon as I started reading, I instinctively knew that I was in for a treat and then some. ‘Staying Out For The Summer’ came along at the right sort of time for me. I was feeling a little low and in need of a tonic and this book was certainly a tonic. I started chuckling away to myself from pretty early on and I kept chuckling away to myself throughout the story. To say that reading ‘Staying Out For The Summer’ became addictive is a huge understatement. I found I couldn’t put this book down for any length of time. It was almost as if I feared missing out on something or I risked breaking the hold that the book had developed over me. I raced my way through the story and all too quickly I reached the end. I found ‘Staying Out For The Summer’ to be a gripping read, which certainly did more to cheer me up than any medication could have done.
‘Staying Out For The Summer’ is superbly written but then I expect nothing less from Mandy. She certainly knows how to grab your attention and drawn you into what proves to be a beautifully told story. I was swept away by the characters and by the storylines. The book is certainly topical given that it involves the COVID19 pandemic but Mandy uses it to show just how hard pressed the National Health Service has been and the pressure that the staff have been under. I love the way in which Mandy describes Corfu so realistically that if I closed my eyes it would be easy to imaging that I was in Corfu with the sun beating down on my face. I felt as though I was part of the story and that’s thanks to Mandy’s very vivid and realistic storytelling.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Staying Out For The Summer’ and I would definitely recommend it to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Mandy’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

Staying out for Sumner by Mandy Baggot

Two nurses are working in the Covid ward during the height of the pandemic after lockdown finished they suddenly decide to go on holiday to Corfu to recuperate.

A fantastic book full of quirky Greek villagers, hysterical happy moments, some really sad tearful moments and everything rolled into one.

A spirit lifting book after some very tragic times set in the sun.

Loved and laughed until I cried at some of the situations Lucie and Gavin found themselves in and an extremely camp gay man in a remote Greek village is something else again so much laughter and a very good read made me reminisce about Corfu.

Thank you Mandy

I will shamelessly admit that I am a huge Mandy Baggot fan and was delighted to be invited to take part in the blog tour for her latest book Staying Out For the Summer. Mandy’s books have always been like having an amazing summer holiday vicariously, with her vivid characters and luxurious landscapes. And of course every time I picked the book up I had the wonderful 1994 track from Britpop favourites Dodgy going through my head! In 2021 after a whole year of restrictions who doesn’t need the prospect of a glorious break on a Greek island?

I’ll be honest that I was a little disconcerted that Mandy had chosen to set her book in “real time”, in a world starting to relax a little, post pandemic. I generally like my escapism to be gloriously covid free. There are only so many “next slide please” presentations that a girl can watch and after a year I think we are all desperately seeking a return to a little more normality. Mandy has explained her reasoning for this beautifully:

I chose to write about the pandemic because we have all been through it together. It has touched everyone. Yes, we might have had very different experiences of it, but we have all had to stay home and face limited lives and some of us have been ill with the virus or sadly lost people that we love to it.
The hero in Staying Out for the Summer – Michalis – is a Greek doctor who specialises in the lungs and my heroine – Lucie – is an NHS nurse who has been working tirelessly trying to save as many lives as she can.
This book and their stories is my tribute to the medical staff around the globe and all the keyworkers who have risked their lives doing all those things we take for granted to keep the world going. I know a lot of other writers have decided to avoid writing about Covid 19 in their books because they feel readers are looking to get away from all that.I understand that completely and, as I said straight off, my book is going to take you to Greece for all the fun in the sun and so much more. But, for me, I felt if I didn’t acknowledge that this has happened in our lives it would be like sweeping under the carpet all the sacrifices people have made over the past year.”

Mandy Baggot

Lucie Burrows is an NHS nurse and in the summer of 2021 is more than ready for a sunshine break when best friend Gavin books them on an idyllic Greek holiday in Corfu. They both need some time to chill out and relax, eat some amazing food and sample the local wine. A landslide suddenly plunges their village into a local lockdown and Lucie finds herself helping the super sexy local Greek doctor. It wasn’t quite the holiday that she had planned but some things have a life of their own.

Whether or not we get to be able to travel ourselves this year this is the perfect way to remind ourselves of those fabulous overseas holidays and look forward to a world that can start to see sunshine finally beginning to dawn again.

Supplied by Net Galley and Aria in exchange for an honest review.

UK Publication Date: Apr 1 2021. 367 pages. #StayingOutForTheSummer #NetGalley

This is the first book that I’ve read which even mentions anything about the pandemic, let alone just what those on the frontline have had to deal with. However, please don’t let that put you off reading this delightful story! It is a journey to stay on the beautiful island of Corfu, with brilliant characters, a fantastic community, glorious weather, unsettling earth tremors, delicious, mouth watering food and, of course, romance. Let’s hope we’ll soon be able to make journeys in reality rather than only virtually through reading fantastic books like this.

Lucy and her best friend, Gavin, are nurses who are struggling after the traumas and stress of working in a hospital during the Coronavirus pandemic. Gavin has booked them a holiday to give them both a summer in the sun, staying in a small village. They aren’t the only ones travelling there to recuperate from the pressures of working in a hospital -Michalis Andino, a doctor, has returned to his family home in the same village. Get ready for weird welcome drinks, an angry, chopper wielding butcher, centenarian dressmakers, tortoises, fabulous food, a special festival and lots of fun in the sun. This is a moving story of recuperating, revelations, relaxation and romance. There are several romances developed in the story and a plethora of incidents which had me laughing out loud and really wishing I was on one of the beautiful Corfoit beaches reading it. If you’re looking for a very current, moving but still fun read, grab yourself a copy of this and escape to the sun through it.

Thanks to Aria and NetGalley for my copy of this book which I have voluntarily read and honestly reviewed.

This is a lovely laugh out loud romantic comedy set mainly in Corfu. There are many humorous moments and countless romantic encounters. Set in a post-Covid19 world, it acknowledges the courage of key workers and the effect on our everyday lives of the pandemic.

There is so much to enjoy in this story. Passionate romance, vibrant characters and the vivid setting make this story full of drama, humour and poignancy, come alive, letting the reader escape to the sunshine. There was one aspect I didn't enjoy, and that was the setting in the butcher's shop and the associated humour. I have strong beliefs about animals, so this element was tough to read for me. Overall this is an engaging story.

I received a copy of this book from 'Head of Zeus-Aria' via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I’m ashamed to say it’s a good few years since I’ve picked up a book by Mandy Baggot and that is such a travesty as reading Staying Out for the Summer was just the tonic I needed. I promise I won’t leave such a long gap for my next Mandy Baggot story. Staying Out for the Summer is such a wonderful, fun, flirty, slightly bonkers read, I enjoyed it so much I could read it all over again and I probably will!

I wasn’t sure how I’d feel reading a novel that has snippets of the covid pandemic in it’s storyline but as we have lived through this situation for over a year now it has become the norm so to include it makes the characters seem that more relatable and you can understand and appreciate their current state of mind. The author, Mandy Baggot, has been very sensitive about this aspect of the storyline and it isn’t the main focus and I felt like she dealt with it with grace and humanity.

This is a story of two best friends; Gavin and Lucie, who are also nurses on the same ward at a hospital in Southampton. Life has been very gruelling for these best friends and in need of rest, recuperation and escape the pair book a holiday to Greece.

As soon as Gavin and Lucie arrive at their destination they start to realise that this holiday is going to be memorable as the Greek village they are staying in is full of strange traditions, quirky villagers and wildlife a plenty. I loved the sound of this village with it’s picturesque landscape and traditional Greek outlook on life. One of my favourite characters from the story was the multi talented taxi driver, Miltos. He seemed to appear out of the blue and always at a time when you needed him the most. He also made you feel very welcomed to the village and to his family.

Gavin’s character was vivacious, cheeky but he also had a vulnerability about him especially when it came to love interests. Lucie was very warm-hearted, kind but held an anxiety about her mainly due to her upbringing. She’s felt afraid to let herself go and try new challenges and thinks the past is holding her back. When Lucie meets Michalis on their first day an instant attraction is made but as she learns he is a Doctor a sort of bonding between the working life during a pandemic is made. As Lucie and Michalis spend more time together friendship soon blossoms into more but is this just a holiday romance?

Mandy Baggot has written such a glorious escapism read whisking you off to sunny climes with new cultures to learn and discover the delicious sounding local dishes. It’s a comforting, warm-hearted story that brings plenty of smiles your way.

Although on the one hand, this is an escape to the glorious island of Corfu, Coronavirus is never too far away as it is very much part of the working lives of the central characters. This roots the story very firmly in the present and taps into people's desire to escape to the sun. Corfu shimmers in the sunshine and is an eyeopener to Lucie who has demons of her own stemming from the death of her mother years ago. Away from home, she begins to gain in confidence and re-assess her wishes for the future and her relationship with her great- aunt who has been a substitute mother figure to her.

There are plenty of humorous moments because of the antics of the Greek villagers. Lucie's best friend Gavin is also good value with his larger than life personality but he too develops a more thoughtful side. You realise early on that Michaelis has returned home from the mainland with issues to work through and the chemistry between him and Lucie is obvious. Family ties and responsibilities are themes which run through the story. In all, it is a warm story which captures the way of life and transports you to the sunshine!

In short: Escape to Corfu

Thanks to the author for a copy of the book

I gave this a 4 stars or 8/10. It is the perfect read to help you escape real life and immerse yourself in the lives of others

Told during the current world that we live in, Staying out for the Summer is set in 2021 and all that the world has thrown at us. Who doesn't want to escape the country that they live in to travel abroad to get away from it all? I for one am looking forward to getting away at some point, as I am sure are many of you.

Lucie is no different than many of us in that respect, she's looking forward to travelling to Corfu to escape her current life to relax and get away from work for a while as she's been among the thick of things in her role in the NHS. Things don't always go to plan though and in some ways, that's what makes for a good romance. The lead up to the ultimate conclusion of boy winning the girl or man winning the woman, it's a story as old as time.

Mandy Baggot has a way with words and sets the scene well both in the UK and in the Greek setting that she knows so well, due to her obvious love of Greece and all things Greek including the men.

I particularly smiled at the detailing of the ball shaped pieces of food, that Michalis was given to eat by his sister that had been served up in the skull of a sheep. I had to read the passage twice and her comment saying, ' ''Then I serve them in the skull. Like balls for brains! Ha!'' ' I am not sure that it would make me fancy eating them to be honest, but I bet they were far yummier than they sounded.

If you enjoy a romance that has plenty of escapism, then this is the book for you. Grab a copy and make yourself a cocktail or two, to enjoy while reading the story and you could almost make believe that you were sat by the pool or on the beach, watching the story develop before your own eyes.

My thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

This book was great escapism however it took me ages to get into the story and often lost track on who was who and what was going on. The story is also set in time after covid and for me that made me feel even more trapped with the whole situation that is currently going on. It also took me ages to read the book because I didn't find myself wanting to pick it up, I feel like it had good ideas but it wasn't displayed well for me.

Lucie and Gavin are nurses working in a hospital in the middle of the Covid pandemic when they have decided they need a well deserved break, and where better to jet off to that the amazing island of Corfu, with its clear waters and stunning beaches, and of course sun and plenty of it! Lucie then meets the lovely (and gorgeous!) doctor who sets up a surgery in the grounds of Lucie and Gavin’s holiday home.

Mandy always transports me to the most idyllic places to the point where I just wish I could hop onto a plane and experience it for myself! ‘Staying Out for the Summer’ has made me laugh out loud, to then feeling sympathetic to the character’s back stories! My favourite part actually involves goat wee! (Don’t ask!)

I adore Mandy’s style of narrative to the point that her books just flow so easily so you can concentrate on imagining what is happening with her wonderful characters.

‘Staying out for the Summer’ is about love, friendship and community! I give this beautiful story 4*/5* 😊

Thank you to Aria Fiction for an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley

There is little that makes me happier than a new book from Mandy Baggot, and I have to be extra disciplined not to just devour it the moment it arrives. And with this story and Lucie, Gavin, Meg and Michalis on Corfu, I got all the relief, laughter and enjoyment that I could have hoped for. Lucy and Gavin are nurses, working the front lines during the pandemic and still reeling from the aftereffects and worries for themselves, their families and on their own health. Waking up with a shorn head and a massive hangover, Lucie’s last memories of the night were fuzzy, but seeing Gavin’s eyebrow-less face has everything turned upside down. Being raised by her aunt after her mother’s untimely death when Lucie was little more than a toddler, she’s always been reluctant and careful – whether that was from being overprotected and sheltered from ‘dangers’ as a child, or her own internalization of the disappointment that her mother must have been – is still to be determined. But her aunt Meg has always been there – and this past year of not being able to see her up close and personal has worn on her – particularly the worries as Meg isn’t as spry as she once was. But, when she agrees to allow Gavin to book them a holiday away – her first in forever, she’s surprised by Meg’s reaction that she once loved Corfu and Lucie needs to get away and regroup.

Enter a ride from the airport in a fruit-seller's van, a remote house with gorgeous views, a town that promotes itself as the healthiest on the island and is soon to host a Not Dead festival, wild tortoises that send Gavin into fits of hysteria (to be honest – he's also afraid of butterflies) and plenty of interest and sunshine – the place may be just what they need. Until Michalis is cajoled, tricked – nay even pushed into opening an office in the spare house on the property Lucy and Gavin have rented, and he’s forced to face his own fears of leaving the hospital and what he views as a failure of being enough in his career as a pulmonologist.

What emerges alternates between laugh out loud antics, some true conversations and discussions from those on the front lines in the pandemic fight, and plenty of sun, liquor, older folks who simply barge ahead expecting their will be done as everyone finds their own new normal. With Michalis’ sister and father, with Meg and Lucie – and even Gavin’s never-ending search for his “one and only’ the story brings heart and hope to the forefront – and gives a nice moment of relief for everyone tired of the ‘what next’ with the pandemic.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-aSQ /” > <a> I am, Indeed </a>

Before I tell you how very much I enjoyed this lovely read, I think I really must talk about the elephant in the room (as opposed to one of the many turtles…) – because I’m sure you can’t have failed to notice the mention of “battling a global health crisis”. Lucie and Gavin are nurses who spent 2020 caring for patients on a covid ward, and I really wasn’t at all sure that I wanted to be reading about the pandemic while we’re still living through it. And it is more than just a mention – they reflect on the saddest moments, the problems of keeping going – and it was particularly brave of the author to take the risk, when so many readers are vehement that they read for an escape from reality.

For the first quarter of the book, every mention did disturb me, and tended to wrench me back into the real world – and I really wasn’t convinced that I was ready for comedy juxtaposed with a period that’s been a living hell for so many, particularly when we’re not yet at the end of it all and actually able to travel. But I have to say that it’s extremely well handled – and although I’d never have chosen it as a theme to read about, I did find that I stopped noticing every mention of masks, testing and lockdown and was drawn in by the characters I loved from the very beginning and their much needed escape to Corfu. On arrival, after a rather uncomfortable transfer in a fruit van along with the remaining watermelons, there’s a quite wonderful – and extremely funny – scene where the visitors to Sortilas are “processed” in a particularly unconventional way, and we meet some of the local characters who make this book the absolute joy that the author’s books unfailingly are.

Lucie is the loveliest focus for the story – brought up by her Aunt Meg (and fiercely protected) after the loss of her mum, she has a nice edge of sadness combined with an infectious sense of fun and capacity for happiness and laughter. And she couldn’t have a more entertaining companion than Gavin, her gay friend, who’s a wonderful mix of flamboyance and devil-may-care in his sparkly shorts while singing Cher’s greatest hits but shy and uncertain when things get a little more personal. Lucie’s love interest is Michalis (mmm, yes, he certainly pressed the right buttons for me too…), the village doctor who opens his surgery in the annex to the villa, just across the pool – we find out that his former life has had its moments too, and there’s one big issue, slowly revealed, that continues to plague him.

One of the very loveliest things about this book is the Corfiot community, the most wonderful collection of eccentric individuals all quite superbly drawn. I was a particular fan of Michalis’ sister Nyx, a little fierce as she wields her knives and machetes behind the counter of their father’s butcher’s shop, terrifying the poor customers who come in for their pork chops and rabbit, but who has a heart of gold along with a complete absence of any filter. And Miltos, who drives that fruit van like a Formula One car, refuses to believe that a man can be a nurse, and ensures Lucie becomes “Loosely” for the duration of their stay. And then there’s the centenarian twins who make elaborate wedding dresses, whether people need them or not – and perhaps the greatest tour-de-force of all, Melina, wielding her staff as organiser extraordinaire of the forthcoming festival of the Day of the Not Dead. And actually, I shouldn’t confine “wonderful characters” to the Corfiots – Gavin’s crush Simon, barista at the hospital coffee bar, is a great character too, and I just loved The Other Sharon Osbourne, the gobby nurse colleague who plays a great part in the story at a particularly critical point.

It’s a great story, with a few excellent moments of drama, plenty of poignancy, but with the next laugh never too far away. There’s a lovely attention to detail with the vivid settings and the delicious food (goodness, I could actually taste those kataifi…). The romantic content is perfectly done, strong and convincing, just right at an emotional level – and there’s a nice focus on family too, both Michalis’ and Lucie’s, bringing a tear to your eye amid the surrounding hilarity.

I will admit I had my doubts at the beginning – I thought the covid cloud was going to be inescapable – but this really was a book I thoroughly enjoyed. And the content I initially found less than comfortable? I’m more than happy to accept that it was a timely and appropriate tribute to those who worked on the front line, and not at all out of place in a romantic comedy. Do give this one a try – I thought it was wonderful.

(Copied to Amazon UK, but link not yet available)