With a job as a mystery shopper, Peach (aka Penelope) often finds herself in crazy situations. Luckily for her, she is great at role-playing and has an active imagination. After checking out a wedding venue for herself and her imaginary fiance Matthew Hemsworth, she has been tasked with checking out the Mote Hotel at the airport. The perfect assignment as he is due to be collecting her sister Di who has been in Greece for a destination wedding. A strike has the flight delayed and Peach meets Matt who was waiting for his best friend. An impromptu dinner invitation and the two connect and spend the night together before she wakes to find him gone.

A whirlwind romance has her sister returning home with a fiance and plans to get married next week, If this weren't enough for her to get her head around, she discovers that she knows the groom from high school, and realises that her sister won't be moving in with her (and will now be homeless), as well as an accidental £5k bottle of wine ordered during the hotel stay - eek! Things go from bad to worse when she accidentally invites her sister's ex Alex to the wedding instead of her best friend Lex (aka Alex). Oh and Matt, the one from the hotel just happens to be the best man!

Full of awkward moments as the group spend a week in the Italian villa to prepare for the wedding. Twists and turns, miscommunications and revelations happen along the way - but who gets their HEA?

Lovely feel good book to read. It was a joy to read. Lovely characters. Great plot. The book was charming. Very well written. I’d definitely recommend this book

this was. a fun escape to an Italian beach. a perfect summer or poolside read! I loved the chemistry and banter between both main characters.

Lovely, fun read, really enjoyed this as some escapism.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Lovely fun summer read in great Italian setting. Loads going on with likeable characters and plenty of humour, perfect summer beach reading

Anything Portia writes i want to read. What can I say. I liked this book. Must read. Do it. If you do anything else. Read this book today. Great read and enjoyable.

An enjoyable light summer read, a great distraction to the world around. The author provides the a lovely read, with great drama, angst, chemistry and a happy ending. Lovely escapism

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

A wonderful summer read. It’s a mismatch of love or lust at first sight. Meeting the man of your dreams, spending time with him but then not exchanging numbers. Peach thinks she Will never meet him again or will she. Her sister decides on the shortist engagement in history but wants a super fast wedding in the Italian hills. It’s a story of getting to know new friends/ family, making memories in a beautiful setting. Whilst helping to plan a wedding of your sisters dreams Lives never simple is it

Great summer read! Light hearted and fun and frothy. Really enjoyable and easy to lose yourself in. Sparky plot and lovely setting. The characters are easy to like and their are a few surprises along the way. Recommended read!

Thank you Netgalley.

Not being able to travel this year, reading a book set on Italian villas and beaches was a beautiful escape.

There were a few moments I thought the book dragged a little, and I didn't connect to Peach as much as I would have liked to.

I didn't love every character (particularly Di and Charles), but I would absolutely read a book about Vanessa. I also loved the deaf character and sign language inclusion in the book.

I think this story can best be described as a comedy of errors meets much ado about nothing. It's funny, fast paced and convoluted. with so many layers in terms of relationships that when each one is peeled back and you think you've got to the bottom of it, there's yet another one underneath.

It's so much fun, you won't be able to stop reading it. And Peach really does have the most wonderful job!

This was a fun summer read. I loved the story line and the MC. The writing style was enjoyable as well.

Ok I seriously loved this book. There was one part where I was uncontrollably laughing out loud! I love MacIntosh’s books so much! They are just the right amount of sweet, frustrating, hilarious and charming and this book was no different! All the romcom lovers need to pick this up, I highly recommend it!

oh wow!!!! This book is a gem!!! I usually really enjoy every book by Portia MacIntosh but this time I more than enjoyed my read, i absolutely LOVED it! I gave this book 5 starts as it was so good! This book is just so crazy, so many incredible things are happening, it's much fun and relaxing to read, it's just the perfect read when you need to unwind and forget all your stress! It's one of the best chicklit book i have read this year for sure!!!!

Portia MacIntosh’s laugh out loud romantic comedies never fail to put a great big smile on my face and she has done it again with her irresistible new novel, Life’s a Beach!

When her sister Di announces that she is getting married, Peach is absolutely thrilled for her. Of course, she would have preferred it if her little sister had known her prospective husband for longer than a week and that his name was not Charles, but with her chequered romantic past and disastrous dating history, Peach is hardly one to talk! Peach is going to be there for her sister and support her on the most important day of her life – and with the wedding taking place on the majestic Italian coast, she decides to put a lid on her reservations and be the best chief bridesmaid she can possibly be for her younger sister.

However, Peach quickly realises that even with the best of intentions, weddings do have a habit of going awry as she soon discovers. A bridesmaid’s job is stressful at the best of times, but throw in hi-jinks aplenty and mischief and shenanigans galore – not to mention ex-boyfriends and one-nights up to no good – and you have a recipe of disaster and a wedding celebration that makes Love Island look like an episode of Songs of Praise! Peach has got enough on her plate trying to ensure that the path to true love runs smooth, but will she be able to keep the show on the road? Or will this be a wedding to remember – but for all the wrong reasons?

Still, amidst all the madness, Peach might just end up finding the one thing she always wanted which she never thought she’d find: everlasting love.

Life’s a Beach is a delightful comedy of errors that will make readers howl with laughter. Sweeping readers off to Italy, Life’s a Beach is a deliciously witty and uproarious summer romp that sparkles with zingy one-liners, hilarious banter and heartfelt romance. Peach is a lovely heroine. She is kind, caring, very patient and somebody readers would love to have as a friend.

Fun, feel-good and wonderfully escapist, readers looking for a first class romantic comedy, need to look no further than Portia MacIntosh’s Life’s a Beach.

Portia MacIntosh often writes stories that are a bit over the top and a tad unrealistic. But in "Life's a Beach" she is reaching for the sky: A marriage after one week. Everything is pure luxus, no expenses spared. Ghosts from the past turn up at every corner. Then even the pop idol of her teenage dreams makes an appearance! A bunch of thirty-somethings play spin the bottle. Cringe moments galore...

Plus: while I normally like Portia MacIntosh's protagonists, and are thus interested in their adventures - I couldn't really connect to Peach and the rest of the gang. I can't even say why that is, because Peach is not dislikable per se.

But both things combined means that "Life's a Beach" was not more than a silly distraction from the monotony of my daily life. But not less either. Probably perfect for reading in a similar luxurious holiday lodging that Peach and her friends are partying in - but who of us is gonna be this lucky?

Full of beautiful exotic locations and likeable Jain characters. The perfect summer read for the beach.

When I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this book through netgalley, I was delighted.
Portia mackintosh never fails and this one didn't disappoint. They are always full of fun, mischief and fabulous characters on every page.
This book was a wonderful read, pulling you into the holiday romance so many of us have had and it brought back lots of happy memories for me.
I lived the characters and definitely Matt , I could take him home with me!
Great story, humour, love, misfortune and never in the right place at the right time.
Fabulous read. Thank you to Netgalley and the author and publishers for the privilege to read this book for my honest review

One thing you can guarantee with Portia MacIntosh is a well-constructed rom-com with the perfect balance of romance with laugh out loud comedy. Life’s a Beach was my favourite book by Portia so far.

I loved the character of Peach, and if I’m really honest I was really jealous of her job as a mystery shopper. After an impulsive moment lead to a night of passion, followed by an apparent ghosting, it was so cringe-worthy when Peach realised the mystery man Matt was the best man for her sister Di’s sudden destination wedding to Charles.

What made matters worse is that the wedding party of stags and hens seems to consist of a number of exes. Awkward!

The setting, near Naples was so wonderful, and really made me think of warm days by the sea under an Italian sky. The additional cast of characters other than Peach and Matt were so realistic and relatable, and I especially liked Peach’s cousin Van.

This book is absolutely jam-packed full of events which will have you sympathising with characters as well as laughing at their antics! I’m not going to rerun the story in my review, but suffice it to say, this will have you picturing everything so vividly in your head. I could absolutely see it making it to the big (or small) screen and I would love to see that happen.

Life’s a Beach by Portia MacIntosh will give you an action-packed rom-com which will make you want to jump on the next flight, and join in with the shenanigans! Sun, sea, sex, secrets and lots of sunshine, what could be better than that?

A Mixed-Up, Laugh Out Loud Crazy Wedding RomCom! I have never read this author before, but now that I have I will definitely seek out her other books! Her writing style is clear cut and clean and the characters are strong and believable to the end.

Peach is supposed to be making sure her little sisters wedding goes off without a hitch! But, what wedding does especially one where the groom and bride have only known each other for a week? Plus Peach accidentally screwed up and invited someone who should never have been invited!
This wedding is soon to explode like the 4Th of July Fireworks!

I definitely would recommend this book!

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