The book really picked up speed and my interest around 60%. The main character is Gillian who flies to Sicily to surprise her husband and get the spark back into their marriage when everything takes a turn. She is about 40 years old and meets friends along the way who are about 4 years younger than her. I don’t watch many hallmark movies but I think this would be a movie my mom would watch. However, I would like to know the ending for her daughter and husband.

First time reader of this author.

I felt and instant love and connection to Gillian, the wonderful caring people that helped her along the way and the unexpected events that lead her to make the biggest decision of her life.

An wonderfully written story, uplifting and happy, full of mishaps, accidents, love and hope!

I received this book through NetGalley! I thoroughly enjoyed reading One Summer in Sicily. I found myself rooting for Gilian after the unfortunate ending to her 25-year-old marriage. I understand that some people who read the book found her too hard on herself and spoke poorly of herself at times throughout the book. Still, I think that was important in understanding how she feels about herself, especially after being betrayed by someone she loved for 25 years. I also loved all the side characters in this book and thought it was such a fun, easy read that was uplifting about a woman learning to love herself and love another again!

Gilly flies to Sicily to surprise her husband, but receives and unintended surprise herself. Gilly sets out to find herself on the island of Lipari. We are introduced to an array of characters that help Gilly on her quest.

I thought that the description of the island was wonderful, as well as all of the delicious sounding cuisine. I imagined closing my eyes and being there eating something un-diet friendly! The romance between Gilly and Mattia was very slow moving and I got tired of the back and forth. I wanted to like Gilly. I felt she wavered too much and I would have loved to have seen her evolve to an even more confident woman...without a man.

Much thanks to NetGalley and Aria for this advanced copy.

This book was enjoyable but also kind of annoying.
I loved how the author described Italy. It felt as though I was on Lipari with Gillian. I could almost smell all the smells and taste the desserts! For me, this made the book worth reading.
I also liked how it was a book about reinvention and finding yourself. It was also about friendship and female solidarity. It had a lot of good things about it.
I just didn't really like how it was written. Gillian was almost 40 and acted like she was almost 50 but was also written like she was still in her twenties. She also talked really badly about herself at times. It's not a crime to like desserts! I felt like a lot of the story was all over the place. The back and forth between her and Mattia was off putting as well. Neither of them were honest until the end and it gave me whiplash.
Overall, I did enjoy this and felt it is a nice, easy, summer read.

Thank you so much for this ARC!

I will always request women’s fiction that takes place in Italy. This book sounded like a fun and easy read. Unfortunately, this just wasn’t cup of tea.

The writing style was not for me - seemed almost over exaggerated with unnecessary detail in places that didn’t need it. I think the author tried to make the main character relatable, but it didn’t carry through for me. I found her so passive, negative about herself and honestly, kind of annoying. Happy that so many readers enjoyed it.

This book was such a sweet and magical story. Gillian flies to Sicily to surprise her husband and save her marriage, but the outcome is completely the opposite. The characters were very interesting and well written so it made me enjoy this story even more. Overall this book is fun and sweet, but sometimes I felt like it was missing something and I could’ve enjoyed more than I did.

I want to thank NetGalley and the author for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I requested to read “Summer in Sicily” by Nancy Barone as I had just gotten back from Italy and loved the premise.

Soon to turn 40 Gillian flies to Sicily to surprise her husband while he is on a business trip and put sex back into the marriage, But unfortunately, she discovers her husband is having plenty of sex—with someone else. Yet, she decides to stay in Sicily to figure out where she will go from here.

I really wanted to enjoy this book but I had a few hang-ups, including how Gilliam felt so “old” at forty I understand it was her perspective but she ends up with someone only a few years older than her, not 25. She also seemed too hung up on her size, which again, was not an issue, but, my God, woman, you are in Italy. Live a little. I really wanted the character to change and evolve, which I felt did not happen as I did not get a chance to know who she was to begin with. I became so frustrated that I skimmed through the last third of the book, and still did not get the result I wanted.

Still, I may have expected something that this book could not deliver. If you are looking for predictability and okay with minimal character growth, you might enjoy this story. Unfortunately, I did not.

Many thanks to the author, NetGalley and publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received a free copy of, One Summer in Sicily, by Nancy Barone, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Gillian is shocked when she finds her husband of 25 years cheating on her. Gillian has a lot to figure out and decides to do it in Sicily. While not the happiest of situations, this was a good read.

Gillian flies out to Sicily with a plan to surprise her husband on a work trip and ignite the spark in their marriage. However, she was the one that ended up surprised and brokenheart. Dealing with her nonexistent confidence, a broken heart and new people in her life -- charming Mattia and vivacious Sandra -- her journey is just about to start after she decides to stay in Sicily for a couple of weeks.

I mostly enjoyed this! It was fun and sweet, the small island setting making it a perfect Summer read. It took me a couple of chapters to get along with the writing because Gillian is a perky character and being in her head felt a little silly at times. A lot of her insecure thoughts repeated throughout the story as if there was almost no character development, which then felt inconsistent to her actions that showed her moving on and coming to terms with some personal issues. The relationship development was great until the last 20 percent when the third act break-up came. (Technically, it was not a break-up since they weren't together.) There was too much miscommunication for my liking and I even found myself cringing a little when they reunited at the end. It was well paced until it suddenly became super rushed.

Overall, I would still recommend this! I mostly commented on parts that bothered me but I did really enjoy reading it and the story was a great idea with a more than alright execution! A sweet romance perfect as a holiday read with a lot of characters and a cute puppy! I would read again from this author because I believe her books are going to get better and better after maybe some polishing and working out the conflicts throughout the story!

After attempting to surprise her husband in Sicily but ending up being surprised herself, Gillian sets to make a new life on the Island of Limpari.

It's a sweet enough story; a little too wordy and slow in parts but I did quickly get swept up into the characters and wanted to know how it all worked out. There's no real fire in the story and the pace is on the slower side, but it's a nice enough read.

I really liked this. This has all the family drama that you would expect. I thought that it was a very good book and I would definitely read more from this author again. Thos book was perfect to read on a rainy day to take you away and be absorbed in this book.
I just reviewed One Summer in Sicily by Nancy Barone. #OneSummerInSicily #NetGalley
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A very sweet story about finding yourself after pain, stepping out of your comfort to try new things and love.
After Gillian attempts to save her 25 year marriage by surprising her husband in Sicily... things go unexpectedly for her.

I absolutely loved that this took place in Sicily- I want to go now! All the characters were so fun to read about and I loved them. I also enjoyed reading about the friendships Gillian makes and love! No spice but a sweet story!
I wish Gillian had a grown with her negative self talk a bit, but otherwise So good!

Firstly I would like to thank Aria and Aries and the author Nancy Barone for access to one summer in Sicily.

The review I am going to make is an honest review regardless of the access I received for this book. It should be noted I was not paid for this review and ensure honesty in all my reviews.

Gillian is trying to save her twenty-five year marriage and decided even though she is petrified of flying to go to Sicilian Islands to surprise her husband who is there on a business trip (yes – that is an odd place to go for a business trip!).

I found the body shaming and negativity of the character hard to read and wanted Gillian to have more self love which took so long in this book to reach.

I typically enjoy this type of story. I'm not sure why but here the writing and characters failed to pull me in. I found both to just irritate.

This was the first book I have read from Nancy Barone and it was a cute second chance rom-com story.

The story for this book was entertaining and I liked Sandra and Gillian overall (even if I wasn't crazy about some of the decisions they were making). I loved the little island of Lipari and the small town. It seemed so cute and (upon googling) seemed accurately represented and I would love to go and visit. Pastries and sunshine? SIGN ME UP.

Although, there was a HEA it took 98% of the book for the character to get over herself and accept who she is.

Personally, I disliked how much negative self-talk, and body commentary there was in the book. It is completely normal for your body to change over 20 years, especially if you have had children, and just LIVED LIFE. I kept hoping that Gilly was going to start to love herself as she was. It disappointed me that it took so long for her to start to go after the things she wanted in life and that she felt she had to change to be worthy.

I also really liked Mattia and Maria!! Maria was the perfect minor character throughout the book for GIRL POWER. Mattia was sweet, but should just speak his mind, (but so should Gilly). Mattia and Gillian provide some really great comedy throughout the story.

Overall, Gilly learned a lot of life lessons and I enjoyed the ending.

This story was really interesting! I wasn't really sure what to expect but I had a good time. I read this in one sitting and I believe that is the way to do it. I just wanted to know how this story would unfold. It also makes me want to fly to Sicily asap!

Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to read One Summer in Sicily. It was my first read for author Nancy Barone.

This book started off with promise. I tend to love a book theme where the main character finds herself "starting over" in another country (Italy being my favorite location for such journeys). Initially, main character Gillian was relatable. Similar body size and age, a mom, etc. However, by the halfway point of the book I was frustrated by her lack of self esteem. I wanted to jump through the pages and talk some sense into her. Add in a promising "book boyfriend" character Mattia. He also initially came off super promising. He seemed patient, gentle, sexy and confident. By the last fourth of the book I was face palming for so much back and forth between the two.

I kept turning the pages and finished this book fairly quickly but I found myself wishing the story had taken different liberties (less "miscommunication", slow burn into real romance, etc). I will say that there was a lot of detail on the delicious italian foods that nearly had me booking a flight to Italy.

#OneSummerInSicily #NetGalley

I really enjoyed this whole book. I loved how fast paced it started getting right into it. I also really enjoyed reading all the amazing descriptions of Sicily and the food. I was able to put myself right into the place. Reminded me of Under the Tuscan Sun but way better. Really good read for summer!

In this book we meet Gillian who has been with her husband now for 25 years. The sparks seem to have gone and things are feeling a little bit rocky and so when her husband goes to Sicily on a work trip. Gillian decides after too many drinks that she must go out and surprise him. But as you can probably guess when she gets there things aren't what they seem and the trip really doesn't have the outcome that Gillian wants. As her life and marriage blows up by what she discovers Gillian decides that she will stay in Sicily and figure out what her next steps should be and what she wants out of life, now that she can start again. However Gillian was a little hard to connect with. I mean for one she decides to stay in Sicily. But she doesn't really embrace it. I mean who goes to Italy and doesn't eat lots of yummy Italian food and treat. I mean I thought that was a given when going to Italy. But especially if you are mending a broken heart. I thought it was a little bit of a travesty that she never really embarrassed it. Also I understand that she was freaking out a little bit about being 40 and I get that. But to get so hung up on the fact that she had a younger lover who was only 3 years younger than her felt a little bit off kilter. I mean I have a husband who is 3 years younger than me. Its no big deal at all. I mean you don't notice the age gap at all when it's only a few years. I could understand it more if he was like 10 or 15 years younger than her. But three. That was a bit silly in my opinion. It was also all a little predictable. Which isn't always a big issue. But I think because I wasn't the biggest fan of the main character. I think it felt a bit more obvious and so a little bit more annoying. Also what happened to her husband. Did he return home? Were they both living in Sicily at the same time? I mean you usually know the outcome of that. But it felt like that got forgotten about and just disappeared. It wasn't an awful story. But I just don't think it was for me.