Carol Kirkwood certainly knows how to write a wonderful story. Yet another page turner which made me feel happy inside! Great characters, a setting that is in my favourite city in the world and a romantic story with a happy ending. I can’t wait for her next book!

Really enjoyed this book. Have read others by the same author, which I also liked but I think this one was better! Not sure if that was the storyline (quite a few characters but easy enough to keep up with), the setting (Venice is such an amazing place - it is quite a few years ago that I was lucky enough to go, but this book brought it all back!) or whether Carol is just improving her writing with each new book. The characters were really believable and you just hoped for happy ever afters for them.

I would highly recommended this book if you are looking for a bit of escapism - would make a great beach read in my opinion!

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

Venice at carnival time - what a setting for romance! Carol captures all the excitement, the glamour, and the fun,
Great characters with the story centred around Gina who left her village may years ago harbouring a secret. She is now head concierge at a luxury hotel, dealing with the many requests from celebrities. She has a little bother on carnival night, but an intriguing masked man comes to her rescue. She hopes to discover his identity. There are ups and downs along the way, with her secret about to be disclosed.
An easy read, perfect for summer holidays. Mystery and romance and gorgeous descriptions of Venice. Highly recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

This new novel by Carol Kirkwood is taking us to Venice where her central character, Gina, is the concierge of a famous luxury hotel. There is a buzz because it is carnival time and the city is full of visitors. Gina is busy with her celebrity clients, including the famous diva Lucia de Santis. And Gina is also fascinated by a particular actor who is working in Venice and who struggles with the relationship with his family in law after tragedy stuck them. With bad feelings between some of the characters, thoughts of revenge and romance, we have all the ingredients for a good story, with a topping of Venice magic.
I really enjoyed the book. The characters are interesting and full of life. The setting is, of course, wonderful and beautifully woven into the story. And the plot is a little dark, but also light and entertaining.
A very pleasant cocktail, to be enjoyed on a relaxing holiday, or to relax if you are not on holidays.

A wonderful romance, Hollywood meets Venice. What is the secret held by Lucia and Gina? Will Gina's past catch up on her? enthralling reading.

This story is centred on a sumptuous hotel in Venice, its manager and some of its guests. It combines old secrets with emerging romance.
The city itself is beautifully described and almost an additional character. I found this book rather slow to start with although it gathered pace and ultimately came to a satisfying and credible conclusion.

Really enjoyed this story, whilst it offered a romance novel with a fairly obvious outcome there was also the ongoing story of what happened in the past and how will it all come out!

a fantastic summer read set in Venice, had everything you need for your reading needs on your hols, full of love, mystery and secrets, it has it all

Carol Kirkwood – she of BBC Breakfast fame – has made quite a name for herself over recent years in the world of romantic fiction. Once Upon a Time in Venice is her fourth novel and is fully up to the standard of the previous three.

Gina Bellini is head concierge at the White Palace Hotel in Venice and hides a dark past.
Brad Radford is a famous movie star filming in the city, the handsome Marco is his stunt double
Lucia de Santis is a famous opera singer with links to Gina of old…

I really enjoyed this book. Likeable characters, a plot that keeps you turning the pages, glamour, a vivid setting. Yes please. The perfect beach read. Recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, HarperCollins, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A great summertime read. Romance, with intrigue an mystery. All set in the wonderful city of Venice at carnival time. The characters were well developed and believable, if a little Hollywood. The mystery was't quite as convoluted as in Villa Amore a previous read of Carol Kirkwood's, but still engaging.

Another wonderful book from Carol, which I can hear her reading it to me in her lovely Scottish accent. Nice setting, good characters and a lovely storyline.

I thoroughly enjoy Carol's books and have read them all.

They transport you to another extravagant out of reach world! Some of the characters are a bit "ott" but when layers are uncovered they are just ordinary beings like us who've had different opportunities

The setting, Venice is incredible and particularly the Carnavale when everything is at it's opulent best. Wow what an extravaganza, so well depicted in Carol's novel.

I can't wait for the next one. Keep it up Carol.

Thankyou for the arc netgalley.

Another wonder read from Carol Kirkwood!

Loved this book, struggled to put it down and devoured it in a couple of days.

This time Carol whisks us off to Venice during Carnival when the city is transformed into a party atmosphere, every one is in masked costume and all sorts of mysterious goings on happen.

Gina has worked hard to become the best concierge at one of the city’s top hotels, she can make all clients dreams come true and knows everything about the city.

She’’s managing top end wedding plans, a Hollywood mega star who is shooting an action movie and a diva opera singer who is the most difficult of guests.

Then when out enjoying carnival one night she has a chance encounter with a masked man who helps her out of a tricky situation. The next day she meets Marco, a stunt pilot working on the action movie, but there’s something quite familiar about him. How does she know him?

However Gina’s world is about to be turned upside down when secrets emerge from her past that she thought she’d ran away from 10 years ago.

Could her hard work and the dream career she has built herself, all be about to be torn away from her?

Another good read from Carol Kirkwood. It took me a little while to get into this book but once I did i couldn't put it down.Set in the beautiful city of Venice which I have visited and loved it I was transported back to all the beautiful places perfectly described but not over the top,and featuring two couples who each had some difficulties and past situations that unravelled gradually through the story and made for a very interesting and enjoyable read.

I have just finished Carol Kirkwoods new book Once upon a Time in Venice, I was a huge fan of her previous books and for a few pages I thought it wasn’t going to live up to her previous books………I was wrong, I was quickly hooked and throughly enjoyed this book. More than her others!! it had more twists and turns and all set in the backdrop of Venice. I can’t recommend this book enough and look forward to more ☺️☺️☺️☺️

I’ve read all of Carol Kirkwood’s previous novels so I suppose you could say I’m a fan. I thought this was one of her best yet.

I particularly enjoyed the setting which really evoked Venice at the time of the famous carnival. I also enjoyed living the life of luxury vicariously through the characters. I have visited Venice and thought the descriptions were very authentic.

The rags to riches tale plus the secret lurking in the past all make this a great read.

Thank you to the publisher and net galley for giving me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As always Carol Kirkwood kept me fully entertained with her new book.
I love Venice so this book was extra special for the setting along with great characters and a storyline that had me hooked from start to finish. A great read,
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. It was a pleasure.

Carol Kirkwood's latest novel is an engaging novel set around a Venice luxury hotel during the Carnival. Gina, the hotel's head concierge has an encounter with a mysterious stranger who disappears off into the night. Will she ever meet him again? And how will she deal with the opera diva, Lucia, who seems set on revealing Gina's long hidden secrets?

This is an enjoyable, uplifting summer read with some added intrigue, skullduggery and romance.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. I have read all of Carol Kirkwood 's books and enjoyed them all. The setting in Venice is well described, especially the Carnivals. The 3 main characters are all women , who are well scripted and all very different, but hide their own stories I particularly liked Gina, who makes a successful career for herself after moving on from her 25 year old experience.
I can recommend this as a good holiday read. A story that keeps you engaged and never becomes boring.

4 stars

I enjoyed this book. First time I've read any of this author.... I had a nasty feeling we were going for violence on females at the proloogue but this didn't fully materialise. There then is a bit of a mystery of which girl in 1995 is the girl that wasn't able to save the bloke from ten years ago. I wondered if we were going to get too much name dropping of expensive places a la Karen Swann but the author didn't fall into that trap. The actor gave me a bit of Chris Helmsworth vibe and we get two romances in this story. It was a good mystery romance but not sure I'll continue as I don't read a lot of contemporary type stories and 30 years ago doesn't strike me as historic.

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