What Happens In Tuscany...

I loved this little story. I so wanted to be Katie and help out Victoria in her mansions with all her money! Ha! A nice little romance story about a 30 year Katie who gets a job being an assistant to 25 year old Victoria (25 year old going on 15 years old). She had never been or done anything since her mother died at the are of 10. She spoke like someone out of a Jane Austen novel, wore clothing that was very out of date and didn't know underwear came in other colors than white.

Katie's job was to bring her into the 21st century and teach her about men, good and bad. The story was well written and kept me engaged this dreary winter afternoon. It definitely did it's job, I don't feel so dreary.

I definitely recommend this book!

Thank you Carina and Net Galley for providing me an e-galley in exchange for a review.

Thank you to Net Galley and Carina UK for a review copy of this book. This is my honest review.

Katie, after discovering her boyfriend had been cheating on her, quits her job and wants a change of career. She answers an advert in Lady, for a companion, to someone at Iddlescombe Manor. After passing the interview she is on her way unaware as to what will await her.

The woman she is to be a companion to, is Victoria Chalker-Pyne, a multi millionaire, 25 years old but has been secluded at Iddlescombe Manor her whole life as a result of her eccentric father. Victoria was brought up to speak and act like an Austen heroine, and know real knowledge of the 21st Century. It is Katie's job to bring Victoria completely into the modern world.

After some modernization has occurred, they decide to go to Tuscany where Victoria's father had a villa, to try and continue her education in the sun. This introduces us to all manor of gorgeous Italian characters and a wonderfully summery feel to the book.

I love books that are set in other countries, so the amount of this based in Tuscany, was a delight to me. The storyline with Victoria although most probably unrealistic, was lovely to read, and its hard to think that someone could have so little knowledge of small things that most of us take for granted on a daily basis.

Fantastically fun read, that left me with a smile on my face throughout. and is a wondeful story about love, and friendship.

What an amazing, heart felt read.

TA Williams has crafted an amazing story and I can't wait to read more from this amazing author!

Katie was having problems with her love life in England and she decided she needed to get away...So she applied to be a mentor of sorts to a young lady named Victoria. Victoria had quite the sheltered upbringing and needed to learn the way of the world and hired Katie to teach her just that.

Katie is Victoria's guide to all things 21st century - from boys to twitter to how she communicates on a daily basis.

From the latest electronics to an amazing car...then they take the most amazing trip to Victoria's villa in Tuscany...

What an amazing journey for both women in totally different ways...Will Katie want to return home after this life-changing experience?

Read it and find out!

Loved it! I loved hanging out in Tuscany with Katie and Victoria, and think we should all do it again. I was worried about how this book might end, but it was "just right!"

hysterically funny, sweet and a all around fun reading experience. You will love this book. Its a true escape and a delight . Well done.

After discovering her boyfriend in a pub with his mates and a stripper, Katie has had enough. Add to that her discontentment with teaching and she’s well and truly ready for a big change in her life. She buys a copy of ‘The Lady’ and starts looking at the situations vacant . . . . that’s how she ends up working as a companion to 25 year old Lady Victoria at Iddlescombe Manor. Now Victoria may be 25 years old but she’s been basically imprisoned by her father since her Mother died when she was just ten years old. She’s never seen a colour television, computer, mobile phone . . . . didn’t know that underwear is available in colours other than white . . . . never visited anyone or anywhere away from their country estate and never been visited, either. Katie’s job is basically to help Victoria learn to live in the twenty-first century following the death of her father.

Fairly obviously, from the title, the two go to stay in Tuscany and you’ll really need to read the book to find out what happens there! Watch out for the sleazy, despicable . . . . the outrageous . . . the desirable . . . . the supportive range of characters, they all have their roles to play!

A different sort of story in a fantastically beautiful area with intriguing events all combine to make this an enjoyable read.

I first came across T. A. Williams last year when I was invited to be part of the blog tour for his last book When Alice Met Danny. I enjoyed that book but had a few issues with the writing and the dialogue. However, I was keen to read T. A.'s next book, which came out earlier this month called What Happens in Tuscany. I haven't read many books set in Tuscany before, so I was looking forward to having my eyes opened and to escape to a sunny climate for just a while! This book was a massive improvement on his last book, I thoroughly enjoyed this one from start to finish, and really didn't want the story to end!

Katie is at a loose end when she applies for a rather unusual job - to go and work at a stately home helping a young aristocrat come to terms with the modern world, and open her eyes up for her new life. Her own relationship is in the gutter, she's fed up with her job and she desperately needs a change, and this job sounds like just the ticket. Lady Victoria Chalker-Pyne has spent her 25 years on this planet locked up at Iddlescombe Hall thanks to her over-protective father. Now he has died, she is ready to start finally living, and needs Katie's help to navigate the scary modern world - phones, TV's, Twitter, Facebook and modern day language! The pair strike up an unlikely friendship, and begin changing Victoria's life, and set off on a summer holiday to Victoria's family villa in Tuscany. Life for both ladies is about to get a whole lot more exciting...

Something about this book just worked for me right from the beginning. I really liked the idea of the story, of someone having their eyes opened to the modern world that we live in and take for granted, so that was very eye-opening as a reader too! You can't help but feel incredibly sorry for Victoria having lived such a sheltered life, through no fault of her own, and I really detested her father for what he has done to her. Yes, he did it for what he felt were the right reasons, but ultimately no-one has the right to hold another person captive which is essentially what Victoria's father was doing. However, Victoria was so sweet, loving her new life with Katie, and you can't help but love seeing her open as a person as she explores her new world.

Katie really opened up once the book got going too, and helping Victoria open her eyes was also good for Katie too, showing her some new opportunities that she badly needed in her life too. She is really kind and patient with Victoria, and the friendship between the pair is fun to read as it progresses. There are several male characters in the book, and although I got them muddled a little bit in my head, I soon straightened it out and was able to easily follow who was who. There's olive tree man Paul Taylor, Victoria's old school chum Tom (who lives near her home in England), Martin, Katie's friend from the UK and Marco, an exuberant Italian who left a big smile on my face. But my favourite had to be Dante the labrador, what a gorgeous dog! You can see why Katie loved going on long walks through the Tuscan hills with him by her side.

I really loved the descriptions in the book of Tuscany. I have never been to this part of Italy myself, but T. A. Williams writes it so vividly that you can picture it in your mind as you are reading! Victoria's villa was sensational, I could imagine every nook and cranny, but also I could imagine the town, where Katie goes exploring, the other villas they visit, the hills, the olive trees, everything was evocative of Tuscany, it was just wonderful to read. T. A. Williams has certainly improved his dialogue writing for this book too - it flowed much more realistically and felt like I was reading a conversation, as opposed to the stilted dialogue I had encountered before. Yes, there are a few different romantic interests going on in the book, and it was fun trying to guess who the characters would end up with by the end, if anyone! The story was incredibly fun to read, and it was a truly escapist tale, I felt like I could be in the gorgeous kitchen of Victoria's Tuscan villa eating bread with them! I'd highly recommend this book, I loved it and I'm looking forward to more from T.A. Williams!

Finding oneself and one's direction in life is a common theme approached in a very uncommon manner in this entertaining story. Katie Parr has ended a seven year dead-end relationship and resigned from an unsatisfying job. Feeling it will take no time to find work, Katie crashes with her friend Jenny after moving out of the flat she had shared with her former soccer playing boyfriend, Dean. Unfortunately, finding a new career is easier said than done. As she goes through ad after ad, she turns to the women's magazine The Lady looking for something. Here she finds the advertisement for a companion for Miss Victoria Chalmer-Pyne.

In applying for this position, Katie is interviewed at a solicitor's office of some acclaim in London and is offered a substantial sum for the position which she decides to take. Katie travels by train to Nymptonford in Devon where she is met by driver Mr. Mackintosh in a beautiful old limousine for the continued trip to the country estate of Iddlescombe.

Katie gets her first glimpse of Miss Victoria as she passes the car on a sleek galloping horse as they arrive at Iddlescombe. Both Macintosh and the housekeeper, Mrs. Millner elude to the fact that Miss Victoria's life has not been easy despite the obvious wealth and luxury of her upbringing.

Upon meeting Miss Victoria, Katie gets a better understanding of her Pygmalion position to bring Miss Victoria into the twenty-first century. Katie learns that Miss Victoria has lived a cloistered existence on the country estate with her schooling done through a string of tutors and her playmates the characters of the classics. With the exception of Sir Algernon, the staff, and the tutors, Miss Victoria had had little contact with the outside world. This is all about to change.

Follow the adventures of Katie and Vicky as they become best of friends while entering the world of technology, fashion, and negotiating the role of celebrity and the paparazzi. Learn who can be trusted, who cannot, and how this lovely young heiress has almost disastrous results as she learns how to tell the difference as they travel to the family villa in Tuscany.

I truly enjoyed this little adventure and am ready to learn what happens after the festival. TA Williams spins a delightful story that leaves the reader wanting to know more about the interesting characters.