Book Review - The Italian Holiday by Catherine Mangan

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Title: The Italian Holiday

Author: Catherine Mangan

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Sphere

Publication Date: 23rd May 2024

Rating: 5 Stars

Escape to Italy and fall in love with this perfect summer read...

Floundering junior travel writer Katie has just been given the opportunity of her career. Her boss can't make her trip to the idyllic but little-known Italian island of Ponza, and Katie must step into her luxurious designer shoes to write the piece for the magazine. Boarding the plane with her best friend Farrah, Katie waves goodbye to her unglamorous domestic trips and hello to a week of sun, sand and sparkling seas.

But then disaster strikes. Farrah is involved in an accident and Katie must stay by her side for a month while she recovers. Katie is in panic-mode, trying to appease both her micro-managing boss and her passive-aggressive boyfriend back in New York, while an intriguing local chef, Nico, tries to show her all that the island has to offer.

As she gets to know Nico and falls in love with the relaxed pace of the island, Katie begins to question her life back home and what she truly wants. But will she figure out what's truly important to her before it's too late?

A glorious and uplifting escapist novel set against the stunning backdrop of the Italian coast. The perfect holiday read for fans of Rosanna Ley, Jo Thomas and Karen Swan

I've just spent a glorious few hours on the sun drenched shores of Ponza, absorbing every last word of this book with a smile on my face, while wondering if Ponza is even a real island - wow just did a search and it is, and its as stunning as it was described. 

I feel as though I know every nook and cranny of Ponza, this little Italian island, that Katie and Farrah are visiting. I'm in love with this place and will have to visit it myself one day, as it is such a different way of life to the regular hustle and bustle of city living. 

I think this may be my favourite of Catherine Mangan's novels although I did love the others too.  This really did transport me to Italy, and it is just what I want in a summer holiday sort of a book.  This would have been perfect to read by the pool / sea in the sun! 

Katie is a travel and food writer, but this is the first time she bas been asked to cover a destination that isn't in America so she is mega excited, and knows it is her big break  However what she didn't reckon on is that it would have the capacity to change her life forever. 

And I just loved seeing how Katie reacted to things not going so smoothly on her trip in addition to her growing a bit closer to talented Chef Nico (even if he does have the sort of restaurant that personally I'd never eat at!). The descriptions of the food in the book were just mouth-watering. 

And seeing Katie and the locals of Ponza attempt to speak to each other with very little foreign language knowledge is a lot of fun too. 

This was just a sun filled, utterly glorious summer read that I adored. 

Thank you to Sphere and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.