Book Review - A Dream of Italy by Nicky Pellegrino

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Title: A Dream of Italy

Author: Nicky Pellegrino

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Orion

Publication Date: 26th March 2019

Rating: 4 Stars

Live your dream of Italy...

Here is your chance to buy your own home in southern Italy for less than the price of a cup of coffee. The picturesque mountain town of Montenello is selling off some of its historic buildings for just ONE EURO each. The only conditions are that purchasers must renovate their new home within the next three years and that they plan to contribute in a meaningful way to this small community.
To be considered as a future resident of Montenello contact the town's mayor, Augusto Rossi. Live your dream of Italy for just one euro.

When the Mayor of a picturesque Italian town launches a new scheme to rejuvenate the community, his advertisement is read with interest and excitement by many. Zara is in her thirties and desperate to get on the property ladder. Tim and Lynda are retiring and need a project. Some are looking for a peaceful bolthole. Others hope to make a profit, start a business, escape a dull life or an unhappy relationship. And there is someone who just might be hiding their true motivation...

Their lives are about to change forever - but can they make their dream of Italy into a reality? A deliciously escapist summer read.

Have you ever wanted to get on the property ladder? Ever wanted to buy a house in Italy? How about if it was only €1?

In theory I'd love to have seen the advert from the mayor of Montenello, in his efforts to revitalise the local community.   For just one euro, you could purchase a house that needed large amounts of renovations, and need to be able to contribute to the local community. 

It's a wonderful idea, and until last year I'd never seen a book featuring this sort of plot, but this is now the third I've read, so at the back of my mind were unfair comparisons, as they are all incredibly different. 

I loved the location for this book, a small hill top town, near to Puglia. And applicants that were chosen to move into the town, all had completely different reasons for taking the plunge. 

Each chapter is split into sections between the three hopeful new residents of the town, and also the town's mayor, all nicely labelled and allowing you to get to know all the key people really quickly and easily. 

I loved all of the delicious descriptions of Italian food, there are a couple of small restaurants that made tasty sounding food that had my tummy rumbling.  Added to the picturesque and vivid descriptions of the town itself, I felt as though I was there, soaking in the sun, looking at the crumbling buildings and eating the meals alongside our intrepid characters. 

From the moment I started the book I was hooked, I just love Nicky Pellegrino's writing and this was no exception.  It is full of love for a small town in Southern Italy and I enjoyed everything, from the initial discussions about the advert for these houses at only a Euro, to the first views of their assigned properties and then just trying to work out if this was a completely mad idea or not! 

I also really enjoyed the story-lines involving the mayor's assistant, who is rather wily and clearly knows more about everything than he tries to let onto immediately, the re-discovering of Italian roots, the regeneration of this town. But most of all i adored Donna Carmela, the mayor's mother, who is a master matchmaker, wonderful cook and just all around friendly person full of great advice.  Donna brought a great warmth to any scene she was in. 

Another incredibly enjoyable book from an author who I always love to read.  If you have ever dreamt of owning your own corner of Italy, then this is certainly the book for you too!! 

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

Book Review - A Year at Hotel Gondola by Nicky Pellegrino - Blog Tour

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Title: A Year at the Hotel Gondola

Author: Nicky Pellegrino

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Orion

Publication Date: 9th August 2018 

Rating: 4 Stars

Kat is an adventurer, a food writer who travels the world visiting far-flung places and eating unusual things. Now she is about to embark on her biggest adventure yet - a relationship.

She has fallen in love with an Italian man and is moving to live with him in Venice where she will help him run his small guesthouse, Hotel Gondola. Kat has lined up a book deal and will write about the first year of her new adventure, the food she eats, the recipes she collects, the people she meets, the man she doesn't really know all that well but is going to make a life with.

But as Kat ought to know by now, the thing about adventures is that they never go exactly the way you expect them to...

If you have ever wanted to feel as though you have been to Venice and stayed there for a considerable amount of time, then this is easily the book for you. 

For Kat has decided to spend a year at The Hotel Gondola in the aim of seeing what it is like to put down roots in once place after travelling the world for most of her life. She has also fallen in love with Massimo and is curious to see what a longer term relationship is really like. 

Kat though is a food writer and has agreed to write a book documenting her year in Venice, and this is in part where my niggles with the book are. 

For what I was reading was really two books in one  - every other chapter was a chapter from Kat's book written in the first person, and typically in a font a few points smaller than the rest of the book.  Then the other chapters are in the third person, and dealt with what was happening in real time, whereas the book was the edited highlights as such. 

I was reading on a kindle and found either I was upping and reducing the font ever other chapter as I like my fonts at a certain size, sand too much larger or smaller is frustrating. In the end I was putting up with the smaller font on the chapters - but found all of it each time, just took me out of the swing of things as my eyes re-adjusted.  

That aside I did really enjoy the  book(s).  Kat is 50 years old,  and given her way of life she has an interesting perspective on everything. I loved every last description in this book - and really got a feel for how you could wander around Venice, get completely lost,  end up in a small osteria  or baccari offering assorted Cicchetti,  or discovering the festivals, the hidden shops. 

The book also touches on the real issue facing Venetians which is to do with the level of tourists in summer with calls to ban cruise ships.  This I know is based on real life, and was interesting to see in a book, and the younger Venetians take on the situation.  

I am a huge fan of Nicky Pellegrino and normally would be raving about her books, I feel she has lost her way slightly with this one, I found it to be very good but just missing that certain something that would normally have me whizzing through the pages. 

Regardless though this is an enjoyable story, and really does transport you to the heart of Venice, to the extent that I feel as though I would explore the city more next time I'm there on a cruise (or not depending on how that situation unravels). 

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

Book Review - Under Italian Skies by Nicky Pellegrino

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Title: Under Italian Skies

Author: Nicky Pellegrino

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Orion

Publication Date: 7th April 2016 

Rating: 5 Stars

Stella has life under control - and that's the way she likes it. For twenty-five years, she's been trusted assistant to a legendary fashion designer, but after her boss dies suddenly, she's left with nothing to do apart from clear the studio.

It seems as though the life she wanted has vanished. She is lost - until one day she finds a house swap website and sees a beautiful old villa in a southern Italian village. Could she really exchange her poky London flat for that?

But what was intended as just a break becomes much more, as Stella finds herself trying on a stranger's life. As the villa begins to get under her skin, she can't help but imagine the owner from the clues around her. She meets his friends, cooks the local food he recommends and follows suggestions to go to his favourite places. But can an idea of someone ever match up to the reality?

As Stella wonders if she can let go of the safety of her past, perhaps there's a chance for her to find a way into her future...

I was incredibly excited when I saw there was going to be a new Nicky Pellegrino book, and my first impressions of the cover were how pretty and evocative. I couldn't wait to get stuck into the story and see where in Italy I was going to be transported this year. 

It didn't take long to discover that its Triento, in Southern Italy, a location I have become familiar with from some of Nicky Pellegrino's previous books, and back the the gorgeous Villa Rossa. You will meet up with old friends from her past works, but its a brand new set of characters that are at the centre of this story. 

Stella likes her life to be controlled, but when her boss dies and insists that her company closes on her death, Stella has to pack up the offices and take stock of her life. When best friend Birdie suggests a house swap, so that Stella can get away from London for a while, for experience a new lifestyle, Stella cautiously agrees, and finds Leo's summer house The Villa Rossa. 

Throughout the book there is Stella's email exchanges with Leo as they become virtual friends, as well as keeping up with Birdie, and we see Stella's growing love affair with the Italian village she finds herself in. Before long she has made some new friends, and with the help of the scrapbook that Leo has kindly made for her, she is off on small day to day adventures, trying out new things and generally integrating herself into Italian life. 

As is typical of a book by this author, make sure you have something to snack on while you are reading, as there are many delicious sounding descriptions of Italian food, as Stella is introduced to new restaurants, and two ladies try to teach her how to cook, in the Italian style. 

I found myself transported to a relaxed lifestyle in Italy that I didn't want to come to an end, feeling like I was in another country myself, as I got to know Stella and experience how she was living in her house swap. I loved the correspondence with Leo, which may not be normal for a home exchange, but since it felt like they had partially swapped lives, it fitted well, and gave you a good idea of what Leo could be like. 

Under Italian Skies is a very relaxing read, that took me out of England and convinced me for a few short hours that I was in Italy. I feel it would a great summer holiday book, or even just for a nice day out in your garden, when the sun is shining, and you want to escape your day to day life for a bit. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Orion for this review copy. This was my honest opinion.