When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: two weeks in Positano, the magical town Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.

But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.

And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue.

Review:

Charming, touching, and hopeful!

One Italian Summer is a tender, uplifting tale that takes you into the life of grief-stricken Katy Silver as she embarks on a journey to Positano, Italy, the place her mother loved, and where she will have a chance to revisit the past, face some truths she’d rather not, discover her true self, and start to come to grips with moving on without the one person who has always been her everything.

The prose is heartfelt and smooth. The characters are multilayered, conflicted, and genuine. And the plot is an absorbing tale about life, loss, love, grief, family, friendship, marriage, relationship dynamics, introspection, heartbreak, and the special bonds that exist between a mother and daughter, all interwoven with a thread of magical realism.

Overall, One Italian Summer is one of those books that tugs at the heartstrings, makes you dream of sandy beaches, lazy days, and crystal blue water, and reminds you that love is powerful and everlasting, and that life should always be lived to the fullest.

This book is available now.

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