4.5 stars rounded to 5
I’m Italian born and bred but rom-com set in Italy are one of my guilty pleasure and T.A. Williams’ novels are amongst my favourite in this genre.
I love them because the descriptions and the situation are quite realistic, and I like how he describes my country and the people.
The Secrets on the Italian Island is a fun read, engrossing and entertaining.
I loved how he described Isola d’Elba and I was left craving for crostini with chicken liver.
Anna, the main character, is an unusual heroine as she’s a geologist who travels around the world probing for rare metals. The story is about her romantic relationship but also talks about the impact of this type of work on personal life and the impact of mining on the environment.
The environmental cause features strongly in this story as some of the characters are involved in this cause and I liked the observations.
I had a lot of fun in reading about Marco as he reminded me of some dear friends who were very good at the seduction game but a disaster as boyfriend material. Marco is quite realistic and, thinking about my friends, what happened wasn’t a surprise.
Jack was my favourite character, and I would be happy to meet such an interesting and complex man. He was the one I would have chosen over the other love interest.
There’s plenty going on this book: secrets, romances, betrayal and growing up. It kept me hooked and the plot never drags and it’s full of unexpected twists.
One note: I know that Italian politics is quite complex and not easy to understand but some phrases and situation were a bit over the top even for local political standard. I cannot say more without spoiling part of the plot, I assume they were a plot device.
It was a pleasant read and I recommend it as it’s an excellent summer read.
Many thanks to Canelo, Rachel's Random Resources and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine