Italy Ever After - Leonie Mack

 

Escape to the sun and head off to Italy, with the wonderfully warm and ever-so-page-turning Leonie Mack!

TV journalist Lou feels battered and bruised after her divorce from Phil, the father of her daughter Edie. Her confidence and sense of fun have steadily been drained away, and she isn’t sure who she is any more.

When the opportunity arises to accompany Edie on a music camp in Italy for a month in the summer, Lou jumps at the chance for new adventures, new horizons and new friends. The hazy warmth of the summer sun, shining brightly over the stunning Lake Garda, slowly brings Lou back to life. 

Nick Romano, Edie’s music teacher, loves being home in Italy, but coaching his students for their concert in Milan, is bringing back difficult memories. His blossoming friendship with Lou is the perfect distraction, although a summer fling would be easier to conduct without the scrutiny of his mother Greta, not to mention the interference of his extended Italian family.

As the summer passes, full of sunshine and breath-taking scenery, gelato and delicious feasts, Lou and Nick get ever closer. But as the time for farewell creeps up on them, will they be able to say goodbye and leave their memories behind in the Italian sun, or can a summer romance last a lifetime?

Leonie Mack is back with a sizzling, sun-baked love story, perfect for all fans of Mandy Baggot, Jo Thomas and Carole Matthews.

Purchase Links: https://amzn.to/3qfXhDq

My Review:

A heart warming tale of soul searching, believing in yourself and acceptance. This Italian based story will have you hankering after a holiday in the sun. Leonie Mack transports us to gorgeous Italy with fantastic descriptions of the food, scenery, language, and culture.

It was really interesting to see how the relationships between the characters changed over the course of the book; whether that was Lou’s relationship with her ex-husband, with music teacher Nick, or whether it was Nick’s relationship with music.

Lou did bother me – I just wanted to stop her searching endlessly for a talent, her self-confidence and belief is at a low and understandably so, but as a character that seemed interesting and engaging, I was a little annoyed she couldn’t see all the qualities everyone else could or take their compliments!

Nick clearly has his own issues, with talent in abundance, his own past demons still play a role in his lack of self-worth and often he seemed grumpy or hot headed. A catalogue of miscommunication and misunderstandings often get in the way of him and Lou throughout the duration of their stay in Italy resulting in Lou having to take extreme action to make her point.

An interesting story, with lovely characters, some fun and laughter as well as fantastic descriptions.

Highly recommend for a summer read. 

Author Bio:

Leonie Mack is a debut novelist whose first book My Christmas Number One was published by Boldwood in September 2020. Having lived in London for many years her home is now in Germany with her husband and three children. Leonie loves train travel, medieval towns, hiking and happy endings!

 

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Q&A with Leonie Mack

Welcome to The Comfy Chair Blog.... Leonie Mack, author of 'My Christmas Number One.'

About Leonie:

Leonie Mack is an author of fun contemporary romance with engaging characters, sparky dialogue and settings that will whisk you away to new places. She loves a happy ending and shares that love in every book she writes!

Leonie is a journalism graduate, a language nut and loves to travel, particularly on foot, by bike and by train. After growing up in Australia and living most of her adult life in London, she now lives in Germany, among the vineyards along the Main river.

1.    What was your favourite childhood book/author? 
The book I read the most times as a child was The Enchanted Wood by Enid Blyton. I loved all the characters and the endless adventures at the top of a magical tree.

2.    What inspired you to start writing and how long has it taken you to get to this point?
I have always written stories—as soon as I learned to write, I started writing stories. I wrote for myself, as a hobby, for years before I got serious about learning to plot a novel, about three years ago. I wrote My Christmas Number One last year. It was the third book I’ve tried to get published and the first one that’s made it!

3.    Describe your writing space - neat and ordered or creative chaos? 
My writing space has typically been wherever I manage to set up. I have small children, so no space for a dedicated office. I wrote most of My Christmas Number One at the dining table! But now I have a desk in the living room

4.    What is the easiest and hardest part of the writing process?
I love writing romances. Crafting the story is the best job in the world. I love getting deep inside the characters and winding up the emotional (and sexual!) tension. The most difficult part is the hard slog of endlessly proofreading! That, and waiting for Christmas, in the case of this book!

5.    Which other authors are you influenced by?
 I am a romance nut and my early writing influences were the American authors Nora Roberts and Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Now I enjoy reading romcoms by lots of fabulous British authors like Portia Macintosh and Lucy Keeling.

6.      What does literary success “look” like to you?
My goal is to keep writing. My books need to do well enough that I can keep bringing out books! I was fortunate to get a contract for two books, so my second will be out next year and hopefully by then I’ll be on a path to more books!

7.    How do you select the names of your characters?

           Some characters are really easy to name. In My Christmas Number One, Cara’s name was just hers, right from the beginning. It just worked well for her. Other times, I’ve had to change a character’s name partway through (which is a nightmare of Find and Replace). I use lists and naming statistics and name origin websites to make sure the name is appropriate. For secondary characters, I often look for similar people in real life. For example, the character of Susana in My Christmas Number One has the middle name of famous Mexican singer Paulina Rubio.

8.    Do you hide any secret ‘messages’ in your book that only a few people will understand?
There aren’t any secret messages per se, but there are a lot of song lyrics that made their way into the book—not quotes or exact wording, but paraphrased. There are several songs in Spanish I was listening to while writing that have references to cupid’s arrow and bullets of love, ‘getting lost’ together, being addicted to someone and even the Colombian saying that is part of Javi’s character arc (‘You don’t have to drink the water; let it run’) is actually in a song. The character of Javi came directly out of these love songs in Spanish, although he becomes a lot more than that as the story goes on.

9.    If your book was to be made into a film/TV programme, which actors would play which role?
I would love to see this story come alive on screen with all the music and drama! I didn’t have any celebrities in mind when I was writing, but one reader suggested Emily Blunt for Cara and I love that. That reader suggested the American actor Benjamin Bratt for Javi, which I also quite like. Another suggestion I’ve had from a reviewer was Gael Garcia Bernal for Javi and I like that idea, too. He would bring the appropriate brooding under the surface.

10.  What do you hope your readers take away from your book?
I want the readers to have a complete escape. I want readers to feel the heart-pounding chemistry of falling in love. With this book, I also want readers to see that everyone, no matter what haunts them from the past or what struggles they have in the present, can fall in love and learn to enjoy Christmas again.

Lastly, Jenn (The Comfy Chair) likes to enjoy a good read snuggled up with a cup of tea and piece of cake... what cake or sweet treat would you suggest to accompany your book? 

My Christmas Number One is best enjoyed with a mojito and some Christmas pudding! 

My Christmas Number One
Available HERE

There’s nothing quite like a Christmas love story, to get you in the mood for celebrating…

Cara doesn’t do sexy and she only does ‘Happy Christmas’ under duress. She is, after all, a serious musician, and her stubborn streak is born from her struggle to recover from a serious injury.

Javi lives for escapist fun - in his music, and in his life - especially since he’s always failed at life’s more serious challenges, including marriage and fatherhood.

Javi and Cara are forced to record a Christmas single together, but neither of them have plans to spend any more time with each other than they absolutely have to. With Christmas traditions that couldn’t be more different, and outlooks on life that are worlds apart, the chemistry just shouldn’t work. But the magic of Christmas can bring even opposites together…

From the snowy beauty of London at Christmas, to the candle-lit magic of Javi’s traditional family celebrations, let Leonie Mack whisk you away on a memorable festive adventure. Perfect for fans of Trisha Ashley, Mandy Baggot and Holly Martin.