Blog Tour and Review: The Summer Villa by Melissa Hill

Pages: 384

Genre: Adult Fiction

Pub. Date: April 28, 2020

Publisher: Mira

Source: Publisher for review

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads says, "Three women. One summer reunion. Secrets will be revealed…  Villa Dolce Vita, a rambling stone house on the Amalfi Coast, sits high above the Gulf of Naples amid dappled lemon groves and fragrant, tumbling bougainvillea. Kim, Colette and Annie all came to the villa in need of escape and in the process forged an unlikely friendship.  Now, years later, Kim has transformed the crumbling house into a luxury retreat and has invited her friends back for the summer to celebrate.  But as friendships are rekindled under the Italian sun, secrets buried in the past will come to light, and not everyone is happy that the three friends are reuniting… Each woman will have things to face up to if they are all to find true happiness and fully embrace the sweet life.  An epic summer read about food, friendship and the magic of Italy, perfect for fans of Mary Kay Andrews and Susan Mallery."

Kim Weston has lived a privileged life, but all this privilege comes at a cost. Her parents have pretty much arranged her marriage to man whom she doesn't want to marry.  So, she took control of her life and left for the Amalfi Coast.  While there, Kim befriends Collette and Annie and forms a lifelong friendship with them.  After the girls leave and go back to their lives, she decides to stay in Italy and refurbish a villa on the coast.  She has plans to turn it into a gorgeous luxury resort.  Fast forward a few years later when she is done remodeling the resort, she invites Collette and Annie back to Villa Dolce Vita for its grand opening.  What could be more perfect than gorgeous days spent looking at the beautiful views of the coast amidst lemon trees and intoxicating bougainvillea?  Well, plans never go exactly as one hopes, right? Each woman has issues they are harboring and must face.  This will be one trip that all three women will remember.  The Summer Villa by Melissa Hill is a great escape to the Amalfi Coast and is a delightful tale about female friendship.

There are three women that The Summer Villa focuses on: Kim, Collette, and Annie.  As mentioned, Kim is restarting her life on the Amalfi Coast by refurbishing a crumbling villa and turning it into a gorgeous escape.  She has moved on from her New York life controlled by her family. She now has a husband and a young daughter and from he outside her life looks perfect.  However, Kim is still pretty egocentric and in turn, hasn't really taken to motherhood.  This guilt she carries has become a heavy burden.  So, she has some problems that she must address.  Colette, from England, has her own issues, especially after dealing with her mother's illness.  Lastly, there's Annie from Dublin, who was given a wonderful gift to restart her life and is opening her own salon.  Each of these three women initially visited Villa Dolce Vita to escape some aspect of their lives and are now reunited years later for the grand opening. This should be a beautiful vacation, but there's many secrets lurking just below the surface.

The setting of The Summer Villa is my absolute favorite aspect of this novel. The brilliant sunshine, the lemons, the gorgeous azure water, the rocky coastal views, the Italian food--it was all very well done and I was able to picture it in my mind.  It was the exact escape I needed.

The Summer Villa isn't just your usual light beach read though; the characters do have to deal with complex life issues and there's bit of a mystery intertwined into the story. It made for a great beach read and one that made me long for warm days lazing in the sunshine.  I also appreciated how The Summer Villa focused on the power of female friendships and having your friends help you overcome the inevitable issues that pop up in our lives. If you are looking to armchair travel this spring, look no further!