Title: The Summer of Everything
Author: Michelle Montebello
Published: April 13th 2022
Publisher: Self
Pages: 304
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, Women’s
RRP: $20.00
Rating: 4 stars
For twenty years, Belle Hamilton has waited patiently for her partner Ben to propose. When he drops a spectacular bombshell on their relationship, everything she holds dear crumbles around her.
With her life in tatters, she packs her bags and heads to Europe, finding her way to the cobbled streets of Rome…
Review:
Australian author Michelle Montebello welcomes back the first book in her Seasons of Belle series. After a refresh and a rebrand, The Summer of Everything dazzles readers with a tale of friendship, heartache, travel, opportunity and love. It was such a delight to be in the company of the characters of The Summer of Everything.
Meet Belle Hamilton, for two decades Belle has been in a loving relationship with her partner Ben. After patiently waiting for Ben to pop the question, Belle is understandably shocked when he suddenly ends their relationship. Belle’s life is thrown into disarray and her plans for the future are quashed. But Belle’s life takes a turn for the better when she makes the decision to finally fulfil a personal dream to travel to Rome. When Belle sets foot on Italy’s shores she knows she has found her happy place. While tending to her broken heart Belle finds love in an unexpected place. But as soon as this relationship begins to flourish there are challenges to overcome. From the past, to work and travel rules, Belle’s time in Italy is threatened. Will Belle find happiness again?
It was lovely to return to the easy-going and welcoming style of Michelle Montebello’s writing. The Summer of Everything is a prime example of this giving storyteller’s ability to spin a wonderful and highly engaging yarn. Full of emotion, drama, decisions and matters of the heart, The Summer of Everything is an embracing read.
With travel only just starting to resume, we are lucky to have books that allow us to partake in a spot of paperback travel. I know I was extremely thankful to Michelle Montebello for allowing me to come with her on a journey to Rome with her lead character Belle. Although the circumstances of Belle’s sojourn in Italy is quite sad, I could also see the flipside. Belle’s move to Italy was a good opportunity for her to spread her wings. Thanks to Montebello’s situational prose we are thoroughly immersed in life in Italy’s capital. I enjoyed strolling through Rome’s quaint streets and I absolutely inhaled the food descriptions. This is a book that provides a generous serving of culinary delights, so be prepared to cook up an Italian feast afterwards – or even during your reading journey.
There is a fair amount of heartache, personal pain, missed opportunities, disappointment and general problems to overcome in The Summer of Everything. Introducing more than one love complication to the overall story arc was great and I liked how Montebello teased this out. I really liked and admired Belle, the lead of this tale. I also connected with Belle’s personal issues. I think this is the area that Montebello excels at as her writing soars. I enjoyed this one so much that I raced through it during a heavy working week just to get to the satisfying end of this lovely tale.
A heart quencher, The Summer of Everything is a book that I highly recommend to contemporary fiction readers.
The Summer of Everything was published on 13th April 2022. Details on how to purchase the book can be found here.
To learn more about the author of The Summer of Everything, Michelle Montebello, visit here
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