Lainey Summers feels blessed to have her dream job writing for a renowned foodie magazine. And the day she goes to interview chef Rick Oliver at his new restaurant—Aleatory—in London’s popular Piccadilly, is the start of an unexpected journey.

When Rick is offered the opportunity to jet off to a monastery in Andalucía, to film a cookery competition for Spanish TV, Lainey goes too, to cover the story.

Spending a month filming in the stunning Spanish countryside, soaking up the sights, sounds, smells and of course the cuisine, Lainey and Rick start to enjoy each other’s company. But their time together flies by too quickly, and before they know it, Rick and Lainey have to face going their separate ways.

With both their worlds shifting beneath them, the call of Andalucia and the call of happiness grows ever stronger. But with everything at stake, will they be able to take the chance of a happy-ever-after…

Let Lucy Coleman whisk you off on a sun-baked, life-affirming, total escape to beautiful Andalucia.  

I'm very excited to be helping kick off the blog tour for Lucy Coleman's latest book Summer in Andalucia. I adore this author and her books just have a magical way of transporting readers to far flung places full of beautiful surroundings, wonderful characters and a glimpse into the history of the destinations. For me, Lucy Coleman could almost be described as my literary travel agent. She has the ability to immerse the reader in a new culture with the sights, sounds and flavours of a place. At a time when not many of us are going to be able to travel too far from home, its lovely to have this beautiful piece of escapism. I did love that the characters stayed in a converted monastery as I have done this myself when I was in Rome and loved the experience so much I have also written about one of my own characters staying in a monastery in my own work in progress. I just love the idea of there being so much history, so many tales within its walls. Lucy Coleman captures this beautifully. 

The central character of the story, Lainey writes for a food magazine. She bags a major win when she has the opportunity to interview up and coming chef Rick and his glamourous and very famous  and fiery fiancée  at their trendy restaurant. It's the place to be with desperate diners having to wait months to get a reservation. But, at the interview it appears that all is not well between the supposedly love struck owners and Lainey soon strikes up a friendship with Rick when she is called upon to help him out of a tricky situation and appease his mother. 

When Rick offers her the opportunity to write about a cookery show he is involved in, being filmed in Spain, she of course jumps at the chance to soak up some sun, spend time with Rick and score another major article for her magazine. There is a lot of pressure riding on her to deliver up a series of articles that will help boost the magazine's readership at a time when there are concerns about jobs. Lainey is fairly new to the position but is soon climbing up the ranks and she wants to keep it that way. A hiccup with her photographer adds further stress to her and she fears about her ability to deliver the article.  She soon finds however that the time spent with Rick in Andalucia means more to her than producing an article about him and the show and there are distractions now that keep vying for her attention. She simply cannot afford to lose her focus.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were so inviting and relatable and I particularly had a soft spot for Lainey's father despite the fact that he could be quite stubborn at times. Lainey's desire to bring her parents back together again is heart warming and another added distraction to an already fraught time.  

Lucy Coleman's research into the places she writes about is very evident in her writing and in fact the research around the food described in the books makes me want to go to this very talented author's house for a dinner party! This book was such an immersive experience that I defy anyone not to be swept away to Andalucia, albeit through the writing of Lucy Coleman. Highly recommended. And, if my review doesn't convince you to give this book a try, then surely the amazing cover will. Happy travels!

 

Lucy Coleman is a #1 bestselling romance writer, whose recent novels include Snowflakes over Holly Cove. She also writes under the name Linn B. Halton. She won the 2013 UK Festival of Romance: Innovation in Romantic Fiction award and lives in the Welsh Valleys. Lucy’s first title with Boldwood was A Springtime to Remember, published in December 2019.

 

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