Cover Image: The Summer Wedding in Santorini

The Summer Wedding in Santorini

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A brilliant read and one I really enjoyed. The characters are loveable and varied, the plot is one that is engaging and medium paced. I found myself completely drawn into the story and enjoyed the writing style.

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It was nice to go back to Santorini in this book. There’s quite a bit of strife between Anna and Nico as they want to be together but also pursue their careers. As they try to navigate this, they are also involved in their cousin Elena’s wedding.

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Anna has traveled as a professional photographer for years now. Her home base is on Santorini where she lives with her boyfriend, Nikos. Anna and her sister, Lizzy, inherited a home there from their parents. Nikos loves gardening and also has a vineyard. Anna usually travels for weeks at a time and is home for some weeks. But being away from her is starting to wear on Nikos and he knows Anna loves what she does and is not interested in quitting her job. Her friend Elena who happens to be Nikos sister, is getting married and Anna is to be her maid of honor. But Nikos and Anna are not getting along well. He doesn’t want to push her to stop her job as he is proud of her work and it makes her happy. Anna is feeling the pressure from Nikos and both are unhappy. Some secrets will be reveal.

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I think my review is somewhat skewed because I didn’t realise this was a sequel to another book featuring the same characters. I don’t think that this being part of a series is mentioned anywhere (unless I have missed it). I have mainly found that if I’ve ever read series books out of order I’ve still been able to enjoy them without feeling I’ve missed out on huge chunks of the characters’ backstories. Unfortunately, I didn’t find this was the case in this book. There are so many references to things that happened & an assumption the reader must know what occurred in the previous book. Although I was able to still read the book I frequently felt like I had missed a lot of important experiences with the main characters. This spoiled my enjoyment as the natural feel to the flow of a story that usually happens when reading this genre was missing.
I also found myself getting frustrated with the continual miscommunication, misunderstanding or general fall-out between Anna & Nikos and by 60% of the way through the book I was just willing them to split up & get on with it and be done with the whole thing. It just seemed to go on for so long. However, eventually the book pulled back into being an enjoyable storyline. Again, I think that had I already developed a relationship with the main characters I’d perhaps be more invested in their difficulties & the outcome of their relationship, but as I was new to the storyline I just found it all irritating.
Ultimately, this would be a decent holiday read, perfect for the beach as the warmth of the sunshine is reflected in the Santorini summer. However, I would definitely recommend reading the first book ‘The Summer House in Santorini’ first.

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An enjoyable read for the most part with some stunning destination descriptions & a rich assortment of characters . What spoilt it slightly for me was all the in depth sexual scenes which I don't think were really required . I'm by no means prudish but think with subtle hints it can be best left to each individual readers own imagination hence why the 4 Star rating . Probably a good Book for those who like light reading material when sat around a Pool. #NetGalley, #GoodReads, #FB, #Amazon.co.uk, #Instagram, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/358a5cecda71b11036ec19d9f7bf5c96d13e2c55" width="80" height="80" alt="100 Book Reviews" title="100 Book Reviews"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/ef856e6ce35e6d2d729539aa1808a5fb4326a415" width="80" height="80" alt="Reviews Published" title="Reviews Published"/>, #<img src="https://www.netgalley.com/badge/aa60c7e77cc330186f26ea1f647542df8af8326a" width="80" height="80" alt="Professional Reader" title="Professional Reader"/>.

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So happy to Santorini to return once more
Where Anna and Nikos need their love to explore.
They're spending so much time apart
Could it result in a broken heart?

With her best friend's engagement surprise
Something is wrong, Anna starts to realise.
Her career is successful but involve travelling, too,
She's worrying about what next she should do.

Meanwhile Nikos is happy her career is going well
But her long absences are starting to tell.
Their reunions are heartwarming, that's so true
But the parting is leaving them both feeling blue.

There seem to be two options - to stay or to go
But surely their love will an alternative show?
Can they work out their problems somehow
To share their love and careers together from now?

A story filled with drama and decisions to make
With a true love that makes it hard to break.
But unless together they can find a way
Will their love last for another day?

It keeps you guessing and worrying, too,
About these two and what they'll do.
With others involved, there are choices to make-
Will they stay together or will their relationship break?

For my complementary copy, I say thank you,
As I share with you this, my honest review.

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This was an entertaining book. It was light and mostly sweet, though the main characters had issues with lack of communication and making assumptions. Overall I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

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This book was everything I didn’t even know I needed to read. It was sweet, dramatic, and romantic and it kept me glued to my kindle.

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Anna has traveled as a professional photographer for years now. Her home base is on Santorini where she lives with her boyfriend, Nikos. She and her sister, Lizzy, inherited a home there from their parents. Nikos loves gardening and also has a vineyard. Anna usually travels for 3 weeks and is home for 3 weeks. Being away from her is starting to get old for Nikos. He knows Anna loves what she does and is not interested in quitting her job.

Nikos’ sister, Elena, is getting married and Anna is to be her maid of honor. Delighted at the honor, everyone is getting excited at the wedding happening soon.

However, Nikos and Anna are not getting along well. He doesn’t want to push her to stop her job as he is proud of her work and it makes her happy. Anna is feeling the unuttered pressure from Nikos and both are unhappy.

Having visited Santorini many years ago, it was a pleasure to be reminded of its beauty. I liked the close family atmosphere expressed in the book, however, I can’t say that I liked Anna or Nikos. I can understand Nikos missing Anna and I had hoped to see her agree to cut back on her trips as a compromise as one person having their way totally does not make for a good relationship. There seems to be too much drama and angst in this story along with crazy drinking. Three stars is my rating.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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When I started reading this I quickly realized it was the second book in the series. That was a surprise. So I put this book on hold and started with the first book of the series. This book is about the same couple, but this time it's more drama and about the troubles the couple are experiencing. I got easily fed up with them not talking about their problems. It was frustrating. I did keep reading although at some point I stopped caring about what would happen to the couple. I did keep reading though. I just loved the epilogue. I wish the main part of the book was more like that.

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Before reading this book, I did not realize that this was a sequel to a previous story set in Santorini. However, I didn't need to read the first book to feel the love emanating from Anna and Nikos. I was transported to Greece and immediately swept up in the camaraderie and love between all of the characters. 

The author captures each character's emotions and struggles well- Anna was a strong female lead with a conflicted desire to travel for work or plant roots in Greece with her partner. Her interactions with each female were realistic, from her friendship with Elena (who had a beautiful wedding!), her sisterly bond with Lizzy, her closeness with her grandmother and even her cattiness (and eventually acceptable) with Maria. I loved it all. Nikos was an equally strong character, showing a range of emotions. I enjoyed following their love story, as well as their troubles, rooting for them the whole time. Great story, great scenery and great overall read!

I also loved the cover and reading about Nikos' wine!

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Anna and Nikos have settled in the summer house in Santorini, however their relationship is under strain due to her frequent trips away on business as her photography career starts taking off whilst Nikos' vintage is going from strength to strength.
This does raise the issue of how difficult it is to combine a career that involves a significant time away from home and a steady relationship, especially for a woman where there is more expectation to be the stay at home partner. Throw in a mysterious woman who appears to be very close to Nikos, plus Anna working closely with her ex who is now her agent, and there is plenty of room for misunderstandings. The location does sound idyllic, the friends supportive, leaving you to read on hoping that everything works out OK in the end. Note that there are some spicy moments if they aren't your thing.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influenced my review of the book.

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A good beach read. No twists and turns no unexpected drama just a fairly straight forward romance. Great when you just want to switch off and don’t want to think too much. I hadn’t read the previous books in the series but didn’t feel that it mattered as it works well as a stand alone.

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This was a lovely book from the outset. Essentially it is a romantic love story with a lot of drama packed in as well.

Set on the beautiful island of Santorini, Anna and Nikos live a wonderful life together. As their friend (and cousin) Elena & Vasilis embark on their wedding plans, various issues in Anna & Nikon’s relationship start to cause a lot of issues and unhappiness. This is a classic love story of “will they won’t they” but written differently.

The book takes you through a rollercoaster of emotions but is a perfect beach read

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I haven't read The Summer House in Santorini but I really enjoyed this summery romance and its beautiful Greek island setting. A perfect holiday read.

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Anna lives on the beautiful island of Santorini with Greek boyfriend Nikos, a vineyard owner. Anna's job as a photographer takes her away from the island on regular long trips, but she always returns to the friends and family she has on Santorini. When best friend Elena gets engaged, Anna begins to reassess her life - what does she want from her relationship with Nikos, would settling down mean adjusting her work and would she accept that?

The book sees Anna and Nikos doing a lot of soul searching, without a lot of talking which everyone can see is needed - and as a reader, I found this quite infuriating. They are not very likeable characters, and a lot of the time I didn't care what happened. That said, the other side characters are actually quite horrid to Anna at times, and I did find myself feeling sorry for her in parts (and disliking her in others!) Beautiful scenery and locations helps bring the book alive, the author clearly loves Santorini!

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Set against the stunning backdrop of Santorini, this novel was a delightful and entertaining read. It had its share of emotional moments, particularly in the story of Anna and her father's relationship. All in all, this was a quick and enjoyable read that would be even more enjoyable if read while on vacation.

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I loved this book, I found that I couldn't read it quick enough - I seemed to be very invested in our main characters straightaway and couldn't read quick enough to see what unfolded. I loved the descriptives of Santorini a place that is on my to visit list and found there was just the right balance of describing the island that blended with the story beautifully. I loved the storyline and the characters - it was well written. I'm looking forward to reading more from Samantha :)

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Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

This book was a sequel, but it can also be read as a standalone.

Anna loves both her career as a travel photographer and her Greek boyfriend. But both have decisions to make as she gets an offer that’s hard to turn down.

I absolutely loved the descriptions of the Greek island.

I couldn’t not put this book down, and highly recommend it.

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While reading this book, I felt that I wished I’d read the first in the series to get a better feel for the relationship between Anna and Nikos. Their chemistry was immediately obvious but I didn’t feel that there was the same depth of character development, as in a true standalone story. I enjoyed meeting Anna’s friends as well as her sister. I do enjoy an ensemble cast, and this one did not disappoint.
The main themes of the story felt a little laboured, what did Anna want from her life and was Niko too close to the mysterious Maria. Ultimately, the story delivered a truly satisfying ending that made up for my earlier frustrations.
The author’s descriptions of the landscapes and local scenes had me thinking about visiting Santorini and soaking up some of the atmosphere and stunning views.

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