A solid 3.5. Samantha Thorpe is newly divorced and seeking a fresh start in a small Italian village. Her sense of self and self esteem are at all time lows. She throws herself into updating her cottage, tries to find inspiration to write, and has a mercurial relationship with the locals.

It isn't until 60% into the book that Samantha discovers hidden treasures in the house which lead her on a journey to the past. By this time she has already made some pretty bad life choices, ones that have upended the life she has managed to assemble and forced her into some backwards steps.

While the writing was competent, with beautiful imagery and character development, there were some things that bothered me. First, two rape scenes. Second, the length of time spent on Samantha's failed marriage her unbelievably toxic husband. Third, the lack of consistency with Samantha's personality. Lastly, the amount of parallels between Samantha and Elena was quite unrealistic.

So, yes, I did like the book. But I didn't love it.

Trite, over used plot with unsympathetic characters. If Samantha wants to get to know her new neighbors why is so snarky on her blog. This novel was a waste of time. Sorry I even started it

I highly enjoyed this read. The writing flows beautifully and the ending solidified the love that I have for the romantic Italian story. I hope to follow the next books from this writer, they have captured my heart.

Five stars! Italy, NY, starting a new life, finding a century old journal, being transported into the journal all lead to this amazing book. She has rich descriptions interwoven with captivating dialogue. I highly recommend this book! Thank you to NetGalley for the copy to read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this story. The premise is excellent, and it promised a combination of an introspective narrative and historical fiction - both of which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The book indeed delivered on both fronts. However, I found the pacing incredibly problematic. The novel is described as follows: Samantha, a writing professor reeling from a messy divorce, moves to a small village in the Apennines to escape her past. Once there, she is shunned by her neighbors and utterly alone. The only thing keeping her spirits up are old journals and letters that she accidentally finds in her home. They are written by and to Elena, a girl who lived in Samantha's new cottage more than a century earlier, and whose life eerily mirrors Samantha's own.

Now, I wouldn't have had a single problem with this description had it actually been accurate. Instead, Samantha starts reading these letters and journals somewhere at the 60% mark in the story. Before that, there is a single mention of them in the first chapter, before Samantha goes back in time and reminisces about moving to her new home.

This fact makes it seem like this book is actually made up of two entirely separate, smaller novels. We get Samantha's story first, and then Elena's. While the parallels are undeniable, they fall flat because the stories aren't intertwined. Rather, they are entirely too separate to actually evoke an emotional reaction in the reader.

Had the writer gone back and forth and given us tidbits of both stories at the same time, this book would have been a masterpiece. As it is, it was just two well-written stories that simply cannot be brought together, no matter how similar they are.

At first, I really hated the pregnancy twist. However, I changed my mind later on, as I think it is a fitting conclusion to the story. And here, the issue I have already mentioned arises again: had we followed both Elena's and Samantha's story at the same time, this twist would have made perfect sense and I wouldn't have had to sit in my chair and stare at nothingness for twenty minutes after reading about it.

With all of that out of the way, the stories themselves were quite enjoyable. This book taught me a lot about this region in Italy, its rich history, and the perseverance of its people. I think the author did a wonderful job paying homage to them without falling prey to using any stereotypes. In addition, I loved the little bits in Italian, as they gave the book a much more intimate and believable feel.

All in all, I do not regret reading this. I wish it had better organization and pacing, but it is what it is. I loved the resolution, and even the fact that Samantha and Michael made up in the end. I do wish we had seen Trevor's reaction to meeting his daughter, but I'm glad he at least knows of her existence.

I think my final rating for this is 3.5.