This book is the sheer definition of a summertime beach read. Familiar characters, a great story line with just enough twists to keep it interesting without being hard work and a great ending.
I read with envy as I envisioned the perfectly described stunning scenery and was left fully satisfied at the end of the book which is rare with so many series of books these days, although, I’d be more than happy to read more about this lovely family

I can't even describe how excited I was for this book. Ever since Catherine Isaac published You Me Everything last year, I wanted more. And she topped it with this!!!

We follow Allie in this story, who is an academic research scientist and has always been careful and organized in her life.
Well, she finds a letter in grandmother's things, talking about a possible boyfriend her mother had, when she was young, namely 9 months before Allie was born. She can't ask her mother, because she died when she was six years old. Her grandmother didn't want to talk about the topic, so Allie decides to go to Italy and find out herself.

Always by her side is her best friend Ed. They have been best friends since childhood. Ed is married to Julia, but things aren't easy. Him going away with Allie doesn't help.
Well, their path leads them and us readers on a journey through Italy. The way of finding Stefano isn't easy, they are not successful everywhere. Of course, they spend a lot of time together and one thing kind of leads to another.
When they eventually find Stefano, things also turn out to be a bit different than expected.

The great thing about this story: we can read it from different perspectives: Allie, Ed and also the grandmother, which means we learn a lot about her past as well as Allie's mum's past.

I loved seeing Italy through their eyes and I think Catherine Isaac captured all their feelings beautifully, it was very touching and emotional. A roller-coaster ride with ups and downs and the ending, omg, quite something.

This author writes very sensitively about love and loss. It's quite a slow paced book but very moving and written with great heart and sympathy.

Loved it! Just the sort of intelligent romance for when I want an easy read. Really entertaining, heartbreaking at times and also filled with joy, would happily recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the advance digital copy of Messy, Wonderful Us by Catherine Isaac. This was a story about Ally, her family, and her long time friend Ed. Ally is single and Ed is married. Ally and Ed venture off to Italy together to search out a person of interest to Ally. The story picks up pace once this begins. Ally and Ed experience ups and downs with each other and those close to them. This is a story of love, friendship, family, and regret.

A beautiful compelling book. Messy Wonderful Us is one of those rare reads which spans romance, intrigue, thrilling twists and history. It’s perfect. Even better than You Me Everything.

I really enjoyed the last Catherine Isaac book so was thrilled to see she had another out and better still it’s as good as the previous one. Allie is a great character, single but a real family woman and very close to the dad who raised her from the age of 6, she has a job is passionate about and overall is happy with life. When she stumbles across an old letter she can’t get the contents out of her head even though she’s warned to forget about it. Ed is her best friend from way back, highly intelligent and with a very successful career, happily married and appears to have it all, so why is unhappy? They travel to Italy to uncover the answer to Allie’s past and try to work out just what is wrong with Ed. This story has secrets in abundance, brilliantly revealed drip by drip, fantastic locations and a very deep chemistry between the best friends. It’s wonderfully told by Catherine Isaac and I highly recommend this book.

Wow! I read it in one sitting. It’s a roller coaster of emotions which will have you laughing, sobbing, smiling, hoping, loving! Allie is a grown-up, you know, a proper grown up with a responsible job and everything! But when she accidentally uncovers what may be a secret, what maybe a huge secret she knows she must investigate further. So off she heads to Italy. And you will feel the sun, smell the herbs, taste the wine and have your heartstrings tugged like crazy
If you only read one book this year, let it be this one!

Wow. What an amazingly heartfelt novel! I knew by reading the synopsis that it was going to pull on the heartstrings but when I started reading it it was quite a bit more emotional than what I thought it was going to be! The location was idyllic and sounded so beautiful and I really related to the characters - more than I initially thought I would actually! I haven't read many novels by this author but I'll definitely be on the look out for more in future!

Another fab read from this soon to be must read author, a great rom com with touching characters and a great thread pulling the different narratives together.

Firstly I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. I thought I knew what to expect after reading the synopsis but nothing prepared me for the emotional roller coaster that followed, The descriptions of Italy were so perfect I felt I was there with Allie and Ed and I could feel the sun on me and taste the food and drink. I couldn't put it down and I thought the ending was superb, I will be recommending it to everyone I know.