You can practically taste the salty prosciutto and bubbly prosecco. You can feel the warm Italian sun and the spray of the turquoise ocean brushing your skin as you read IN THE SHADE OF OLIVE TREES. If you can’t afford a trip to Italy, you might as well read this book, because it’s alive with delicious descriptions of beautiful places and mouthwatering food.

The story centers on Julia, who was recently left at the altar and decides - on an uncharacteristic whim - to embark on her honeymoon trip alone. On the plane to Italy, she meets a woman who owns a retreat especially for widowed women and the two hit it off. After an inspirational conversation and a warm goodbye, Julia embarks on her trip, full of “must-see” tourist attractions. But after some mishaps, as fate would have it, Julia ends up reuniting with her new friend at Olive Haven Women's Retreat for Widowed Travelers. In the small, picturesque seaside village of Poro Venere, Julia meets an eclectic group of women and learns their stories about heartbreak. With their advice and companionship, Julia slowly begins healing from her own trauma.

Each of the women at the retreat has their own story of loss, and one in particular is both shocking and tragic.

I appreciated author Kate Laack’s exploration of Julia’s pain and healing process. It seems like a lot of books that start with this premise skip over the depression and anxiety that betrayal by a long-time boyfriend would prompt. Laack doesn’t gloss over Julia’s struggle to come to terms with her loss and dare to live a new life. This is also a story of friendship and fate … finding people who become like family.

I would compare this book to One Italian Summer by Rebecca Searle, without the magical realism. IN THE SHADE OF OLIVE TREES is more serious and more focused on a true portrayal of grief.

Overall, IN THE SHADE OF OLIVE TREES is a book about healing and resiliency, but it was a bit sad for me. However, if you want to read about a woman starting over and learning her own strength, or if you want to travel to Italy without leaving your couch, this is a good book for you.

Thank you to Netgalley and Olive Street Publishing for the complimentary eARC and the opportunity to give my honest feedback.

This is not the typical storyline that I choose to read, and yet I did, and I was drawn in so quickly and completely enamoured with this book!
The book showcases heartache and lost love due to relationship infidelity, death, circumstance, etc. and normally I would not want to read a book centered around heartache as its main focus. But actually, what this book was really all about was friendships, family, the evolution of self, women, empowerment, patience, being aware of and accepting new opportunities.
And so much more!
You might be attracted to this book because of the setting in Italy, you might be attracted to this book because of it’s beautiful cover and title, or you might be a person attracted to this type of story. But if you aren’t initially interested in reading it I would highly recommend you do, as I think we can all relate to one or more of the well developed characters in this book.
Kudos to the author, because I don’t know if I would have stuck with it if I hadn’t been so instantly engaged in her writing style!
And I’m so glad that I did!
I cannot believe this is a debut novel!
The only reason I did not give it a full five stars is because I found it a bit lengthy and the descriptions of Italian places were a bit repetitive. Someone who is familiar with Italy may not have felt that same way.
Otherwise, the book was fantastic!
I will definitely look forward to reading more from this author.
Thankyou to Netgalley, Author Kate Laack and Olive Street Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Olive Street Publishing for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
In the Shade of Olive Trees releases November 29, 2022

“The shade of the olive tree was the best place to rest […] And tonight, beneath the olive tree, waited the rest of her life.”

This debut story starts out with our main character, Julia, being left at the altar of her own wedding. From there, she decides to be spontaneous and continue on with her scheduled honeymoon trip to Italy, solo. On her trans-Atlantic flight, she meets this woman named Harriet who owns a retreat called Olive Haven for fellow widowed and travelling women.
Fast forward a couple of days, a train strike has Julia cutting a leg of her trip short. On this train, she meets a friendly passenger, named Alex.
By fate, it turns out that the world is really small, and unexpected events keep leading Julia on the path to Olive Haven where she’ll be able to explore this natural progression of healing with new found companionships.

Fluid, and well written, this dives into themes of grief, healing, love, loss, acceptance, and truly living.
There is mention of infidelity and pregnancy as a result, but from side characters.

Each of the women introduced from this retreat were so strong and had their own stories that really shaped this.
One of the big takeaways for Julia throughout her journey in Italy was being able to set aside meticulous plans and schedules, to let things fall into place naturally.

I loved Alex’s ampersand tattoo — “Yes, and.” — “Sam died. Yes, and, I kept on living […] Yes, and, I met all of these people.”

Aster was an unexpected character. Quiet for most of the story, but her voice was the heaviest by far and carried a lot of weight.

The epilogue was a beautiful and bittersweet full circle moment.

I’d recommend this to readers looking for something similar to One Italian Summer.


“Go forward. The best thing to do when you’re not sure which way to go is to just move forward.”

“I’ve learned that most of the time what people really want is to be surrounded by people who understand them.”

“You never know when someone’s going to touch your life in an irrevocable way.”

“Grief is a universal experience.”
“Grief will blindside you no matter how prepared you think you are.”

“It wasn’t my dream trip, but only because I couldn’t have known how to dream it.”

Reviewed for NetGalley:


Julia, after being left at the alter, decides to proceed with her honeymoon plans to Italy. After some mishaps along the way, she ends up at the villa of the woman she sat next to on her transatlantic flight.

Sweet story of a woman finding herself in the magic of Italy.

I was hoping this was going to be similar to One Italian Summer (without the time travel), with the Italian scenes dripping off the page, but did not get that feel from it.

Wow. This book made me feel ALL the things.
😳😡🥺💔😭💁🏼‍♀️❤️‍🩹🥹🥰

This book is definitely one I think many women would enjoy reading, as it shows how strong and resilient women truly are when faced with heartbreak. Such a strong debut novel!

Julia is left at the alter. Well, several feet before the alter. Instead of staying home and wallowing, she takes her already-packed bag and passport and goes on the would-be honeymoon alone to Italy. It won’t be bad, right? She’s planned everything herself.

Wrong.

However, Julia meets two women who help her along the way and they become such a vital part of her recovery from her heartbreak. Through love and loss, Julia connects with a group of strangers at a retreat for widowed women - Olive Haven.

I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll leave it there.

What a warm and wonderful read.  This is an engaging story of the power of friendship, the support of women for women, and of learning from wise elders.   
I thoroughly enjoyed joining Julia on her solo honeymoon trip to Italy (since her fiancé left her at the altar). 
With Kate Laack's superb writing I felt the compassion, empathy, and sisterhood of the Olive Haven Women's Retreat travelers.
This is one novel you'll want to pick up this winter to give you that warm fuzzy feeling one gets from the bond of strong women.  Definitely a treat!

My thanks to #NetGalley and Olive Street Publishing for the joy of reading this ARC.  This opinion is my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Olive Street Publishing for an arc of this book in exchange of an honest review.

“The truth of what she had told Margo ripped through her. Her and Will’s was not a great love story. She had not overcome tragedy like Alex, nor stood by an ailing partner for over a decade like Harriet, nor faced scrutiny for whom she loved like Margo. Perhaps not every romance was destined to be an epic, but she at least hoped for more than infidelity and insecurity. She was not sure how to move on, but when in doubt, move forward, Harriet had said. Taking a deep breath, Julia began to walk toward the front of the church. She felt strength in every step.”

Ok, so I have pride in being a semi fast reader but I could not read this one fast, I think just as Julia I needed time to process everything in this book. In the Shade of Olive Trees was a emotional, heartwhelming and feel good story and I’m happy I was able to read it.

I loved the descriptions and the atmosphere that Laack was able to create, it definitely made me want to visit the Cinque Terre. It was a story about not only loss but how we are not alone in life, how every feeling in this world is felt by someone else, how moving on and healing is a process. And I think Kate wrote everything beautifully. The sidecharacters and their stories are amazing, Margo and Lucy have a special spot in my heart.

I had trouble picking up pace, that’s all. Sometimes I felt angry about how Julia seemed to make progress and then all of sudden would be looking at Will’s instagram and having a meltdown (but that’s exactly what makes this story human and part of the healing process) because I just wanted her to be happy, you know?

Overall I enjoyed this book and all stories the author told us. I’m looking forward to read more from Kate Laack, this was a beautiful debute.

“Everyone deserves incredible kindness, but people facing incredible heartbreak deserve it most of all.”

This was one giant hug in a book! My inner travel seeker was grateful for the trip back to Cinque Terre on the Ligurian Coast of Italy and my heart was uplifted in the reminder that we are all more alike than we are different.

Julia Brooks is a lot like me - she plans everything. EVERYTHING. When she’s left at the altar, it’s devastating. On a whim she decides that “self-soothing with wine and pasta” couldn’t hurt and continues on with her honeymoon to Italy alone. In doing so, she discovers that she is “miles off course, nowhere near where she had planned to be.” yet exactly where she needed to be. Instead of beating herself up and getting lost in the grief of the ‘what could have beens," she learns to forgive herself and allow the warm, Ligurian sunshine and cool, briny air work its magic. Julia learns that although fear has a large shadow, ‘he’ himself is small.

I could learn a lot about spontaneity from Julia! I’ll take her words of caution and refrain from practicing it. Instead, I’ll make every effort to be consistent in making it a habit. I also developed FOMO when reading about Sciacchetra and decided that trying the pride of Cinque Terre winemakers will not escape me on my next visit! Finally, I loved Mossimmo’s advice that “sun and time improve a great many things” and will remember it when circumstances are less than ideal.

For the majority of the book, I had my fingers crossed that the author wouldn’t end the story the way I anticipated she was going to end it. It was like seeing an accident happen in slow motion. BUT BUT BUT …despite it ending as I predicted, it was better, much better, than expected. This debut author knows exactly how to pace, how to engage readers, and how to tie an incredible plot together with an extremely fitting ending. Watch for this author - she’s going to light up bestseller lists in the future!

Thank you, Kate Laack, for the message about resilience, happenstance, overcoming, kindness, and self-righteous suffering. Your five-star read has me determined to treasure my tribe of women rather than take them for granted.

If you haven’t been to Vernazza or Cinque Terre, put it on your Bucket List! It’s every bit as enchanting as the author describes.

“If we’re lucky we get a handful of people in our lives who help define us. We find them, we become rooted in them, and we are better because of them.”