Review: An Escape to Remember

Title: An Escape to Remember

Author: T.A. Williams

Publisher: 24th March 2022 by Canelo Publishing

Pages: 279 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: women’s fiction, romance

My Rating: 3 cups

Synopsis:

She needed a getaway. What she found was a home. 

When Louise surprises her boyfriend by returning early from a work trip, safe to say she wasn’t expecting to see him in flagrante delicto with another woman. Heart-torn and vowing to stay away from men, when Louise’s next project involves restoring an ageing hotel in Italy, she leaps at the chance to get away.

Managed by a crew of sextagenarians, the Grand Hotel del Monferrato needs all the love and care Louise can give it. But it’s hard to stay focused on the job when her thoughts keep straying to Vito, the reclusive and mysterious neighbour.

With his tragic past and her no-romance policy, Louise knows they can’t have a future. Yet something keeps pulling the two together…

A beautiful romance set in the hills of Turin.

My Thoughts

‘Maybe a life that saw her jetting off all over the place wasn’t the be all and end all. Maybe what she needed was to settle down and escape to the country. Why not put down roots somewhere like this?’

I have always enjoyed T.A. Williams books, easygoing romance written by a male is rather unique and he always does it well. This one is based in Turin (most of his books occur in Italy) and is overflowing with the beautiful Italian countryside, delicious food and engaging characters. 

This story is set in an old hotel in need of renovation and the lead character Louise’s job is to bring it up to scratch. Much like Louise, you are sure to fall in love not only with the aging workers at the hotel, or even the array of love interests. No, it is once again the Italian culture that T. A. Williams so perfectly captures - lush settings that shall have you pining for an Italian getaway to the hills of Turin and all the gourmet cuisine to accompany it. 

‘… leave all this?’ Louise indicated the surroundings with her hands. ‘This house, the hills, the vineyards, the woodland, not to mention the food and the wine. It’s your very own rural paradise.’

Even though this is a sweet romance and feel good book, I did find this one didn't quite hit the spot as others in the past have done. I felt there were too many love interests and that had the opposite effect for me. It made the story somewhat predictable rather than wondering who would ultimately win Louises’s affections with an ending that all came rather suddenly. That being said, I enjoyed venturing away with Williams once more - a nice story, with nice people that resulted in a nice piece of escapism. 

‘Something told her the Grand Hotel del Monferrato was going to prove to be a perfect place of escape and a little oasis of calm. And she could certainly do with some of that.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.