Kindle Edition Download to your Nook (eBook) Amazon Barnes & Noble.com Rae Summers Amazon Amazon UK Category:  Romance Publisher: The Wild Rose Press ISBN-10:  B00A53FXG8 Type: Fiction Pages: 113 Copyright: Nov 9, 2012 ISBN-13: 2940015847314 Historical romance set on the Amalfi coast of Italy in the 1920s Isobel Harrington, fresh from her English finishing school in the summer of 1922, is sent to visit cousins in Italy for just one reason: to catch the eye of their wealthy and eligible house guest. But the man who awakens Isobel's passion is not the respectable British heir to a nobleman -- it is local Italian Stefano, an enigma who doesn't fit any of the "boxes" she's been taught to expect. In Stefano's arms she experiences a sexual awakening. He dares her to follow her dreams, but is she brave enough to defy convention, and her parents' expectations, to pursue her own happiness?

Romancing the Book
This problem of finance was one which had bedeviled the English aristocracy forever. Eldest sons inherited the family property and titles leaving the younger ones the choice of entering the Church or shifting to the British colonies to become a ‘sahib’ in India or Africa. The recently poor nobility were left with few options to restore their lost prestige. Having a daughter make a ‘good’ match, i.e. one with financial clout and of course the right breeding, was just one of them. Entering business (vulgar commerce!) was not considered right. Isobel’s mother may have been embarrassed by her sister’s marriage to a businessman of Irish-American origin, but she overcame her distaste in order to send her daughter to Italy where she would be the house guest of her American cousins, along with one more important house guest – the man she had targeted as her daughter’s future husband. This is a piece of historical fiction, set in Europe between the two world wars, as the old order was slowly changing, Britain’s colonies were slowly slipping away and the class/feudal system as had been known for centuries was slowly dying.

Isobel isn’t as intrigued by her mother’s choice as she is by the handsome young local who she meets on her rare, solitary walks. A budding artist, she has been told that her work lacks passion. On the verge of sexual awakening, she’s the original sleeping beauty, awaiting her handsome prince to awaken her passions.

In the arms of Stefano, she finds the fulfillment she craves. But she also realizes that she will probably have heartbreak in her future. Seduction is a game many of the local romeos play with the English and American girls they meet. Is Stefano the real deal or is he the clichéd Italian stallion, just having his fun in the sun?

We can see the backdrop of changing times. We glimpse the appearance of early fascism. Stefano is particularly insightful as he describes the world he sees around him. We witness Isobel’s newfound maturity as she comes to terms with her situation regarding Stefano, not to mention the imaginative way she helps out her cousin Frances, who’s now in trouble deep.

The sexual description is romantic but there was, I felt, a slight touch of voyeurism in the story, when the heroine pleasures herself in her journey of self discovery, not to mention when she stumbles upon Frances and her paramour making love. While not averse to sexual description, this reader doesn’t enjoy watching someone else’s show. Perhaps notions of privacy, deeply ingrained, are responsible for this.

However, I did enjoy this novel of coming of age in a changing world. A story exquisitely told with a satisfactory ending. I found it pleasing on many levels and would certainly recommend it to readers of historical fiction.

Favorite Quote: She had no regrets. These weeks in Italy had molded her into a new person, a person she was proud to be, and there was no gong back.

Hannah Fielding
A magical love story of Isobel’s first time away from home on her own, when she is forced to acknowledge that she doesn’t have to do what her family want her to do: marry for money and position. Isobel’s summer in Italy is described through her eyes as an artist – she sketches and paints what she sees and feels – adding to the vivid description of the book. Through Isobel’s eyes, Rae Summers paints a wonderful picture of the 1920s Italian coastal town of Positano – its landscapes and its people – and you can’t help but be swept away by the vibrant descriptions of the orchards, the sea, the buildings and the people.

She paused at the edge of the formal gardens and looked out over the impossibly blue sea. The air in Italy smelled so different from England, so fertile and fragrant. She breathed in deeply, enjoying the rich, clean smell, the tang of citrus and the salty sea. She wished she could bottle it and take it home with her, to keep the memories alive while she endured the Season.

But Isobel doesn’t just encounter the breathtaking images of Italy that we all know and love, she also describes the more shocking aspects of the time – the beggars, slums and squalor of Naples, and the political unrest of the country as a whole.

Isobel is on holiday in Italy to capture the heart of a young English man. Instead, she is distracted by a strikingly handsome local, Stefano, who forces her to question what she wants for her life, rather than what everyone else wants.

He leaned closer, his intensity radiating through their joined hands. “This is a new world we live in, a world in which anything is possible. The old rules no longer apply. You can be, and do, anything you want.”

She pulled her hand away. “I don’t know yet what I want. And even if I did, I don’t know that I’m brave enough to go after it.”

Isobel is braver than she thinks and breaks many rules while exploring her feelings for Stefano. It is a true coming-of-story, expertly detailing that feeling of first love. Written entirely from Isobel’s point of view, you really sympathise with her confusion about the desires she is feeling for the first time and her anxiety at not wanting to upset her family or ruin her reputation. Other characters that are important to her summer in Italy are the shy yet attractive English gentleman Christopher, whom her family want her to marry, and Isobel’s beautiful cousin Frances, who is caught up in her own romance with a local Italian.

“I’m not the beauty, my cousin Frances is.”

He picked Frances out of the crowd with ease, and shrugged. “The simple frescoes of the medieval masters are very different from the elaborate Baroque ornamentations of the Duomo in Amalfi. But both are beautiful.”

Just like a summer, this book is not long, but it is a charming tale of Isobel’s journey from young girl to passionate woman over the space of a few weeks.

He was making no promises for the future, no declaration of love. He offered no assurance that this would not end badly. All he offered was the answer to her spoken desire. For now it was enough.

This is Rae Summers’ third novel. I really enjoyed the way it was written and I loved the characters. I will certainly be looking to read more from this author.