Barbara Josselsohn

Does Giulia Sancino have the secret to how Tori and her daughter’s life have been playing out?

We go back-and-forth in time from Italy with Giulia during WWII to present day 2019 when secrets about Tori's family are revealed after seeing a wedding dress in a museum in Italy.

Could this dress designer really be Tori’s grandmother?

A beautiful story about family and Italy.

You will feel as though you are there on the island sharing the delicious food with Giulia and with Tori in present day with the characters struggling with their lives and the information they have found out.

You will fall in love with all the characters.

Ms. Josselsohn has written another heartwarming book that you won't want to end because you will want to stay in Italy with Giulia and find out all the secrets of why Giulia did what she did and why Tori never knew this famous seamstress was her grandmother. 5/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.… (més)

A story from WWII that leads to finding a secret her grandmother kept.

Italy...nothing better than that, right?

Along with secrets, it can't be beat.

We find out what Mia's Grandmother, Annalisa/Lucy, experienced in Italy while she worked at Isola di Parissi and we find out why Mia had to go to Italy after her grandmother died.

Visiting Isola di Parissi in 1943 has us enjoying the gorgeous Italian island and learning about Annalisa and why she left her dying father and took her two sisters there and what she found while there.

In 2018 we get to see the story unravel as Mia makes the trip to Italy to find answers and perhaps find love…what better place to fall in love than in Italy.

You will love both Annalisa's and Mia’s story.

A very enjoyable read with wonderful descriptions and great family discoveries.

When is the next flight to Italy? :)

Women's fiction fans will devour this book and not want either story to end.

Enjoy!! 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.… (més)

Anna Harris returns to her family’s summer house with some trepidation. She understands things won’t be the same after the death of her beloved husband Greg. It’s important to her to provide closure and a sense of normalcy for her teen son and young daughter. And to enjoy one last summer before selling a home packed full of memories.
Relationships are the focus of this novel, between parents and children, between Anna and her aunt, and the budding relationships with townspeople, including a potential romantic interest. I cared about these characters. It’s also a story of growth, as Anna renews her love of ballet, a career she gave up due to an injury, and her marriage.
The characters harbor secrets, and as they unfold, the tension built. Near the end, I really wondered how the story lines would be resolved. I didn’t want the story to end, but I had to keep reading to find out what happened to these people I’d grown to know.
… (més)

Two words mean everything, but they’re locked in the memories of an elderly woman who forgets a conversation taking place just hours ago.
The ending of her marriage drives Jenna to the comfort of her childhood home. She and her daughter take refuge in Lake Summers. Instead of nursing her own emotional wounds, Jenna takes on caring for her mother after a terrifying fall down the basement steps. Sweet is the mom we all wish we had – attractive, creative and nurturing, with a bit of a daring side. Jenna’s sister Chloe threatens to drag Sweet away from the home and town she loves to a care facility. Sweet is having memory issues, and Chloe wants their mother where she can be safe, unless Jenna can stand up to her overbearing sister. While in Lake Summers, Jenna reconnects with her first love, but the story does not travel a straight line to renewed romance. While The Bluebell Girls at times reads like a wonderful fantasy many of us would love to live, it is rooted in realism. Jenna faces her fears and doubts in a story that ends on an upbeat note, but not in a sappy happily-ever-after way. So many threads in this novel mirrored my own experiences. I am certain it will resonate with other readers. Take a vacation to Lake Summers by reading this novel. You’ll leave refreshed and renewed.… (més)