The Olive Branch: A gorgeous summer romance set in Italy

It was wonderful story. I think we all dream about to a strange place finding a new life and love. Good easy read for the summer

I really liked this book. It was a great story about life in Italy. the descriptions were great and I felt like I was in Italy. I actually just downloaded another book from this author.

This is a stand alone read with a HEA. This is a really good story. A young woman living in London is finally ending a relationship that should have been ended years ago. She is something of a free spirit and a bit on the wild side. Her "partner" is something of a stuff shirt without a trace of romance in his body. They split everything down the middle and sell their flat. With her half, she bids on a house in Italy after getting just a little bit drunk and she unexpectedly wins the auction on ebay.. Everyone thinks she is crazy to move to another country and try to live where she knows no one and has never seen the house.This is a long story so I will just hit highlights. She is thrilled with the rundown house with a goat in the yard as she sees all the possibilities. There is one big problem. The big Italian family living right next door thought they were going in inherit the house when the grandfather died. It appears the grandfather sold the house to pay off debts about a week before he passed. Everyone is up in arms. The house had been in their family for generations and they want it back.The current head of the household, Marco sets out to get the house back. As he is getting to know this Englishwoman he starts to fall for her. There are a lot of blocks put up to keep him away from the foreigner His mother is one head-hearted old woman and she does everything she can to keep them apart. She has picked a nice Italian girl to marry her son. Fortunately the son has a mind of his own. It is a very good read. Lots of side characters that add spice to the story. Lots of Italian cooking so some good food mentioned. I lived in Naples for 2 years so it brought back a lot of memories. Good memories. I loved Italy and this story brought back the thrill of living there.Since the heroine was from London and living in Italy, there were a lot of words that I didn't know the meaning of. It was both Italian and English that sort of threw me at times. One in particular that I would really like to know what it meant. The heroine was very tired and she went to bed without eating saying that she was too tired to even prepare "slut's pasta". I have never heard of that and couldn't begin to imagine what it would be. But, great story, loved it, and highly recommend it. There was talk of sex right at the end but no detail descriptions. So I think any age could read this book.I was not paid for this review. I am not an author nor do I know one. I am not kin to this writer. I am a reader and this is my opinion, nothing more, nothing less. 9/1/17

What a grand story about family, traditions, expectations, travel and love. Once I got halfway through I couldn’t put it down. Thank you Jo Thomas.

I love the way, Jo Thomas describes the setting of the village and the homes and the people. It’s very colorful and I feel like I’m right there ready to vacation with all of them. I did find the main character frustrating because she was so pessimistic about every little thing in her life. Always thinking the worse and nothing good happens to me. Definitely worth reading for the atmosphere. I always felt like I was starving when I put the book down!

Buying a villa on EBAY becomes a dramatic life change!Ruthie has thrown caution to the wind and heads tobeautiful Italy. There she finds that she has purchased afamily estate and an olive grove that should not have been sold. Her encounters with the resentful other family membersand the resident goat makes for a delightful romantic tale. Enjoy!

Good

‘Because sometimes in life, a bit of sun and dolce vita is exactly what you need.”Simply charming and encouraging one to take a risk at what you truly want from life.

Loved this book

I've had this on my TBR pile for a while now but I never managed to get into it when deciding which book to read. However, since reading this - I have no idea what took me so long to read it! First up, I love the cover. It looks warm and inviting, the colours jumping out of the page and it looks very romantic. I will say that I knew I was going to love this novel from the very first page. It started off interesting, funny and just really exciting - I couldn't wait to see what happened!From the off, there was humour and drama. It starts with Ruthie and her friend drunk and Ruthie buying something online. Cut to the next chapter we see Ruthie turning up to a farmhouse that she'd bought and having a bit of a standoff with a goat and a Kit-Kat. We then meet Marco and his family - and it just seems really manic! I warmed to Ruthie instantly and I really enjoy reading novels like this set in a farm or abroad like France and Italy.I also love Jo Thomas' style of writing, The Oyster Catcher was one of the first Romance novels I read when I first started reading them and I absolutely loved it. This one was no different, I really wondered at points how it would turn out but I needn't have questioned it as I loved every page. It was just written so beautifully and I found it really engaging. With regards to main character Ruthie herself, I really felt for her. I could see that she was lonely and feeling quite down about the whole situation and I really started to feel sorry for her when nothing was going her way.One character I found myself really disliking was Marco's mamma. She just seemed so cold and heartless and it was when I read about her treatment to Ruthie that I really didn't like her character! However, everything turns out for the best in the end and I was really happy with how it did end for Ruthie! After everything she had been through she deserved to have a happy ending. Overall, a perfect summer read.

I haven't read any of Jo Thomas's books before, but it won't be the last. I loved all the characters and the story line was entertaining.

Il libro non è male, la storia abbastanza originale, pero' le citazioni in italiano sono spesso sbagliate: possibile che una scrittrice che vuole mettere nel suo libro parole e frasi in italiano non possa chiedere consiglio a qualcuno di madrelingua italiana?

Ich fand diese Geschichte zwar landschaftlich gut doch irgendwie unglaubwürdig. Sie habe ich gleich nach The Oyster Catcher gelesen und war enttäuscht, weil im Prinzip es die gleiche Handlung war. Dennoch, wenn Sie einen leichten Stoff bevorzugen, werden Sie diese Geschichte mögen.