Book Review: A Wedding in the Olive Garden by Leah Fleming

A Wedding in the Olive Garden 

by Leah Fleming 

Amazon / Google Play / Kobo / B&N

Can an island in the sun provide the second chance Sara needs?

A warm and uplifting novel about love, friendship and new beginnings on the beautiful Greek island of Santaniki.

Sara Loveday flees home and crisis to the beautiful island of Santaniki. Here, amid olive groves and whitewashed stone villas, where dark cypress trees step down to a cobalt blue sea, Sara vows to change her life. Spotting a gap in the local tourist market, she sets up a wedding plan business, specialising in 'second time around' couples.

For her first big wedding, she borrows the olive garden of a local artists' retreat, but almost at once, things begin to go wrong. To make matters worse, a stranger from Sara's past arrives on the island, spreading vicious lies. Can her business survive? And what will happen with the gorgeous new man who she's begun to love?

This is a gorgeous, warm-hearted and uplifting novel conjuring the local color, traditions, and close bonds of island life.

My Rating:

Favorite Quote: 

“I thought it was the man who did the proposing, you brazen hussy,’ he laughed… ‘Then you’d better get down on your knee and ask me proper. My knees aren’t up to it. If I get down I’ll not get up again. I suppose I’ll have to fork out for a wedding ring then,’ he laughed.

My Review: 

I’ve never been to Greece but I feel like I’ve just returned as Ms. Fleming’s writing was so descriptive I felt like I was inhabiting the small Greek village right along with the characters, and I enjoyed getting to know their customs and foods without ever having to set foot in the airport – oh happy day. This was an active but slowly developing plot with multiple intersecting storylines while populated with a large international cast of uniquely quirky and fractious characters. Being an animal lover I particularly appreciated the message of responsibility and rescue and rehoming of strays. I also picked up a new phrase for my Brit Word List with spoilt for choice – which means having lots of options.

About The Author

After careers in teaching, catering, running a market stall, stress management courses in the NHS as well as being a mother of four, Leah Fleming found her true calling as a storyteller. She lives in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales but spends part of the year marinating her next tale from an olive grove on her favorite island of Crete.

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Website: leahfleming.co.uk 

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