Review: Truly, Madly, Greekly by Mandy Baggot

Friday, 22 May 2015
Title: Truly, Madly, Greekly
Author: Mandy Baggot
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 22nd May 2015
Format: eBook
Pages: 331
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 4/5
Purchase: Amazon
Capable, confident and career-driven, Ellen had her dream job and a marriage proposal from boyfriend Ross. Life was good, her future set. Until it wasn't and everything fell apart...

Whisked off to the beautiful island of Corfu to plan her sister Lacey's big, fat, Greek wedding, Ellen is hoping some time out will help clear her head and heal her heart.

But letting go of her past is not going to be easy.

With Lacey in full on Bridezilla mode, Ellen is soon distracted from her own problems. And when the all-inclusive treats on offer at hotel Blue Vueinclude one gorgeous, brooding Adonis – Yan – Ellen finds him difficult to resist.

But Ellen isn't looking for love or lust, or anything involving too much ouzo... or is she?

If you are looking for a summer read that will leave you feeling like you've actually been on holiday, you've found it with Truly, Madly, Greekly and I don't think you'll find one this year that does it better. The only thing missing when I finished this book was the tan. My favourite place in the whole world is Cyprus and it appears that Mandy Baggot's is Greece, namely Corfu. Cyprus and Greece are of course very similar, and I swear the hotel in this book could easily have been the one I stay at in Cyprus, I even pictured it in my mind a few times (sad face), the sisters even staying in the Aphrodite block. The book very quickly gave me that holiday feeling, I could almost feel the heat as the rain lashed against my living room window, there's nothing better than the Mediterranean heat (except maybe that rush of air-con when walking back into the hotel).

Ellen and her sister Lacey are visiting the island to check out a hotel for Lacey's wedding and we very quickly learn that Ellen is not a very enthusiastic participant. Perhaps because I'm probably not going on holiday this year I found myself being a little annoyed that Ellen didn't want to be there, that she was rather surly and more interested in her books (as a voracious reader it might surprise you to learn that I barely pick up a book on holiday) and so I really wanted her to let her hair down and enjoy everything a place like Corfu has to offer. We soon learn why she is acting like that, and I did very quickly find myself liking her character and really rooting for her to find that happiness that she obviously deserved.

As is often the case with siblings Lacey was the more, shall we say, outspoken of the two and more than ready to sample what the hotel and Corfu had to offer, and we aren't just talking about the facilities. But wait, she's engaged... Yeah, there's more to it than that. She is a typical Brit on holiday and I do love the more out there characters and Lacey is definitely a character I would love to go on holiday with, but I would probably ask for a room a couple of floors above her. I enjoyed the really believable portrayal of the relationship between Lacey and Ellen, and couldn't wait to see how things would work out for Lacey as well as Ellen. The story essentially follows a winning formula and honestly, Truly, Madly, Greekly is just so enjoyable.

Similarly we have two quite different characters in the males also. The quiet Yan who is part of the hotel's animation team, who is keeping a couple of secrets of his own and has closed himself off from the prospect of love but Ellen soon catches his eye. Yan's colleague Sergei is no stranger to women, spending much of his time on the animation team ogling the residents of the hotel and it isn't long before Lacey catches his eye. I did really enjoy the romance in Truly, Madly, Greekly, watching our characters slowly but surely overcome their fears and despite having a fair idea of how things would eventually conclude, it was still a really fun book and in terms of pure enjoyment, probably one of my most enjoyable reads so far this year. From the cover to the story to the characters to the fantastic ending, this is the book to take on holiday with you this year.

4/5

2 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for this lovely review, Shaun! I would definitely want to be staying a few floors away from Lacey!

    Mandy x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much for this lovely review, Shaun! I would definitely want to be staying a few floors away from Lacey!

    Mandy x

    ReplyDelete

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