Boy do I love a book that features my favorite places. Not only does this one take us across Europe to Italy and Greece, the two most memorable trips I planned with my beau, but it features a Savannah-based family that spends summers in Hilton Head. They went to Country Day, live on the islands side of Savannah, and love going to Bonna Bella. I mean, helloooooo! Outside of the family dysfunction I wondered for a moment if this was an unauthorized biography of myself.
After Charlotte’s best friend passes away, she decides, she is no longer content with her simple, quiet life of regular Mass and supper of Triscuits and chardonnay. On a whim she enters a “Become a Jetsetter Contest” with a racy story about an adolescent affair and wins a cruise through Europe for herself and her three children. Though she doesn’t realize it, each of her kids is floundering. They don’t seem to love themselves and it’s impacting how they love others. This trip, in all it’s cheesy cruise trip glory, may be just what the Perkins family – the whole lot of them – need.
There were a few loose ends/things that didn’t quite add up (no spoilers – check out my Goodreads review for details), hence the point deduction; but overall I thought this was a fun read that fit perfectly within my summer book schedule. Despite things wrapping up a little too neatly with each child (where they were once all frazzled, they are now totally at peace with their lives), I found them all lovable.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
Pair with: an Aperol Spritz
Peaches to Apples 