Publisher's Weekly Review
Veteran novelist Elizabeth Adler (The Last Time I Saw Paris) returns to the Continent with Summer in Tuscany, a cute and painfully predictable romance. Frumpy ER doctor Gemma Jericho is divorced, pushing 40 and none too happy about it. Her mom, Nonna, persuades Gemma and Gemma's 14-year-old daughter to travel to Italy when Nonna learns she has inherited an old villa. But when they get there, another American, roguishly handsome Ben Raphael, has already claimed ownership; of course, romance blooms as they wrangle over the property. Gemma alternately gripes, swoons like a teenager and consumes a lot of gelato; locals behave colorfully; and everyone is paired off neatly at the end. Author tour. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Forlorn ER doc learns to love again under Italy's sunny skies. Gemma Jericho works long hours at Bellevue when not fretting over her daughter Livvie. New York is a tough city to raise a teenager in, but fortunately Gemma's staunch little Italian mama is still around to help them both, dishing up pasta and advice. Gemma isn't looking for love, mind you-not since Cash Drummond, a gorgeous blond actor and great guy, isn't around anymore. No replacements for him? Take a trip to Tuscany with the Jerichos and find out. Nonna has inherited a villa, though the title is in dispute and there's some wrangling over a will. No matter. The Jerichos are charmed by all they see, soothed by the balmy breezes and relaxed life. Then Gemma meets Ben Raphael, handsome Bronx-born property developer and self-made man, also vacationing with his young daughter Muffie. Ben is intelligent, sexy, patient, and kind-with exactly the right amount of manly hair on his muscular forearms. Surely he'll melt Gemma's frozen heart and find out why she swore she would never love again. But, first, there are shopping, sightseeing, and cafe-visiting to be done. Will Nonna fall for the earthy wooing of the sturdy peasant who likes her so much? Perhaps, if she doesn't have a heart attack first and spoil Gemma's budding romance (Nonna has concealed a congenital heart defect so Gemma won't worry). Ben finally learns Gemma's secret: Cash was brought into the ER where she was then working, mortally wounded from a car crash. Had Cash been on his way to see her, and has she been eaten with guilt for years because of that? Ah, but the love of a good man will let her to move on at last. Another tame romance with a tax-deductible foreign locale from Adler, who knocks them out industriously (Last Time I Saw Paris, 2001, etc.).
Booklist Review
Gemma, an overworked ER doctor, her mother, Nonna, a typical Italian widow who spends her week cooking the Sunday supper, and daughter Livvie, a punked-up but well-adjusted teen, are living normal, unexciting lives in New York City until Nonna receives a letter informing her of an inheritance in her childhood village of Bella Piacere. The letter launches the Jerichos into situations both delicious and funny in a novel in which romance is detailed as vividly as the landscape of Tuscany. Gemma becomes embroiled in a mystery with the intriguing Ben Raphael, while Nonna is transformed and charms a man from her youth, and Livvie has a ball with Florence's dashing teens. Adler, author of The Last Time I Saw Paris [BKL Mr 1 01] and many other novels, reveals a deft hand in creating characters to cheer for and settings to dream over in this deeply appealing story of love, family, and the beauty of Italy. --Neal Wyatt