I loved everything about this book - the characters (Josephine is adorable), the places we are taken to (I now need to visit to Lisbon, Barcelona and Hamburg), the love stories, etc. Such a gorgeous book! I now need to find and devour more Isabelle Broom books.

Pepper Taylor and her mother don't often see eye to eye. Pepper has done her best to move on from the tragic accident which killed her sister, Bethan. Her mother has not. Pepper enjoys her work as an arts and crafts teacher in Aldeburgh, though she remains in her home town partly from a sense of duty towards her mother. When her best friend, Josephine, asks her to accompany her to Lisbon and Barcelona to help her relive her youth, she is thrilled. In colourful Lisbon, Pepper meets the man of her dreams, just as Josephine had done many years before. She thinks she knows everything about him. Then he tells her something that makes her see another side to him. A great love story with beautiful descriptions of the fascinating cities she visits and an unexpected twist towards the end.

I read this book courtesy of NetGalley. This is the first book I've read from this author and I have to say I enjoyed it. It was light and easy to read but captured the imagination and was substantial enough to keep the reader's attention as the characters find their way with love and loss set against the fractured nature of mosaics. There are some lovely characters in some equally lovely locations, between the coast of Suffolk to Portugal and Spain plus Hamburg and Guernsey. A romance on different levels, love and loss, with a slightly unexpected ending.

Philippa (otherwise known as Pepper) is an artist living in Aldeburgh. She is flamboyant in her dress sense and quite self effacing about her artistic competencies. She has a shovel-load of life issues going on… the loss of her younger sister when she was 13 is still raw and this bereavement impedes a good enough relationship between her and her mother. Dad has moved on and is due to marry his much younger lover. So, when Pepper happens to meet the much older Josephine, she embraces their friendship – she is something positive in her life. Josephine is determined to revisit the scenes of an earlier love affair, something she wants to do before she gets too old and infirm, and she invites Pepper to accompany her. First stop is Lisbon, where they explore the city and sample the custard tarts with gusto. This is the first time that Pepper has actually left Aldeburgh and environs, so it is a big deal. There, Pepper serendipitously meets Finn, a German young man who has a lot about him. She falls for him and he for her. She is soon heading for his home town of Hamburg and they confirm that there is something life affirming about their relationship. in Barcelona, together with Josephine once again, they explore the top sites and Park Güell is a delight for her, with all the mosaics. She is an artist and mosaicist and feels inspired to create something really memorable. Pepper is ALWAYS on the look out for bits and pieces of interest that she can use in her mosaics. What does Pepper’s future look like….? The author is tremendous at sharing her love of location with her readers. In Hamburg she flags the wonderful sites to visit (and bars – like Strandpauli, for example) and revels in the delights of Lisbon and Barcelona. If you want to follow Isabelle and Pepper’s literary footsteps, then there are plenty of venues to visit should you be so inclined. This is a wonderful story of romance, life issues and location, that will transport you away from everyday worries – even just for a few hours. A good Summer read.

This book contains some beautiful descriptions of wonderful places & art. It also had some believable characters that are well written and fully formed. However, I found the story and boom itself difficult to get through. The relationship between the main character, Pepper, and her whirlwind relationship with Finn was enjoyable but the direction their relationship went in was inevitable and I felt the story was just missing something. The ending of the book was extremely abrupt - I found myself doubting that it had ended with one short sentence and looking for it to continue on the next page but it was followed by an epilogue, which although nice, felt very short and almost as if the author was rushed into finish - she had gone into such delicious detail of even the smallest issue, that it just felt like it didn’t fit with the rest of the book. An enjoyable book, great characters but just missing something.