One Last Greek Summer by Mandy Baggott

What would it be like to be 21 again?  The last ten years of your life wiped away, no more responsibility just that wonderful fortnight you spent in the sun with your best friend.  Too much drink, watching the stars come out over the beach and still being awake to watch the sun rise over it, dancing all night inbetween.  Ah the pure hedonism of the 21 year old on holiday.  A bit different when you are 31 but visiting Corfu again gives Beth and Heidi the chance to revisit that period of their lives and Heidi is determined that they are both going to be 21 Again for these two weeks.

The story starts fairly unconventionally with a divorce party.  It is supposed to be a surprise for Beth but she is watching the preparations from her office whilst trying to hide.  The problem being that the man she is getting divorced from is the owner of the company - fortunately he is away on business so the workforce feel safe celebrating.  From there it meanders through a couple of chapters as Heidi tries to convince Beth to just go for it and celebrate the divorce by rekindling their last holiday in Corfu.  Eventually convinced they head to head to the island together and Beth can only think of two things - how to get her stubborn wedding ring off and the holiday romance she had with Lex the last time they were there.

The book reads like a love letter to Corfu.  The author clearly loves the island and takes you to several beauty spots as the women while away their days in the heat of a blue, blue sky.  The food is rhapsodised about alongside the white beaches and cool forests.  Throw in some boisterous nightlife and quiet tavernas and it is the perfect holiday location.  Honestly, the Corfu Tourist Board should have Ms Baggott on commission.

Initially I really adored Beth.  She comes across as brutally honest about herself and has no qualms admitting (to herself at least) that hers was never more than a marriage of convenience and that love never entered the equation.  Charles could make her terminally ill mothers last years so much more comfortable and was happy to do so.  That was enough for Beth then, but now she almost resents him for it.  As the book progresses she began to irritate me a little bit and I felt like I wanted to grab her shoulders and give her a good shake.  Despite her initial signs of being fairly settled about who she is soon becomes apparent that the only thing she is honest about are her feelings towards Charles and that this strength does not hang over in to other areas of her life.  I think it is this ditheriness that began to grate.

We also get to spend some time with Alekos, a native to Corfu and trying desperately to achieve his dreams whilst holding the family together.  His mother Margalo is depicted as a controlling harridan and is deeply unpleasant.  She was perhaps the worst character in the whole book as she has no depth and is just this virago who feigns illness to keep her son tethered to their small farm.  Alekos has other plans though and is hoping that with his cousin Elektra and some Kumquats he can break free.

It doesn't take long before Beth and Heidi's holiday world collides with Alekos and Elektra's and, unfortunately, once it does you know exactly how things are going to turn out.  There are some misunderstandings, collapsing ceilings and dance floor hijinks before you finally get there but yes, you were right about the ultimate destination.  Then again, when you pick up this genre you do so in the true and certain knowledge that everything is going to work out, you just want the fun of getting there.

To be entirely honest I would have probably enjoyed this book far more if I had been on holiday and not trying to squeeze it in around 12 hour work shifts.  For me this is not a full 4 Star book, it is more a 3.75 but, for once, I rounded up.

THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE.