Zomerliefde

by Erica James, Ans van der Graaff (Translator)

Izzy zit er even helemaal doorheen. Haar baan gaat nergens heen, haar vriend heeft haar gedumpt, en ze weet eigenlijk nog steeds niet wat ze wil met haar leven, ook al is ze nu 31. Als vrienden haar uitnodigen om de zomer door te brengen in hun vakantiehuis op Corfu, is ze daar dan ook echt wel aan toe.

Een zonovergoten eiland, een knappe Griekse buurman, een intrigerende thrillerschrijver die op het eiland een nieuwe bestseller wil schrijven – alle ingrediënten voor een onvergetelijke zomer.

Genres: Romance, Chick Lit, Fiction, Contemporary, Roman, Womens Fiction, Greece

496 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1993

About the author

With an insatiable appetite for other people's business, Erica James will readily strike up conversation with strangers in the hope of unearthing a useful gem for her writing. She finds it the best way to write authentic characters for her novels, although her two grown-up sons claim they will never recover from a childhood spent in a perpetual state of embarrassment at their mother's compulsion.

The author of nineteen bestselling novels, and the winner of the 2006 Romantic Novel of the Year Award, Erica divides her time between Suffolk and Lake Como in Italy.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whenever I am in need of some comfort, I always return to Erica James. This was the first of her books I read and I have been enchanted ever since. Whilst her characters often, and particularly in this book, have a strong silver lining of not having tense financial challenges (though that is part of the storyline for this book), the emotional journeys she takes them on are so compelling and so in-tune with reality that you can't help but become hooked. Very much a strong recommendation for anyone needing that comfort that only a good book and a duvet or blanket can provide.

[Ali · Rating 2 out of 5]

An overall disappointment. I love chick lit, but this one failed to make me giddy and excited for romance like most chick lit does. I feel like James tried entirely too hard to develop the main characters' deep and dark pasts. They didn't seem real at all to me. My other big annoyance was how the first couple hundred pages of 'romance' seemed so disconnected from the last hundred of random 'suspenseful crime mystery'. Where did this come from? While she mentions the stalker early on, and while I'm glad the issue is resolved, the romance and crime plots were not at all well-balanced. I have no issues at all with genres being intertwined, but I would have liked to read more of a connection of the two, rather than focusing on one at a time.

[Tracy Barrall · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good read, I recommend "The Holiday" to help you escape deary England for sunny Corfu. The relationship between Izzy, Theo and Mark is wonderfully written with a backdrop of blue sea and skies as well as an exciting mystery that surprised me. The discription of Corfu's landscape is a wonderful setting to place the drama of a long summer break for very different people who have come for a holiday but end up dealing with one drama after another. Izzy is the main character that links them together, a girl next door type with a sad childhood who is unhappy in her teaching job and has been dumped by a idiot man takes a holiday with her close friends who have a villa in Corfu. There she meets several people who will all have an effect on her life and future. Theo the wealthy Greek and Mark the brooding and dark author are great characters who both see something in Izzy that she cannot even see herself but their lives have an effect on her. Couldn't put it down!!!

[Danielle]

Another book I grabbed at the library because it looked promising - a woman gets involved with a troubled man during a holiday in Corfu. 540 pages seems like a lot for this puff pastry, but it could be good. Well, not so much, I got through about 10 chapters and started skimming - the main Boy and Girl still hadn't even met yet. When I realized that I was dreading going to bed because I would hve to tackle this book, I knew it was time to give up. Just not interesting or fun.

[Katie Tate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was was much more layered than your typical chick-lit story. The characters were all less than perfect and therefore much more believable. It was quite dark at times and had many moments of suspense. It was a nice change from a purely romantic focused chick-lit story. For me it was a real page turned and kept me hooked the whole way through. It was my first Erica James book and I will definitely be reading more.

[abi · Rating 2 out of 5]

[2.5] this book had absolutely no business being over 500 pages long. it felt like it lacked a sense of direction as to where it was headed at first, which may be why it ended up being the length it did, and i thought there was some disconnect between the romance and thriller plot lines.

[Elizabeth Edser · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh dear - struggling again with this one. Only on page 27 and I don't think I care what happens next!
Page 105 - given up..... lost interest!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was ok. You can definitely tell it was written in a different (so many flashbacks to the nineties!). It has two opposing storylines. One has the typical Mediterranean summer romance type feel... Fancy holiday homes,  summer flings, and fluffy feels. The other has a serious, thriller-type tone with the characters having dark pasts dealing with drug/alcohol abuse and domestic/child abuse; and there's a dangerous stalker thrown into the mix. These two storylines are based on the same characters and it just didn't mesh well for me. I didn't care for any of the fluff with most of the characters and would have preferred just the sole storyline with the psycho stalker/killer plot and where Izzy and Mark fall in love, but I guess the publishers would have never been able to call this a romance book.

[Marion · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another great story from Erica James. She never disappoints me! Set in the beautiful Greek island of Corfu, Erica makes you feel like you are there with the characters. The only draw back for me in this story was the character Mark and his complex personality and treatment of others. It became a main focus of the story, and being a tragic storyline, it was not exactly the escapism I was looking for in an Erica James novel. Overall a very good story though.

[Linda Louch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book set in beautiful Corfu. Izzy went there after a breakup for a sunshine holiday and rest with friends but as more characters were introduced the story broadened out to encompass tragedies and feel good moments. The quote in the book 'Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy' by F. Scott Fitzgerald was very apt. Erica James writes so well bringing the location alive and you can imagine the scenery and the hot Greek weather.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really really enjoyed this book. It was a nice easy read but it still had a good plot and characters. It was also set in Corfu so it was a nice escape while being in lockdown. Also made me decide I’ll definitely be going there when I can.
Go and give it a read...I dare ya

[Daisy Girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it more than I thought I would as it was more than just a romance with a happy ending (for some reason that's what I read when I'm ill, ha ha ha). A couple of things seemed to be left unexplained but nothing that I'll lose sleep over, ha ha.

[Di · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd like to give it only 1 1/2 stars, as it bordered on Ok and not liking it. Very long winded novel, if it ever became a movie, I think I would lose interest before the first half hour was over. I know that authors like to set the scene with background info, but this was a little too much. Probably not a novel I would recommend to any of my friends.

[Cynthia Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Not for a moment did it slow or make me inclined to put it down; a real page-turner and feel-good read. I read way into the night and enjoyed every page. Erica James' style is mature and entertaining and I found myself often chuckling at the repartee between the well-developed characters. A great holiday read or one to just happily enjoy while passing time.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book by Erica James I read. Now I want to read them all. This is one of those from everyone's point of view books. I really like that, it shows a relationship, place, idea from different points of view. Change it to Nantucket and this could be a Hilderbrand book.

[• Lisa • · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel to escape with, drama, love and intrigue this Erica James novel has enough to keep most romance novel enthusiasts entertained.

[Catherine Callaghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book very slow to start and hard to get into but I'm glad I stuck with it as half way through I was hooked and found it difficult to put down! A lovely read!

[Melissa Coles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Struggled to read this, didn't finish, too sliw and boring. First one of hers that I haven't liked

[Annelien · Rating 3 out of 5]

De cover en titel impliceren meteen dat ‘Zomerliefde’ een passende roman is voor de zomer(vakantie). Van de zon genieten met dit positieve boek erbij. Helaas geeft de ondertitel mijns inziens al veel van het einde weg, iets wat niet nodig is.


Waar het begin nog vol verwachting vlot leest, zakt het verhaal al vrij snel naar de laagste versnelling. Het verhaal verloopt traag en in de laatste 70 bladzijdes gebeurt er meer dan in het hele deel ervoor. Nu zijn het vooral je eigen verwachtingen die hierin voor een teleurstelling kunnen zorgen aangezien het boek noch de schrijfster pretendeert een zogenoemde page-turner te zijn. Helaas had ik iets meer gebeurtenissen verwacht waardoor ik het verhaal te traag vond.


De personages zijn fijn, wat erg passend is voor een feelgoodroman. Er komen nauwelijks vervelende mensen in het boek voor en zelfs die ene gemene heks blijkt toch nog een andere kant te hebben. Erica James lijkt toch enige spanning hebben willen toevoegen door het duistere verleden van Mark, de thrillerschrijver, te onthullen, een schandaal uit de pers naar het eiland te laten komen en een stalker in het verhaal te verweven. Helaas worden veel onderwerpen, bijvoorbeeld het schandaal en de stalker, enkel lichtjes aangestipt. Hierdoor worden deze gebeurtenissen gemiste kansen die niet de spanning brengen die deze roman goed kan gebruiken. Vele dingen die hadden kunnen gebeuren blijven onbeantwoord in de lucht hangen en dat is jammer. Alsof James na een keuze voor een verhaallijn toch weer terugkrabbelde.

Niettemin kabbelt het verhaal voort en is het zeker een zomerse feelgood waarmee je prima je tijd doorkomt aan het strand of op de camping.

Van mij krijgt het boek 3 sterren.

[Hayley Marsland · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a long time since I last read a book by Erica James, and this one was excellent in my opinion.

Izzy Jordan is 31 years old, and she feels it's time to take stock of her life.

She didn't have an easy time of it when she was younger, as she had a very repressed childhood, and still to this day she has an extremely difficult relationship with her mother.

An extended holiday to the beautiful island of Corfu, is exactly what she needs.

Izzy is going to stay with her very good friends, Max and Laura, and it is through them that she meets Theo, a larger than life, charming local, so there is the possibility of a 'no strings attached' holiday fling there for Izzy, should she choose.

Theo has his own house guest, staying throughout the summer, crime writer, Mark St James.

Mark too has had a troubled past, as he is a recovering alcoholic/addict, and he is quite a complex character.

Slowly but surely, Izzy and Mark are drawn to one another, but there are to be consequences, which no one could ever have imagined.

It's definitely going to be a holiday that none of the friends will ever forget.

An excellent read with well drawn characters, and the descriptions of the island of Corfu are so vivid.

I certainly won't be leaving it so long before I plunder my tbr stacks for another book by this author.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt in the mood for a bit of womens’ fiction and this definitely ticked all the boxes for me. We are a group of charmingly flawed individuals on holiday in Corfu for a whole summer and there was definitely a lot more than romance to this novel.
The writer Mark St James has been receiving some disturbing letters before his holiday and this adds a slight element of psychological thriller to the plot.
We also have Marks’s oldest friend Theo adding a George Clooney-like element of love interest. Their verbal sparring is wonderfully done.
All the characters are detailed and realistic, with the exception of Theo, who may be a bit more of a caricature.
We have an ageing dolly bird, reckless youth and a battle scarred teacher all thrown together into a captivating story.
This novel has made me long for the Corfu of my youth that I visited several times. Perhaps I’m long overdue a return to this island of the most wonderful Greek people. Now to the internet to research the island of today.......

[Ellie 🪐 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first romance book I’ve ever read and I am in love with it, it was predictable in some parts, not many but some, it also hit home for me in a way Izzy and Marks relationship is very similar to mine and my boyfriends, my boyfriend is a recovering alcoholic of 5 months now and wants to be a writer when he eventually decides to write, his older and has been to a very dark place whereas I’m like Izzy, shy, quiet, don’t really speak up when I want to, loves arts and crafts, clumsy and didn’t feel any real confidence until I met my boyfriend. I loved the twist and turns, I’m a true crime lover so having one of the main characters as a crime author and to experience a crazed stalker just out of one of his books was a interesting twist for a romance book, it also made me miss home, I grew up in Cyprus and didn’t think I’d remember how to speak or read Greek so it was a comforting book for me, I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for something to start them off with romance

[Eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contains: Mentions of drug/ alcohol/ child/ domestic abuse, several near death experiences, and holiday romances.

Genre(s): Romance, Thriller

Summery: Your typical holiday romance story but with an unexpected thriller twist.

What I enjoyed about this story: Izzy and Mark's characters were by far the shining star of this book. They were interesting to read about and had such great depth compared to the other stereotypical characters. I also really enjoyed the thriller aspect to it, but thought that could have been a little better dispersed throughout the story.

What I didn't enjoy about this story: The stereotypes about the English, about the Greeks, about the rich, about everything really. I suppose you could call this a product of it's time (which would be the nineties).

Official rating: 4 stars

[John Aston - Dorset · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms Erica James can make a cold wet
day disappear !
"The Holiday" did just that for me !
I was instantly taken to a happy place,
where the Sun shines, where friends are
themselves, with discourse, repartee,
and retort with championship Linguistic Fisticuffs, only permissable with real friends.
Delivered with outstanding warmth and
humour. The Art of Putdown, that only
could be used amongst friends, only
friends could accept, consider, then raise the stakes, to seemingly endless, effortless, disparagement, finely tuned depreciation,
high end and low end prevarication, perfect targeting, a delight.

Either Ms Erica James has an imagination
without limits, or, has lived a life, "So Out There"
very few can compete.
I don't care !
I just appreciate the overwhelming genius
of the works of Ms Erica James!
Read "The Holiday" by Erica James,
you will thank her !

[Poorvi · Rating 4 out of 5]

“A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking.” - Earl Wilson

The Holiday is very breezy and airy story about romance that takes place in the beautiful Corfu place. The description of the place is elegantly done. The story is about Izzy Jordan, Laura and Max, Theo and Mark. Izzy is invited by Laura to spend her summer holidays in Corfu. The story is about tragic incidences, trauma, life and death situation, friendship and love. The story is enjoyable to read. Erica James stories are comforting to read; so it is always fun to read her novels.

“The journey, not the arrival, matters.”- T.S. Eliot

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite a long book! It was plodding along at first, i didn't find it boring, but it wasn't the most exciting book i've read either! It was not my most favourite book i've read but definately not the worst either cos i finished it! If books are that bad i don't finish them! Some of the characters have quite a troubled past! The book got better around halfway through as more things started to happen and more characters came into the story! It got better towards the end too! It's made me want to be in sunny Corfu myself! Not sure if i would read another book from this author or not if i'm honest!!

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had forgotten that I read this book just over 10 years ago. Erica James books could easily be movies or TV series. There is a lot of tenderness and wonderful wit and humour in the characters. Every one of the characters are very believable. The story takes you on a few unexpected turns as you get to know everyone. I can say that this is the only story that I have read for the second time. I recommend this story for anyone who likes charming characters and unpredictability. A very satisfying read.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was so much more than a happy chic lit book. has great depth, lots of characters that have histories that are believable n has lots of dark as well as light themes. set in the sunshine but I also loved robin hood's bay, it was a book that kept my interest all the way to the end n I didn't find the ending too soppy or too contrived hence the four stars. felt at times it could have been expanded even more with the varied cast of characters hence not a perfect read for me but a very good read.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wanting to leave behind her ex boyfriend and manipulative mother, art teacher Izzy takes up a generous offer of a holiday in Corfu. Little does she know this holiday will change her world. I went into this book thinking it was a romance book when in fact it’s equal parts thriller, drama, travel guide and romance. I loved spending the summer with Izzy and her friends (old and new) as they journey thorough the perils of their pasts and the uncertainty of their futures. The Holiday is a book I wasn’t expecting but equally one I won’t be forgetting any time soon!

[Lindsay Steel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. It took a while to get going, but by a few chapters in, I was hooked with the story. Izzy Mark, Theo, Laura and Max are lovely characters, and the storyline is not quite as predictable as is usual of this type of book. If you're going somewhere hot and sunny and would like a good book that goes a little bit deeper than summery romances usually do, I highly recommend this book by Erica James.