Staying Out for the Summer ~ Mandy Baggot

My good friend Mandy Baggot is releasing her new summer beach read today! I had the joy of reading it and as always, the humor and fun that Mandy has in Greece shines through in her latest book, Staying Out for the Summer. Read on for more information and my review!

Staying Out for the Summer

This is one summer that won't end in tiers! For NHS nurse, Lucie Burrows, it's time to put the past behind her and embrace Greek life. Finally free from the UK restrictions, Lucie is excited for the summer of 2021. When her best friend, Gavin, finds the perfect Greek island getaway, Lucie is sure that this holiday to Corfu is going to be one to remember. But when a landslide puts the village into a local lockdown, Lucie is thrown together with Michalis Andino, the super sexy village doctor. It's not quite the escape she had planned, but things could certainly be worse. As Lucie relaxes into the Greek way of life, she begins to wonder whether this lockdown might just end in a new beginning – and a new love...

My Review: Mandy Baggot has written another winner about the lovely island of Corfu! If you know Mandy, you know her love for the island is vast and it shines through in her tales. The book opens post-Covid and while that made me nervous, I thought she did a lovely job of making it feel seamless with the way our lives have changed now that we have to live with it. What made it unique was the way she showed the reader the toll the surges took on the healthcare workers. While used to loss in their lives as doctors and nurses, both Michalis and Lucie both saw more than they ever want to see in their lifetime ever again.

The book opens with Lucie planning a holiday to Greece just to get away from it all with her best friend, Gavin. She knows if they don't take a break, they may never go back to the hospital that had put so many chinks in their armor. She just wasn't prepared to meet Michalis, a doctor who had suffered through some of the same atrocities and then some.

With festivals on the horizon, Gavin and Lucie find themselves pulled into the life of the island and the wonderful people on it. Gavin, still pining after the barista back home at the hospital cafe, isn't looking to find the guy of his dreams, but he's all for Lucie finding the one of hers. Michalis just might be it, if he can find a way to get past the loss he suffered that followed him to the island from Greece.

With so many wonderful characters weaved into this story, this review could go on forever, but I don't want to include any spoilers, so I will say, in the end, I loved that Lucie got the answers she needed about her past so she could go on with her future. She found confidence in Corfu she didn't have in the UK and it changed her as a woman, nurse, friend, and lover. I was pleased that everyone got their HEA or at least their 'happy for now.' If you are looking for a funny, loving, touching, sometimes frustratingly hilarious summer read, then you'll love Staying Out for the Summer!  5 Stars!

Staying Out for the Summer

Mandy Baggot is an international bestselling and award-winning romance writer.

The winner of the Innovation in Romantic Fiction award at the UK’s Festival of Romance, her romantic comedy novel, One Wish in Manhattan, was also shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association Romantic Comedy Novel of the Year award in 2016.

Mandy loves the Greek island of Corfu, white wine, country music and handbags. Also a singer, she has taken part in ITV1's Who Dares Sings and The X-Factor.

Mandy is a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association and the Society of Authors and lives near Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK with her husband and two daughters.

Where to find Mandy:
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