☀️Summer Reads ~ The Greek Guesthouse by Michelle Vernal

It’s that time of year again when I choose books which would make the perfect holiday reading. The stories which are easy enough to pick up and put down and which lend themselves, both by plot and characters, to lazy afternoons in the sunshine.

I’ll be sharing a few of the books which I think are perfect escapism summer reading. 

Look for #Summer Reads

Bookouture
23 July 2026

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

Dropping my suitcase at my feet, I stare up at the Greek guesthouse with its faded blue shutters, clambering purple bougainvillea and wrought-iron balconies spilling pink and red geraniums. I haven’t felt truly at home anywhere since I lost my sister. But maybe Eleni’s is different. I have a feeling that anything is possible here…

Annie always has a plan, always knows where her life is headed. But this summer, heartbroken after her sister’s death, she just feels untethered and alone. An invitation to stay at her old friend Kassia’s family guesthouse on the island of Crete comes at the perfect time – an excuse to get on a plane and leave her crumbling life behind for a few weeks.

Before she even finishes unpacking, Annie is wrapped up in the noisy warmth of Kassia’s chaotic, loving family. She soon finds herself cooking with Kassia’s mother, playing with the children under the orange trees… and meeting Kassia’s handsome brother-in-law Alexandros over dinner. Romance is the last thing on her mind, but the night she spends with him, swimming by moonlight and gazing at the stars in the lavender-scented air, heals something in her that she didn’t know was broken.

This was only supposed to be a temporary stay, but the longer Annie spends on Crete, the more she feels that this magical place might hold the key to her future. And as this life-changing summer draws to a close, can she leave her old plans behind her and find the courage to let her life make a map all of its own?

☀️ My Review

Even though Annie Rivers has a reasonable life with her fiancé in New Zealand she knows, since the loss of her beloved sister, that she just hasn’t been truly settled. So, still grieving her loss, Annie makes the spontaneous decision to make a new start and heads for the beautiful Greek island of Crete where she starts afresh with friends who soon become as close as family. With the Bikakis family, at their beautiful guesthouse, Annie finds a new sense of purpose and a freedom she didn’t know she needed until she discovered it in the glorious beauty of the island.

This is such a beautifully put together summer story, filled with family and friends, glorious blue skies and sumptuous Greek food, it made me quite nostalgic for the sights, sounds and lavender scented aromas of a Greek island summer. I loved getting to know the Bikakis family, from the matriarchal mama, so stern but with a heart of gold, the tiny children Mateos and Nickolaos, their lovely mama Kassia and of course the deliciously handsome Alexandros, all combine to form a single summer of Greek perfection in a delightfully immersive read which made me smile from start to finish.

About the Author

Michelle Vernal is a New Zealand author who writes stories that will take you onto the page with her characters and make you feel part of their lives. She writes with humour and warmth, and her readers describe her books as unputdownable, feel good and funny. Her writing has been likened to Maeve Binchy but with a modern-day vernacular. In 2015 she was shortlisted for the Love Stories Award. In 2020 she won the Reader’s Favorite Gold Medal Award for Chick lit, and in 2021 was shortlisted for the Page Turner Book Awards.

Website

X@MichelleVernal #TheGreekGuesthouse

X@bookouture