Only You is the story of Letty and Alf, two young people from different worlds who travel to the enchanting city of Rome to escape their lives back home in England.
Letty always wanted to be a Ballerina but due to an injury at thirteen she could not pursue her dreams. The death of a loved one, a troubled time at school and a few bad decisions that come back to bite her all make her decide to escape the chaos and travel to Rome for a month.
Alf is a champion ballroom dancer and has danced all his life. Like Letty, he ends up making some bad decisions that upsets his family. He heads to Rome to try and get away from the mess he has left behind and ends up working as a tour guide to pay his way.
Both Alf and Letty join an Italian language class in Rome and when they first meet Alf is immediately entranced by her, whereas Letty appears very guarded and uncertain. Alf tries to cautiously get attention from Letty and eventually they start to talk more and meet up after class to sight see around the historic city.
Their love of dance soon becomes something they both find they have in common and it leads to some spontaneous dances in some beautiful spots around Rome that seems to change something in the air around them and they both find they are can be themselves around each other.
This leads to a passionate, whirlwind romance but there are still secrets from their past they have not shared with each other. An unexpected encounter soon changes everything for them both and Letty flees back home to London and Alf finally returns to Blackpool. Will they be able to forget their past and move on?
I absolutely loved Alf and Letty. They are both such wonderful, down to earth characters that will touch your soul and you will most definitely be rooting for. The book has a lot of depth which may come as some surprise. There are topics such as sexual abuse and mental health issues which the author tackles poignantly. I felt so much sympathy towards them both. But alongside that, it also has a feel good factor to it. The descriptions of The Eternal City of Rome were just so dreamy and vivid, throwing coins into the Trevi Fountain and then waltzing around the Piazza Navona. The details of Italian culture and little insights into how the locals live really made me enjoy the book even more. Such things like Italians like to drink beer with pizza and usually drink black coffee in the afternoon as a pick me up. This book has made me desperately want to visit there soon!
Overall it really was a book of pure escapism and the perfect summer read.
Letty always wanted to be a Ballerina but due to an injury at thirteen she could not pursue her dreams. The death of a loved one, a troubled time at school and a few bad decisions that come back to bite her all make her decide to escape the chaos and travel to Rome for a month.
Alf is a champion ballroom dancer and has danced all his life. Like Letty, he ends up making some bad decisions that upsets his family. He heads to Rome to try and get away from the mess he has left behind and ends up working as a tour guide to pay his way.
Both Alf and Letty join an Italian language class in Rome and when they first meet Alf is immediately entranced by her, whereas Letty appears very guarded and uncertain. Alf tries to cautiously get attention from Letty and eventually they start to talk more and meet up after class to sight see around the historic city.
Their love of dance soon becomes something they both find they have in common and it leads to some spontaneous dances in some beautiful spots around Rome that seems to change something in the air around them and they both find they are can be themselves around each other.
This leads to a passionate, whirlwind romance but there are still secrets from their past they have not shared with each other. An unexpected encounter soon changes everything for them both and Letty flees back home to London and Alf finally returns to Blackpool. Will they be able to forget their past and move on?
I absolutely loved Alf and Letty. They are both such wonderful, down to earth characters that will touch your soul and you will most definitely be rooting for. The book has a lot of depth which may come as some surprise. There are topics such as sexual abuse and mental health issues which the author tackles poignantly. I felt so much sympathy towards them both. But alongside that, it also has a feel good factor to it. The descriptions of The Eternal City of Rome were just so dreamy and vivid, throwing coins into the Trevi Fountain and then waltzing around the Piazza Navona. The details of Italian culture and little insights into how the locals live really made me enjoy the book even more. Such things like Italians like to drink beer with pizza and usually drink black coffee in the afternoon as a pick me up. This book has made me desperately want to visit there soon!
Overall it really was a book of pure escapism and the perfect summer read.