Thursday 27 August 2020

Publication Day Push and Review: Under A Siena Sun by T.A. Williams


Under a Siena Sun by T.A. Williams

Lucy needed a change of scene. She didn’t expect the change of a lifetime.
Doctors Without Borders has been Lucy Young’s life for the past four years. After being rescued from a conflict zone, she’s making a change from saving lives under gunfire to practising medicine in safe, serene Siena.
Now treating wealthy patients at a private clinic, she's never felt less comfortable. She’s used to helping those in dire need – not those in need of a nip and tuck. Her turmoil grows when she encounters injured tennis star David Lorenzo, whose smiles make Lucy forget her aversion to the rich.
She’s soon falling for the sportsman but is she losing herself in this world of excess? All she’s ever wanted was to help the underprivileged, so can her future lie in Siena at the clinic – with David?
This sunny romance is the perfect summer escape for fans of Lucy Coleman and Alex Brown.


This is the second novel I've read by T.A.Williams and again I'm blown away by the descriptive narrative and the gorgeous Italian backdrop.

After her dramatic rescue from her medical clinic base in The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lucy Young's relief to be safe and sound is palpable. As a busy doctor, she badly needed a holiday after her gruelling workload in DRC, but knew it would only take a few days before she'd get itchy feet again. After visiting her parents in the UK, she flew to Tuscany to attend her friend's wedding. Meeting up with her childhood friends leads to an unexpected job offer. The position conflicts with her personal views but she acknowledges it would allow her to fulfil some personal goals. After much soul-searching she accepts the job and buys a home, only to discover she's already met her mysterious neighbour… 

The author has a wonderful way of incorporating enticing descriptions of the featured locations as well as introducing us to dynamic and intelligent protagonists. As a doctor who has worked for Medicin Sans Frontieres for many years, Lucy is both passionate and compassionate about her work and the patients she treats. In comparison, David Lorenzo has earned millions as a professional tennis player, who is struggling to accept his injuries can't heal sufficiently to resume his career. For two people from differing backgrounds and unlike views of the world, I enjoyed how they interacted to find common ground and how both had to compromise to find a solution to keep their relationship intact.

The secondary characters surrounding Lucy and David add to the ambience of Siena and the surrounding Tuscan countryside as does the inclusion of the mouthwatering meals and drinks enjoyed by them all. Boris the black Labrador and his numerous siblings are an adorable inclusion and highlight how animals are an invaluable asset in forging friendships between their owners….eh, humans!

Overall, Under A Siena Sun is a delightful novel allowing the reader to escape to a beautiful part of the world. If you enjoy reading thought-provoking romances between intriguing characters, you'll love this and other books written by T.A. Williams.

***arc generously received courtesy of the publisher Canelo via NetGalley***


I’m a man. And a pretty old man as well. I did languages at university a long time ago and then lived and worked in France and Switzerland before going to Italy for seven years as a teacher of English. My Italian wife and I then came back to the UK with our little daughter (now long-since grown up) where I ran a big English language school for many years. We now live in a sleepy little village in Devonshire. I’ve been writing almost all my life but it was only seven years ago that I finally managed to find a publisher who liked my work enough to offer me my first contract.
The fact that I am now writing romantic comedy is something I still find hard to explain. My early books were thrillers and historical novels. Maybe it’s because there are so many horrible things happening in the world today that I feel I need to do my best to provide something to cheer my readers up. My books provide escapism to some gorgeous locations, even if travel to them is currently difficult.