Two young souls meet in Rome and end up striking up a friendship which turns to an intense romance. With a dance background behind both of them, music and dance bring them together more. Until their pasts catch up with them. I must confess that it took me a while to get into this book. Written from two perspectives, we learned about Alf and Letty, how they were feeling in Rome, but it took a little while to get in the swing of things. The second section, which jumps back, explaining the whys of the story, gave me a good few Aha! moments. And the conclusion... well, it was what we all would want from a love story. But, I have to say, I did enjoy it, once I got into the story. Many thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

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.

This book is a lovely feel good read. It won’t stretch your mind but it is well written with an interesting, if somewhat farfetched, plot. The ending is a little too sickly for my personal taste, but a little bit of happy fantasy is probably needed in these present times. As I dance ballroom and latin, I could particularly relate to the characters in the book and I liked that they felt familiar, together with the references to Blackpool and the magic that dance can bring. I also enjoyed the trips around Rome and the support characters such as Alf’s Mum and Grandmother. If you want a pleasant tale, told well and with a (spoiler alert!) happy ending, then I can thoroughly recommend this book.

This book has such a cleverly told story. It is split into three parts the first and last as present and the middle as a delve into the past to set up the story. The alternating chapters from different perspectives really add to the development through out the story. I found myself willing the characters to be together by the end and am very glad I picked this book up to read. I would definitely recommend this book to other people. It has a very similar feel to Me before You and really drew me in and kept me engaged the whole time. The author has portrayed the story incredibly and this was such a feel good read. Who doesn’t love and love story set in Rome? Very relatable and plots a gap betweeen YA and adult literature.

Under the current climate, this is a great book for a bit of escapism! It's a nice story about Alf and Letty, who are both British and meet in an Italian class in Rome. Since they are both English speakers, they are drawn to each other, and the story follows their relationship together and of how they learn about each other. I love the way which Kate Eberlen has written the story - each chapter alternates between us hearing Alf's point of view, and then Letty's point of view. They both have dance history, which adds another element to the book, and will be a nice touch for anyone who is a dancer (or a non-dancer, like me - I'm learning a lot!). They also use snippets of Italian in the book, which enhances the story, and doesn't hinder it because they subtly translate it for you. You never know, you might learn a phrase or two along the way! The writing is beautiful and very illustrative - even though I'd never been to Rome, I can picture the scenes which Kate paints, which makes the read even more enjoyable. I haven't yet finished the book, but I'm so excited to see where it goes, and what obstacles they will overcome together.