What do you think?
Rate this book
Candles on the Sand
Walking out on her cheating fiancé and domineering mother eight weeks before her wedding, Anna finds herself heading to Gatwick Airport and the Amalfi Coast.
When she realises the relationship with her mother is beyond repair she decides to try a new life in Italy. On the first day of her journey she takes a wrong turn off the main road and finds a picturesque town down a winding country road. A dramatic rescue finds Anna embraced by the community of the small fishing town of San Lavello.
In San Lavello she finds a place to live, a job and some very special friends. What’s more, she starts to find her real self. Through Leonora, a former actress who is in hiding and Elisa, the daughter of the local widowed restaurateur Salvatore, Anna begins to live her life the way she wants to live it. The friendship she develops with her wine dealer boss, Dante, becomes stronger and apprehensively she finds herself falling in love with him.
With the town of San Lavello under threat of development Anna finds herself helping to save the town she has come to love; but can she start afresh while there are still unresolved issues at home?
When she realises the relationship with her mother is beyond repair she decides to try a new life in Italy. On the first day of her journey she takes a wrong turn off the main road and finds a picturesque town down a winding country road. A dramatic rescue finds Anna embraced by the community of the small fishing town of San Lavello.
In San Lavello she finds a place to live, a job and some very special friends. What’s more, she starts to find her real self. Through Leonora, a former actress who is in hiding and Elisa, the daughter of the local widowed restaurateur Salvatore, Anna begins to live her life the way she wants to live it. The friendship she develops with her wine dealer boss, Dante, becomes stronger and apprehensively she finds herself falling in love with him.
With the town of San Lavello under threat of development Anna finds herself helping to save the town she has come to love; but can she start afresh while there are still unresolved issues at home?
289 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 13, 2011
28 people are currently reading
125 people want to read
About the author
Katie Stephens
7 books11 followersBorn and brought up in the Surrey Hills near Guildford, Katie now lives in Camberley and is married to Will. They have two young daughters, Abigail and Georgia.
Katie's love of creative writing started at school and as well as writing short stories she found great enjoyment in writing poetry. While primarily writing for friends and family, she has had two poems published in anthologies plus a number of others in event programmes and in-house publications.
In 2008 Katie decided it was time to take her writing up a level and started on a Creative Writing course. During the course she found not only the inspiration but also the confidence to take her writing seriously. Her first completed book was born from a piece of homework on her course. She spends any spare time she can find sat at her computer and writing and sees this as her escape time.
For the past 18 years Katie has worked in PR, firstly in agency then in-house. While in agency she dealt with consumer PR and Sports Sponsorship, working on music retail, homebuilders, mobile telephony and fashion as well as the England Cricket Teams. During this time she ended up working on events such as the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party and touring with the England Women's cricket team. Since 2002 Katie has worked in-house for The AA - the motoring one rather than the alcoholics.
Working in PR Katie is able to mix her love of writing and creativity with her career.
Katie's love of creative writing started at school and as well as writing short stories she found great enjoyment in writing poetry. While primarily writing for friends and family, she has had two poems published in anthologies plus a number of others in event programmes and in-house publications.
In 2008 Katie decided it was time to take her writing up a level and started on a Creative Writing course. During the course she found not only the inspiration but also the confidence to take her writing seriously. Her first completed book was born from a piece of homework on her course. She spends any spare time she can find sat at her computer and writing and sees this as her escape time.
For the past 18 years Katie has worked in PR, firstly in agency then in-house. While in agency she dealt with consumer PR and Sports Sponsorship, working on music retail, homebuilders, mobile telephony and fashion as well as the England Cricket Teams. During this time she ended up working on events such as the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party and touring with the England Women's cricket team. Since 2002 Katie has worked in-house for The AA - the motoring one rather than the alcoholics.
Working in PR Katie is able to mix her love of writing and creativity with her career.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 25, 2012
Oh dear! What a load of rubbish. Not worth reading. I failed to get past the middle let alone make it to the end! Save your money for a better book - please!
December 13, 2011
Excellent holiday reading! A gentle, easy to read romantic novel, beautifully describing the Italian coastline. I enjoyed the characterisation and character development. Ok, so it's not challenging, but it certainly made me wish I was there instead of shivering in the UK.
October 21, 2018
A beautiful Italian love story
It started with the gut retching discovery of her fiancé shagging her best friend, a hurried escape on the first plane to Italy. She met Cynthia who gave some life changing advice. Her journey down the Amalfi coast is hailed with the dawning realisation that she can plan & execute her own life. San Lavenso . Is the home she has been looking for & she finds old & new friends to develop a stunning life for herself & the light radiates to resurrect the village & all who live there. A love story of a village!
It started with the gut retching discovery of her fiancé shagging her best friend, a hurried escape on the first plane to Italy. She met Cynthia who gave some life changing advice. Her journey down the Amalfi coast is hailed with the dawning realisation that she can plan & execute her own life. San Lavenso . Is the home she has been looking for & she finds old & new friends to develop a stunning life for herself & the light radiates to resurrect the village & all who live there. A love story of a village!
May 18, 2020
Walking out on her cheating fiancé and domineering mother eight weeks before the wedding, Anna finds herself on the Amalfi Coast trying to find a new life in Italy. She finds a small village called SAN Lavello and with it under threat of development Anna helps to save the town and hopes to start afresh in the place she loves. Really a load of rubbish the worse book I have ever read therefore one star for authors effort.
July 3, 2021
Great read
I would really like to see this book on Audible Uk.It will be a Be a great listen for the blind.
I would really like to see this book on Audible Uk.It will be a Be a great listen for the blind.
July 30, 2023
Not inevitable I would recommend
January 3, 2012
Candles on the Sand by Katie Stephens has a really interesting premise: Anna, discovering that her fiancee is cheating on her, impulsively walks out on their wedding and head to Italy, and predictably, finds happiness and belonging by the end of the novel.
I liked the plot of the novel, but for some reason, the conversations felt very stilted to me. I'm not sure if it was the pacing of the conversations, but it seems like, well, something that I write. The conversations can turn into two-sided rants and made me generally uncomfortable with the novel. Because this impression was made very early in the novel I(before the Italian English appears), I fully suspend my disbelief and remained distant to the characters.
Now, it's not that I cannot take long (paragraph-long), monologues when two people speak and have that called a conversation. I have read Huck Finn and Siddhartha too many times to count and they have very very long conversations monologues (have you heard Siddhartha expound his theories to Govinda/Kamala/etc? Or listened to the Duke and the King? Actually, the whole of Huck Finn can be said to be a monologue, since it's a recount. But the thing is that it's a conversational and believable recount). Yet, it doesn't feel as stilted as Candles on the Sand does.
The ending of the novel also felt a little rushed, especially the reconciliation section. Plus, there seemed to be no resolution with regards to her fiancee, especially since she seemed to just ignore the problem.
But all this being said, the novel was very effective in evoking Italy, and now, I really feel like going there. I'm not much of a Europe kind of traveller (mostly because I have no funds, but partly because I'm still trying to visit the different places in Asia (Taiwan, Japan and Korea mostly).
Bottom line: this is a pretty good first-novel. Not excellent but more than satisfactory, especially in terms of plot. But it could have done with much better editing (I saw some grammar and maybe spelling mistakes), as well as a not insubstantial dialogue re-write to make it much more believable.
I liked the plot of the novel, but for some reason, the conversations felt very stilted to me. I'm not sure if it was the pacing of the conversations, but it seems like, well, something that I write. The conversations can turn into two-sided rants and made me generally uncomfortable with the novel. Because this impression was made very early in the novel I(before the Italian English appears), I fully suspend my disbelief and remained distant to the characters.
Now, it's not that I cannot take long (paragraph-long), monologues when two people speak and have that called a conversation. I have read Huck Finn and Siddhartha too many times to count and they have very very long conversations monologues (have you heard Siddhartha expound his theories to Govinda/Kamala/etc? Or listened to the Duke and the King? Actually, the whole of Huck Finn can be said to be a monologue, since it's a recount. But the thing is that it's a conversational and believable recount). Yet, it doesn't feel as stilted as Candles on the Sand does.
The ending of the novel also felt a little rushed, especially the reconciliation section. Plus, there seemed to be no resolution with regards to her fiancee, especially since she seemed to just ignore the problem.
But all this being said, the novel was very effective in evoking Italy, and now, I really feel like going there. I'm not much of a Europe kind of traveller (mostly because I have no funds, but partly because I'm still trying to visit the different places in Asia (Taiwan, Japan and Korea mostly).
Bottom line: this is a pretty good first-novel. Not excellent but more than satisfactory, especially in terms of plot. But it could have done with much better editing (I saw some grammar and maybe spelling mistakes), as well as a not insubstantial dialogue re-write to make it much more believable.
December 15, 2011
For the ultimate in “post breakup recovery” stories, pick up a copy of Candles on the Sand. In this contemporary romance novel, Stephens tells the story of Anna, an English woman who finds herself running to Italy after discovering her fiance cheating on her with her own friend! A strained relationship with her mother sends her over the tipping point and, just two months before her intended nuptials, Anna’s starting a brand new life in another country. Quite by accident, too!
A series of truly fortunate events helps her to establish a new home, many new friends, and even sparks a new flame… one she isn’t sure whether to tender or not, given how jaded she now is about love. But Dante isn’t just any other guy. Rather, he’s a tall, dark, and handsome Italian who certainly wants to spend a lot of time with her. Oh, and he’s also technically her boss. So… oops.
In Candle on the Sand, Stephens weaves an involved tale with lots of nice, neat ends tied up for the reader. You’ll truly fall in love with these characters and quite possibly the setting of Anna’s new life in Italy. I know I want to visit! Thanks to a well-told tale full of humor, poignant moments, and real emotion, this book stands out among the women’s fiction and romance I’ve read (or devoured) lately. Pick up a copy for something heartwarming that’s sure to life your spirits!
Read the full review at Love on the Bookshelf! --> http://loveonthebookshelf.wordpress.c...
A series of truly fortunate events helps her to establish a new home, many new friends, and even sparks a new flame… one she isn’t sure whether to tender or not, given how jaded she now is about love. But Dante isn’t just any other guy. Rather, he’s a tall, dark, and handsome Italian who certainly wants to spend a lot of time with her. Oh, and he’s also technically her boss. So… oops.
In Candle on the Sand, Stephens weaves an involved tale with lots of nice, neat ends tied up for the reader. You’ll truly fall in love with these characters and quite possibly the setting of Anna’s new life in Italy. I know I want to visit! Thanks to a well-told tale full of humor, poignant moments, and real emotion, this book stands out among the women’s fiction and romance I’ve read (or devoured) lately. Pick up a copy for something heartwarming that’s sure to life your spirits!
Read the full review at Love on the Bookshelf! --> http://loveonthebookshelf.wordpress.c...
November 28, 2015
I really liked this book. I found it by chance browsing on my nook. It's the story of Anna, a young English woman engaged to be married to the "perfect man" according to her mother! Unfortunately a few weeks before the wedding, she finds him cheating on her with a friend of her's. She is devastated and calls the wedding off. Her mother gives her no support and cannot understand why Anna will not give Tim another chance. Anna comes to understand that in loving Tim, she has lost herself. She did everything Tim's way. He and her mother had even taken over planning the wedding and nothing was what Anna wanted. So grieving for the lost relationship and the lack of support at home, she leaves England for Italy, a place she always wanted to visit. There, she travels the Amalfi coast and finds a small town, makes friends and becomes a part of the community. This is the story of how she finds herself and comes into her own, eventually even making peace with her Mom, on her own terms. I couldn't put this book down, despite the fact that it was poorly edited. I just loved the story and the setting.
March 25, 2015
What I would call a good summer read. Set in the beautiful south of Italy the story is of Anna an English woman who is trying to find herself again after leaving her cheating fiance. Also of a small town San Lavello that is needing to find a way to increase its tourism. Put these together and you get a feel good romance. A bit too perfect but a good holiday read.
February 4, 2012
I really enjoyed this book, it kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next, if everything would work out how I was hoping it would.
A good post break up story, that shows how positive things can come when you least expect them to.
A good post break up story, that shows how positive things can come when you least expect them to.
May 5, 2015
Fantastic read
Reading this book made me feel like I was actually in Italy. It is a wonderful read. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The description of the country was what really made this book so enjoyable. Loved it.
Reading this book made me feel like I was actually in Italy. It is a wonderful read. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The description of the country was what really made this book so enjoyable. Loved it.
February 16, 2016
Had bought this book a few months ago, and it popped up as a recommended read. What a great book. It kept me on the edge of my seat desperate to know what would happen next and desperate to know how things would work out. It really kept my attention and was well worth the time I spent reading it.
October 17, 2011
A good light read particularly if one likes Italy. A bit too good to be true but a bit of easy escapism.
October 19, 2011
I read this ebook on holiday in Marbella. It is a real marrshmallow love story--but just beautiful as it transports you around the Amalfi coast.Great beach read.
February 5, 2012
I really enjoyed this book! It dragged me in and i found my self feeling all the emotions the character Anna was feeling! Was a book I could not put down! I highly recommend it!
August 1, 2012
I read this ages ago. Ok for a bit of escapism, quick easy read. A bit too slushy for me but loved the description of Italy, beautiful!
September 13, 2016
Really liked this and it certainly made me want to visit the village, and I cared about the characters too..
November 27, 2012
A very easy read
September 16, 2013
Fabulous love story. Enjoyed right from the beginning
January 24, 2015
Good read for romance
This was an ready read. You got to know Anna and how she followed her heart once she got the nerve to leave
This was an ready read. You got to know Anna and how she followed her heart once she got the nerve to leave
September 13, 2011
Review to come
January 18, 2015
Great story about rebounding after things go wrong.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews