Kate Zarrelli

Once upon a time, there was a girl...a librarian to be precise. She lived in England, had her life on track, and was perfectly content in her innocent little world...until the big, bad, ugly event occurred that threw a rock at her crystal world, shattering it to pieces unrecognizable from before. In truth, she was saved from a life that would have been twice as bad, but in practice, she still had a broken heart, broken trust, and a life that needed rebuilding. Enter the next perfect opportunity, a job in Tuscany. Beautiful scenery, beautiful people, and a change of pace from her current predicament. What would Antonia have to worry about? What indeed...

Our girl Antonia was a gem. Innocent, but with fire. The Countess, I was quite fond of. Though some cast her in a harsher light, I felt she was very strong, knowing who she was, able to face her family history as well as its current state with a raised chin, yet not against altering her opinions when the time was right. Giselle was an out and out cold-hearted, and Lorenzo I just couldn't take seriously. After his initial "introduction", he never really redeemed himself in my eyes...on a personal level, I mean. Familial wise, I did see his desire to actually be involved and make amends, so I could respect him on that front...just not the other. Story wise it had potential, but I'm not certain it quite lived up to what it could have been.

Do you dream of a Tuscan escape? Okay then, here you go...the descriptions of the land, the people, and the places therein are certainly attention grabbing. The ever-after definitely had a touch of sweet, both for the potential couple and their unique situation...and I did truly like the arrival of the "surprise guest" towards the end. It's the middle that kind of has me in knots, but one persons uber-awesome-read-of-the-century is not always another. I say if it grabbed your attention, give it a go! You'll never know unless you try.


**ebook received for review; opinions are my own… (meer)