The Villa by Nora Roberts

The author of The Villa is a prolific and bestselling writer of romances for adults, with the books often tinged with suspense, mystery or fantasy.  She departs from her usual fare for the 2001 The Villa, which is promoted as a "sweeping saga" like the late Harold Robbins's books. 

Also a departure for the author is the book's length at 400+ pages, and the omniscient narrator who lets us see inside the minds of all the characters.  The narration style spoils the mystery since we see into the minds of all the sociopaths in the books, so the reader knows all along who the bad-guys are. 

The length allows for a whole "TV season" of plot twists to occur, and to give the reader lots of escapist entertainment for their buck (actually, the mass market paperbacks are available for 1 cent second-hand!).

The Villa is clearly a bid for a TV mini-series.  Actually, it resembles the storyline of an entire season of the TV series Falcon Crest, the night-time soap that followed the crimes, seductions and business of Napa Valley, California, vintners, headed by a hard-ass matriarch, and surrounded by a beautiful supporting cast.

The Villa explores the story of the crimes, seductions and business of a Napa Valley, California, vintners, headed by a hard-ass Italian matriarch, surrounded by a beautiful supporting cast of wine-loving Americans and Italian-Americans. 

 

The author's trademark romance (with euphemistically explicit sex scenes) takes center stage, with the family dramas coming in at a close second, but like so many soap-operas there are few relatable or likeable characters. 

Modern-day archetypes abound, which is probably a good things, since there are so many characters, the use of archetypes helped me keep all the characters straight in my mind:  the gold-digger, the matriarch, the butch guy ("the caveman temporarily civilized"), the hard business woman, the defeated woman, the dirty-mouthed woman, the rebellious teen, the thwarted business rival, the philandering husband...

Another trademark of the author is her short paragraphs, most only one sentence long.  Then there is her replacement of all semi-colons and colons with periods, creating a book full of sentence fragments.  Most annoying for me was her use of commas in place of the conjunction "and":

He turned her, slapped the tool in her hands.

The story moves between Venice, Italy, and Napa Valley, California, between the Giambelli family's wineries.  Three generations of strong women enjoy lots of sex and adventure throughout the book.  Italian words dots the text, some used correctly, some not.  The characters' names are an odd mix of Italian and Spanish (Tereza, Pilar, Cezare). 

Reading so many books for this site has shown me that these sorts of errors are very common.  But The Villa has an unforgivable error in Italian that sent my blood pressure upward each time I encountered it:  the direct address of the matriarch with the article!

Of course, La Signora. 

Instead of the correct:

Of course, Signora.

There are two serious icky bits that run through The Villa that I have to mention, since they ruined the major romantic story for me.  The Tyler MacMillan-Sophia Giambelli romance, one of those overused fight-until-they-have-sex-then-they-are-passionately-in-love plotlines, is between two people who grew up together as siblings!  No, they don't share the same blood.  But, yes, they were brought up since childhood as siblings.  I'm cringing even as I write this!

Here is a sample of the author's classic man-woman interplay:

"Don't worry, MacMillan, you're not my type."  Big, rough, elemental.  "Usually."

"You're not mine."  Sharp, slick, dangerous.  "Ever."

The second icky bit is Tyler MacMillan's relationship with a fourteen-year-old girl.  I'll leave that as is, because just his having a relationship with a fourteen-year-old girl is enough icky-ness in itself.

The awkward parts don't stop with the above.  I was stopped short when I read:

...her system shivered at the scrape of his teeth on her throat.

All I could think when I read that was that it was physically impossible unless I had mistakenly picked up a paranormal book, and the man's teeth could somehow reach down into the woman's throat and scrape it, like a strep-throat-examiner. 

Okay, throat can be used to denote the very front part of the neck, but it really is better for a writer to use neck when they mean the outside (i.e. necklace around her neck), and to use throat when they mean the inside (i.e. sore throat, deep throat).

I thought the sex scenes were awkwardly written.  The euphemisms the author uses while trying to avoid the medical terms for the sex parts, which seems to be taboo in her novels, were at times laughable, and at other times repulsive.  For example, at one point, Sophia is described so, when in a clinch with Tyler:

...her hips pistoned.

I'm not even sure that is a verb, but it transported me out of the lovers' bedroom to inside a V8 engine, which I don't find remotely romantic.  I'm not sure why the author bothered with the euphemisms, actually, when she peppered the text with many, many f-word vulgarities.

The ending is contrived and seemingly inspired by The Long Hot Summer, a 1958 Paul Newman film based on William Faulkner stories:  a raging fire, women being strong and loving and forgiving, men being less so.  Some Amazon reviewers deemed the ending amoral.  I found the whole romance between Tyler and Sophia icky-ly amoral, and Tyler's relationship with the teenaged girl amoral, and ... oh, well, so much more, but the so-much-more was intended to be amoral, and the main romantic storyline was not intended to be.  I believe the author erred seriously with that bit.   

From the book's description:

PR executive Sophia Giambelli loves her job and has never worried about competition.  For three generations, her family’s wines have been world-renowned for their quality.  But things are about to change at Villa Giambelli.

Tereza, the matriarch, has announced a merger with the MacMillan family’s winery—and Sophia will be assuming a new role.  As a savvy businesswoman, she knows she must be prepared for anything…but she isn’t prepared for Tyler MacMillan.

They’ve been ordered to work together very closely, to facilitate the merger.  Sophia must teach Ty the finer points of marketing—and Ty, in turn, shows her how to get down and dirty, to use the sun, rain, and earth to coax the sweetest grapes from the vineyard.

As they toil together, both in and out of the fields, Sophia is torn between a powerful attraction and a professional rivalry.  At the end of the season, the course of the company’s future—and the legacy of the villa—may take an entirely new direction.  And when acts of sabotage threaten both the family business and the family itself, Sophia’s quest will be not only for dominance, but also for survival.

Here are direct links to the book at Amazon.com, where you can find .01 cent copies of the mass market paperback from 3rd party sellers, and a new paperback edition, a Kindle e-book, and an audio book:

Here is an interview with the author Nora Roberts by Borders Books:

 

Please visit the author's website and Facebook page.

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.

Mina's Adventures Series by Maria Grazia Swan

 

In this richly imagined series, set in the recent past, Mina Calvi, an Italian-born woman, an immigrant to The United States, has to deal with some overwhelming events.  Her self-deprecating humor and her friends, loyal to the occasionally clueless young woman, help her survive.

 The author has made Mina a refreshingly realistic young woman.  Not a silly, kick-ass, one-dimensional character favored by so many publishers these days, Mina is a young woman who has yet to find her place in life.  She is moderately educated, foreign to many American ways, gullible, and has a wonderful sense of the ridiculous.

Here is a beautiful 30 second book trailer for the Mina's Adventures series:

The Mina Calvi books are not quick, one-day reads, about one-dimensional characters playacting to formulaic conventions.  The books are entertainingly realistic romantic-adventure stories, with mystery and suspense, featuring a complex, growing character, who reacts with realistic human strength and weakness to her unusual situations. 

Mina's humor is a real plus to this traditionally written, third-person narrated, romantic-adventure series.  Her unpredictable reactions bring a spontaneity to the story, keeping us guessing about what will happen next, and what Mina will do or say next.

I have read and enjoyed all the books in The Mina's Adventures Series:

1. Love Thy Sister
2. Bosom Bodies
3. Italian Summer
4. Ashes of Autumn
5. A Cat to Die For

Love Thy Sister - Book One

Love Thy Sister, set in 1989, introduces us to Mina, a young woman with a sharp sense of humor, and a playful, direct, spontaneous, even flighty character.

She had been barely sixteen with little knowledge of English when she had arrived in Southern California.

She was almost twenty-three and although older, as the saying goes, she wasn't much wiser.

Ideas, the one thing she had abbondanza of.  And dreams, yes, dreams, too.

We learn that Mina grew up in Italy's Veneto region, and her evocative memories of her life there ring true.  Also ringing true are Mina's favorite American discoveries, treats like milk shakes, doughnuts, muffins, cereal, and delicious peanut butter.

We follow the events through Mina's eyes, being confused with her, getting only small pieces of information at a time, and having to piece them together.

There is lots of fun banter between Mina and her sister, Paola, at the beginning of the book.  Being California, there is lots of driving around throughout the book.  And at the end of the book, all the loose ends are tied up nicely.

Bosom Bodies - Book Two

We pick up Mina's life over one year later in Bosom Bodies.  The author quickly catches us up on Mina's history, and reacquaints us with Mina's appreciation of American quirks, and with Mina's self-deprecating sense of humor.

Mina walked around her car and, sure enough, it was the front tire, passenger side-as flat as her chest beneath the padding.

But after the events of the first book, Mina has grown into a bored, lonely, lost soul, a young woman who has prematurely had to face the darker aspects of the world.  In Bosom Bodies, Mina is once again caught up in adventures she only half understands.  Bit by bit, the pieces fall into place.

A new man enters Mina's life in this second book, and he returns in the third and fourth books in the series:  Diego.  Shunning the stereotypical, cookie-cutter men who populate so many books these days, and grace their covers, the author creates in Diego a realistic man. 

Diego is not six-foot-plus with a chiseled jaw, blond hair, a cool character, and a propensity for losing his shirt, exposing his six-pack.  Diego is average to below-average height with dark coloring and heavy features.  He is observant, agile, witty, sly, secretive, deceptive, and an ever-present force in Mina's turbulent life.  Diego is one more thing:

The man was more temperamental than she was.  Not an easy feat.

Mina feels a primal connection with Diego, a link that goes to her soul.  But the man:

...scared and fascinated her at the same time...

Mina has a knack for finding herself in odd situations, often.  Her unpredictable nature means that no matter how attentive her loyal friends are, Mina will, entertainingly, manage to mess up their plans to keep her safe.

All the loose ends of the mystery are tied up in the end, but the Diego story continues to the next book in the series, Italian Summer.

 

Italian Summer - Book Three

The author quickly brings the reader up to speed with the events of the previous books in the series, so I would advise readers to read the books in sequence, to avoid spoilers.

Two years after the end of the previous book, Mina returns to her native Italy for a summer vacation.  Not having been there, in the Veneto region, since she was sixteen, Mina must rediscover many facets of Italy's culture all over again, or for the first time, as an adult.

After her many adventures in the first two books in the series, Mina's naturally boisterous character has been subdued.  She is shyer, more reserved than before, and something of a loner.  Her few loyal friends in The States are often on her mind, her anchor to the tenuous life she has built for herself in America. 

Mina is also painfully, dangerously insecure now.  Her insecurity and inexperience with men gave me my biggest upset while reading Italian Summer.  Her credulity and her un-safe sex habits had me cringing.

Small town life in northern Italy is not a good fit for Mina, a young woman who is by now more American than Italian.  She goes about casually dressed, talking to strangers, accepting dates with near strangers, and not understanding even the basics like how to do her shopping.  At one point, Mina wonders:

Maybe she should change her return flight and get the hell out of there [Italy], go back to California.  That was her real home now.  She had to come all the way here to find that out?The author gives Mina a mother-figure in Italian Summer, who is a lovely addition to the story, and who gives Mina a chance to learn a bit more about her own past.

The story is wrapped up at the end, and Mina returns to California, where her next adventure happens only a few months later.  

Ashes of Autumn  - Book 4

The writer of this engaging romantic suspense series keeps us guessing about Mina's fate, and the fate of her odd relationship with Diego, whom Mina met in Book 2.  Diego was in Mina's life in Book 3, also. 

Mina, a young woman who has faced more heartache than most young women, has a secret lover in Book 4.  Diego's unusual and dangerous profession means that he is not allowed to have any lovers, so he must keep Mina a secret.  Mina is besotted with Diego:

Anything and everything made her think about him.  He was so much a part of her, embedded in her soul.

But then things go wrong, and Diego's dangerous life rubs off on Mina's life, and on Mina's friends' lives.

Mina Calvi remains the same Italian immigrant to America who is in love with American expressions and some American foods, like peanut butter.  She is also full of questions, always, seeking to understand her new world and new culture, and the odd things that she becomes involved with.  Her friends know her well:

Oh, here we go, firing questions right and left.  I sort of missed that part.

As with all the Mina books, there is a very strong sense of place, with restaurants, highways and other landmarks mentioned in the book that is set in Southern California.  Mina's unpredictable life finds her unintentionally entering into dangerous adventures.  So far she has survived, but her heart is another matter.

A Cat to Die For  -  Book 5

From the book's description:  Mina Calvi's new Furry Friends Foundation is a dream come true for the formerly footloose young woman. Her no-kill shelter rescues and places dogs and cats into new forever homes, and it gives Mina a purpose in life.

But changes are looming on a perfect Sunday afternoon at the Dana Point Marina where she is minding the adoption booth.

A Greek heiress, young, petite and beautiful, shows up on the arm of the love of Mina's life, Diego Moran. And worse, she wants to adopt Mina's calico cat, Houdini. The spoiled woman will not take no for an answer. Why is she so insistent on getting Houdini when she already owns a look-alike cat?

When Houdini is cat-napped, the cat-sitter murdered, and the ransom demand sent to the heiress, Mina has to keep her wits about her to get her beloved cat home safely, and to keep her heart from getting broken again by Diego, who inexplicably pops up at every turn of the unfolding drama.

Here are direct links to the Mina's Adventure Series books at Amazon.com:

The author has another mystery series that features an Italian immigrant to the U.S., The Lella York Mysteries Series.  I have a review of the first book in the series on this site:  Murder Under the Italian Moon
And my review of the second book in the series is here, too:  Death Under the Venice Moon.

Here is a beautiful 30 second book trailer for the Lella York Mysteries series:

Please visit the author's website and Facebook Page.

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.

Murder under the Italian Moon by Maria Grazia Swan

Murder Under the Italian Moon (also published as Gemini Moon) is the first book in the Lella York Mysteries. Lella, short for Donatella, is Italian-born but has lived in The States for twenty-five years with her American husband Nick, until his death four years earlier.  Despite her many years in the U.S., Lella is all Italian-woman-of-a-certain-age, adding a very Italian flavor to this story.

Here is beautiful 30 second book trailer for the Lella York Mysteries series:

At the end of her annual trip to Florence, Lella has an unsettling experience.  From that point onward, the unsettling experiences continue, broken only by the comforting company of a certain, handsome, retired Homicide detective, Larry Devlin.  Here is Lella describing how she feels, halfway through the book:

I felt clueless and nervous--pretty much the same way I'd been feeling ever since I came back from Italy.

The book's new cover reminds me of the classic Italian product posters by artist Marcello Dudovich so I will illustrate this page with them

Larry, a ladies man, is quite taken with Lella, to her bewilderment.  She overhears him speaking with a former colleague from the police force:

I walked away and overheard Larry say, "She's Italian."  He sounded pretty pleased with that statement.  I wasn't sure if it was because he'd never met an Italian woman before of if he liked Italians in general.  Either way, I decided to take it as a compliment.

The beginning of the book, in Florence, Italy, is very evocative, with wonderfully accurate descriptions of Florence around the Ponte Vecchio, the Old Bridge.  The story then moves to Southern California, where the setting is just as convincingly conveyed.  I requested a review-copy of this book because of the initial setting, but mainly because the protagonist is Italian.

Lella, the protagonist, recounts in a first person narrative the story along with flashbacks to her life with and without her husband, Nick.  Lella is a woman who has been a rather passive passenger on life's journey up to this point in her life.

I felt frustration, at times, at Lella's passivity, but then I realized that it is precisely that passivity that is key to the events happening.  It is also what Lella learns about herself, and tries to change.  She laments at one point:

Why can't relationships come with an instruction manual for unsophisticated adults like me?

And at another time:

I couldn't handle emotions, and at the moment emotions ruled every aspect of my life.  Better learn how to deal with it.  In a hurry.

Lella's Italian upbringing is a major force in her dealings with her husband, friends, son, and the police and lawyers.  They find her puzzling, endearing, awkward, emotional, passionate and moody, but they also feel protective of her.  She may have lived in the U.S. for twenty-five years, but she is still a fish-out-of-water in so many ways, even seeming ditzy at times.  You can take the woman out of Italy, but you can't take Italy out of the woman!

The book has received a prestigious HOLT Award of Merit

From the Virginia Romance Writers

  
  Murder Under the Italian Moon (as Gemini Moon) was also a top ten finalist in the reader nominated best Indie Books awards sponsored by IndieReCon.

Murder Under the Italian Moon is suspenseful, well-written, well-edited, and it builds very nicely, and very quickly since the book is about 185 pages long.  I found the book to be a smooth, compulsive, can't-put-it-down kind of read, almost like a dream/nightmare that won't stop.  The writing pulls you forward.  It is easy to imagine the story filmed, with an attractive, mature actress playing Lella, a woman with many life experiences behind her, and many more interesting experiences to come.

From the book's description:

When Lella York went vacationing in Italy, she never imagined the mess she'd come home to. Upon her return her best friend, Ruby, is missing, Ruby's husband is dead, and suddenly the police have more questions for Lella than answers...especially one sexy veteran detective whose attentions have Lella's hormones dancing a tarantella.

But is his interest in Lella genuine, or does he have a more sinister agenda? Lella is determined to find out. But when she takes it upon herself to find the elusive Ruby, Lella's past and present collide, unearthing more secrets than she could have imagined lay buried in her sleepy town.

From Florence, Italy to the sunny coast of California, Lella uncovers a web of lies that will change her life forever...if she can get out of it alive.

Lela York is the protagonist of a proposed series of romantic mysteries:

1. Murder Under the Italian Moon (also published as Gemini Moon)
2. Death Under the Venice Moon (reviewed on this site)
3. Murder Under a Desert Moon

Murder Under the Italian Moon and the Lella York Mysteries are published by Gemma Halliday Publishing, a small publishing house that specializes in romantic mystery series.

We are a boutique publisher of light-hearted mystery, romantic suspense and romantic comedy novels, perfect for popping into your beach bag for a weekend away or cozying up beside a warm fire for a quiet night in.

 Direct link to the Murder Under the Italian Moon author's page

Here is a direct link to Murder Under the Italian Moon at Amazon.com, where it is available as a Kindle e-book and a paperback book:

Visit the author's website and blog, and her Facebook Page.

The book's new title is a bit deceptive.  Only the first scenes take place in Italy.  They are very evocatively described, and most happen on the Old Bridge, the Ponte Vecchio.  Here is two minute video postcard of Florence, Italy.

The author, Maria Grazia Swan, has another series that features an Italian woman who has moved to the U.S., The Mina Calvi Adventures series (reviewed on this site).  There are four books so far, available both as Kindle e-books and as paperbacks.

Here is a beautiful 30 second book trailer for the Mina's Adventures series:

 

Here are direct links to the books at Amazon.com:

This review is by Candida Martinelli, of Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site, and the author of the cozy-murder-mystery novel AN EXTRA VIRGIN PRESSING MURDER, and the young-adult/adult mystery novel series THE VIOLET STRANGE MYSTERIES the first book of which is VIOLET'S PROBLEM.