This romantic suspense novel draws on Italy's World War II
past to explain some mysteries in the present.The two main protagonists, the man and woman who come to find they are a
perfect match, are opera singers:a
bass, and a mezzo-soprano.
There are other interesting characters, all in Italy, where
the woman goes to compete in a voice competition that she hopes will launch her
career.Florence and Milan play major
parts in the story, one being where the woman's ancestors live, and the latter
being where the man lives near his family.
The book is written in British-English and the female
protagonist is Anglo-Italian.There are
some scanning errors that are sure to be weeded out soon, as the e-book was
created from the print edition that was first released in 1995.The narrative voice is 3rd person limited,
putting us in the head of only one character per section.
The story moves back and forth between 1944 and 1995 with
ease and skill.And the author expertly weaves
together the various strands of the story, and all her characters, to unravel a
mystery from the past, that helps bring two lonely people together in the
present. There is one heated sex scene, but nothing explicit.
This is a romantic suspense novel, so expect an investigation
of a mystery, danger and romance.There
are bad guys and good guys, and it is not really clear until the end which are
which.The Italian characters and
Italian setting should appeal to Italophiles, and both ring true.
From the book's description:
There has always been a mystery in Julia Rochfort's family. Who killed
her grandfather Guy, a member of the Italian resistance movement in
World War Two? When Julia travels to Florence to compete in a singing
competition, she meets Roberto Padovano, already an established opera
star, and they discover that they have a lot more in common than simple
attraction.
This murder mystery suspense novel transports the reader to
present-day Lipari, one of the volcanic islands off the north coast of
Sicily.By the end of the book, this
reader felt as if she'd been to Lipari with the protagonist, and had actually
met all of the local characters he'd met.I found it to be a wonderful escapist tale, full of mysteries,
discoveries and atmosphere.
One short chapter in the beginning (there are many short
chapters, by the way) sets the stage for the events in the present, by
presenting a life-changing event in the past, suffered by a man from Lipari, an
ancestor of the book's protagonist.Learning more about that ancestor, pushes Ric, and Anglo-Italian, to undertake his journey
to first Corsica (in the previous Ric book, Mazzeri), and now to Lipari.
Both the past and present in Italy are portrayed
realistically, with a sharp eye for history and character and how the two can
shape each other.The mysteries come
quickly at the beginning of the novel, then the author unravels them carefully
throughout the text, along with a few more mysteries along the way.
What happened to Ric's ancestor?Why is Ric suffering a form of PTSD?What happened in Corsica, and who is the
mysterious woman he pines for (if you haven't read Mazzeri)?And then there is the murder, which is
presented in a very unique way, soon after an erupting volcano jolts Ric awake.
The text is dotted with Italian words, adding
verisimilitude.The characters are each
distinct, but not exaggerated into caricatures.The dialog is well done.There
are action scenes and some in-scene violence.The present tense, which is used quite often these days, brings the
story forward in time, creating a feeling of immediacy. And we
get into Ric's head via the 3rd person limited narration.
The beginning is especially fun, since the author very
convincingly puts us aboard a sailboat that traverses the waters between Sardinia
and Sicily, a route traveled since antiquity in a very similar manner.
Ric unfurls the Genoa and hauls up the mainsail.The breeze through the islands is even and
holds enough weight for three or perhaps four knots.He grabs a bottle of water from the cabin and
swings the helm over to port:the
promise of a square meal in Lipari appeals.
The author brings the reader to Lipari, introduces him,
along with Ric, to many locals, then leads us all on a winding trail to
resolutions of the mysteries.The
pictures the author paints with his words are vivid and memorable.This murder mystery novel is a wonderful
escapist tale for any Italophile.
From the book's description (some spoilers):
Richard Ross rubs his fingers over his scalp. His eyes sting from the
salt and the hours of concentration and his ears buzz with silence. He
can hear someone shouting. No, not one man, but two. They are arguing in
Italian and their argument develops an angry, threatening edge. One of
the men begins to scream and plead, “No, per favore, no, Ci–”, followed
by a muffled choking and scuffling of feet. And then, silence: both
profound and chilling, and pressed beneath the enormous weight of the
fog.
Arriving on the unspoiled island of Lipari, off the coast of Sicily,
Ric Ross carries with him a letter of introduction to Valeria
Vaccariello, an aging star of Italian cinema who lives alone in the
House of Strangers; a woman known locally as la strega – the witch. Ric
is also befriended by Il Velaccino, a sailmaker who seems to know
everyone and everything that goes on in the island. But when a
politician is shot dead, Ric’s search for his family’s history soon
grows into a quest to prove his innocence...
Ontreto is a contemporary crime thriller, told through the eyes of a
young man who comes to the island of Lipari in search of his forebears.
It is the standalone follow-up to Peter Crawley’s first novel, Mazzeri.
Here is a direct link to the two Ric books at Amazon.com:
And here is a short interview with the author about his book Mazzeri:
The Romantic Suspense genre can vary quite a bit in
content:a bit of suspense and lots of
romance, lots of suspense and a bit of romance, and somewhere in between.When these books are set in
Italy, there is generally lots of Italy, and lots of American and English women swooning over Italian
men.The protagonist of these novels is invariably a
fragile English-speaking woman who is in Italy, in trouble, and who is bowled
over by a hunky Italian, usually someone with law-enforcement.
Morning Colors promised to be something a bit different than
the usual, which is why I read it.The
protagonist is a highly capable and distinguished Navy Chief, Samantha
Logan.She comes in contact with the
Italian police because she saves a man's life in Venice after he is stabbed by
a stranger.Samantha butts heads and
egos throughout the book with the head of the Venice police detectives.
All this combativeness is refreshingly different from other romantic
suspense books set in Italy.For
Samantha:
It was more familiar to be in charge, to direct rather
than to be directed.
She is tough and successful in the Navy but recognizes that:
Women were quickly accepted if they were good at their
jobs, but mediocrity was not even remotely acceptable.
One aspect of Morning Colors does conform to one standard
feature of this genre, however:both
Samantha and her love interest are incredibly hot, and they are both
continually mentioning how hot the other one is, and they are unable to stop
being interested in each other because of this hotness.I could have done without all that
superficiality.The characters were
interesting enough not to have to be super-models for me to care about their
growing relationship.
Samantha finds Italy and the Italian policeman she must deal with so different
from what she is used to that she begins to see them as unreal.She thinks of the policeman at one point as:
...just a member of the cast of a very weird play she
had found herself wrapped up in.
And of Italy and Italians:
...a fairy tale place with fairy tale people.
She does notice that:
Physical contact in Italy, just as on the ship, was
inevitable.
And she was:
...impressed with the small touches of class that
seemed to permeate every aspect of this intriguing society.
She learns quickly to love the Italian language.
The melodious language wrapped itself around her heart
and touched her soul in a way that felt like...home.
The construction of the book is solid, the characters okay,
the prose style fine, a third-person limited in Samantha's head.There are too many typos, however.54 by my count, and I sent a list of them to the
author, but they have yet to be fixed.The momentum of the story dips a bit when the couple moves
to the man's vineyard.
Yes, the police chief's family has a vineyard, and I
know that has been done too much in these sorts of books. But what can I say? Vineyards are nice.
The story picks up again after the vineyard scenes and has a very
satisfying last third and a wonderful ending.
The best parts of the book for me were when the author stuck
to her specialty:the Navy and
boats.The author is retired from the U.S.
Navy, so when she writes about her protagonist's life aboard the crowded ship,
everything rings true, and brings us into a world that one rarely sees in this
genre novel. Here is the author on the close quarters of ship-board living:
She often thought moving around on the ships was like
the old pocket puzzle game she had played as a child, sliding one square up to
move another over.
The title of the book is very clever; it has multiple meanings, one of which is the
raising of the U.S. flag by the service members in the morning, and saluting
it, called raising the morning colors.The other meaning I will leave to the reader to discover.Along with Samantha's back-story, it is
interesting and unique and actually quite believable.
From the book's description:
Beautiful and driven Navy Chief Samantha Logan is at a
decision point in her career and her life.
Her unexpected and somewhat reluctant arrival in a magical foreign sea port
promises a week-long break for some long overdue rest and relaxation. Her plans
are shattered from the moment she sets foot on the pier in Venice. A crime
committed within arms reach leaves her fighting to save a life, save herself
and her reputation. An instant of violence, will sweep her into the center of a
storm of espionage, intrigue and fear.
Her already uncertain future is complicated
by the handsome Chief of the Carbinieri police. They are joined in a struggle
which forces her face to face with her own fears, her indecision and the pain
of her shattered past. Samantha will have to fight to survive, draw on every
bit of her intellect, training and experience if she is to overcome the
harrowing events to come.
An Anglo-Italian, Elena Lewis, is the protagonist of the sci-fi-thriller The Borderliners Trilogy. Split Symmetry is the second book in the 3-book series. It is set in Italy on Gran Sasso, the mountain peak that rises above the Apennines mountain range. Thriller, adventure, a bit of romance and lots of science with a bit of fantasy thrown in for fun, makes Split Symmetry an entertaining read.
We begin with our protagonist, 32-year-old Elena Lewis, an
Anglo-Italian psychotherapist, who is in Italy's Abruzzo region. We quickly get the
fist mention of the "split spectrum" which is at the very center of
the Gran Sasso mountain range, where Elena and her hiking-for-charity group are
heading.We are informed that particle
physicists have a laboratory under the mountain range's largest peak.The stage is set, and there is a clear
feeling of dread.
Elena is a complex character, introduced in the first book in the series,
Borderliners.We get a quick
summary of her previous adventure, and a mention of Elena's ability to see into
the future, and possibly to summon up spirits from the past.Elena is described as "a Marmite person",
someone people either love or hate, just like the yeasty British spread,
Marmite. She is strong, controlled, reticent, professional, and seemingly cold to people who don't know her.
The story follows the hikers on the mountain, and the
scientists under the mountain in the National Laboratories.The Italian scientists pride themselves on
their very-Italian "unconventional methods and original thinking".They are hoping for a ground-breaking
discovery that day, having to do with fluctuations in time.There are also hints that their experiments
may have caused some recent earthquakes along the two fault lines that run near
them.More interesting stage-setting!
The entrance to the Gran Sasso laboratories. Yes, they do exist!
The author moves us between the perspectives of a small group of characters to tell the story,
which takes place all in one day.This is an
effective way of letting us inside the heads of key characters, and of giving
us a front row seat as the two storylines intersect, twisting reality.We are allowed to see how the odd events on the mountain are a trigger for the characters to reflect on their pasts.
Here is Elena contemplating the oddities the hikers find on the mountain:
It was as if she were looking across timelines through
distorted mirrors to versions of herself which weren't there.Just like life, reality shifted and twisted
out of her grasp, as if to show her how little she knew and how small she was.Mother nature was laughing at her.
The descriptions are very cinematic, bringing to the mind's
eye images of the mountain, the quickly changing weather, the glimpses of
climbers, the landslides.The adventure
is greater than a mountain-climbing adventure, which is exciting in its own
right.There are the earthquakes, the
odd weather patterns, and the ripples in time for the climbers to deal
with.
Little wonder that they sometimes look for
reasons for their suffering, wondering if fate really exists, and questioning
why they have to suffer. Elena has another element to struggle with:her visions of the future.She must continually question the odd things
she sees, trying to determine if they are in the here and now.She deals daily with ripples in time.
The author's prose is very descriptive, and explains not
just the actions and events, but much more. Like this quote as the hikers are struggling against a storm in the night:
...the wind threw them down and rolled them across the
ground like rag dolls.They were like
the hollow men, no longer meaningful in this strange, new world; their souls, so
definite and defined only moments before, now ripped to shreds and cast away
into the gusting wind.
The author calls her book "a metaphysical thriller",
which is a good description, but I call the book an "adventure".Even if you took away all the sci-fi and
paranormal elements, the adventure story would still make a very entertaining book.
It is well-written and well-edited, with a striking cover. Indie publishing at its best!
If you enjoy programs like The Twilight
Zone, Lost, X-Files, and Stephen King novels, you should enjoy this novel.It is moody, atmospheric, and full of scary
situations and trippy science such as "the wilder possibilities of quantum
mechanics".It is a thrilling adventure with science and fiction combined expertly to create a cinematic mind-bender. I enjoyed it!
The books in The Borderliners Trilogy:
Borderliners
Split Symmetry
WorldCult
This short video zooms in on hikers on Gran Sasso in the most unbelievable locations. The moody music makes it feel like a trailer for Split Symmetry:
From the book's description:
Every decision, every step of the way...changes reality
It's 2015 in the notorious Gran Sasso mountain range of central Italy. Quantum physicists in a lab beneath the ground begin an illegal
experiment. A landslide hits and a hiking group is stranded.
When Dr Elena Lewis takes a group of friends on a charity hike in the Italian
Apennine mountains the presence on the trip of her estranged patient, James,
unsettles her from the start. But as the hike progresses and the weather closes
in, she finds this is only the beginning of her problems.
Book #2 of the best-selling Borderliners series, this other-worldly adventure
which will keep you turning the pages to the very end!
Here is the description of first book in the series, Borderliners:
A girl is found dead in a notorious New Age shop on the
edge of the woods.
A Tarot card reading and a dream diary contain hidden warnings.
A man is watching from the shadows of his room.
When she moves to a village in the English heartland to set up a new
psychotherapy practice, Dr Elena Lewis notices strange patterns of behaviour
among the villagers. After a young woman is found dead, Elena is left in
possession of a diary. What she reads there leads her to the door of her Julia,
the leader of a group known locally as the Charismatic Community.
As she investigates further, Elena meets a curious visitor to the village. He
has a message for her, but in order to decipher it, she look beneath the surface
and trust in her abilities to see what others cannot.
In this page-turning thriller, Elena Lewis is thrown into a fight with unknown
forces which bring her face to face with her deepest fears.
Here are direct links to the series books at Amazon.com, including the 3-book e-bundle:
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:
Love Thy Sister
Bosom Bodies
Italian Summer
Ashes of Autumn
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:
Murder, Mi Amore, a romantic suspense novel, begins with the
protagonist, Lexie, an Italian-American woman, who is shopping in Rome,
Italy.We learn that Lexie:
...wasn't ordinary any more.Not since she'd come to Rome.And
now she had a new handbag to go with her new attitude.In the past two weeks, the cautious and
always-do-what's-right-eager-to-please-everyone Lexie Cortese had become a
confident, take-charge woman.For all of
her twenty-eight years she'd done what others wanted--her parents, her
teachers, that louse Jerry.But no more.
Lexie makes her wishes here, and meets her mystery-man here
In the first few pages, the new Lexie meets a "Mr. GQ
Cover Model" with oodles of charm and an Italian accent that works like
foreplay.This modern romantic-suspense
novel, which I received as a review-copy, features the obligatory two hot twenty-somethings. It sets off on a quick
start and then religiously follows the requirements of the genre.
We get the mysterious/suspicious first meeting, the instant
physical attraction, the electrifying first touch.We even have the wounded woman seeking
recovery in Italy, and the jaded man who's been betrayed by a woman he loved.And the man is the invented, yet ubiquitous,
Interpol Agent; Interpol has no agents, only liaison officers who work in
offices.
The couple have an intimate moment in Rome's Pantheon
With all the usual pieces in place, the book progresses into
the plot-line, which is not exactly original, but it is well developed.Through the adventures, Lexie, of course,
very quickly wonders if her Mr. GQ's "promise in his eyes would
materialize into soul-shattering sex".
Lexie is rather shallow, she laments ditching her previous boyfriend because he later became a
doctor, missing her chance to be a doctor's wife, but her experiences in Italy might give her some needed depth.Lexie is also a late-bloomer, making
decisions about her future and her love-life for the first time only at the age
of twenty-eight.Lexie is also happy to
be protected by a big, strong man, who is destined to be her second and last lover
in her life.
Lexie goes with her mystery-man on a tour of Abruzzo, the region her grandparents came from in Italy, to their hometown of Ripa Teatina.
Here is a two-minute video-postcard of Abruzzo:
You'll find lots of "heat" and
"electricity" traveling around Lexie's body when she is near her Mr.
GQ, lots of sizzling attraction, lots of imaginings of her sex-filled secure
life with him, lots of trembling.And
there is one detailed sex-scene, with protected sex which is wonderfully
responsible.Mr. GQ's "potent
masculinity" is often on display, not just in the bedroom.
Here is the book's trailer featuring some VERY attractive people:
The book is written in simple English in a third-person
limited narration that switches between the two main characters' perspectives,
for the most part.The book is
well-edited. There is what looks like an odd error in the Italian in the book,Madone
for Madonna, but the author says it is an attempt to write a dialect version of the word.The title,
Murder, Mi Amore, is a mash-up of English, Spanish and Italian, but artistic license can excuse many things ;-) .The book is a solid entry
in the genre romantic-suspense-novel-set-in-Italy, with a strong sense of Italy throughout for a vicarious pleasure, and sizzling romance for the fun of it!
The couple have more than one run-in with the ubiquitous scooter in Rome
From the book's description (only read the first paragraph to avoid spoilers):
Murder, jewel thieves and terrorists intrude on an American
woman's Roman holiday; can she trust the sexy, mysterious Italian man who comes
to her aid?
2012 EPPIE Finalist for Best Romantic Suspense.
2012 Finalist in the Oklahoma Romance Writers First Annual
International Digital Awards
Lexie Cortese is in Rome to forget. The last thing she
expects is to meet a sexy Interpol agent who suspects her of being part of a
terrorist plot involving a stolen diamond. Suddenly thrust into a world of
murders, muggings, and kidnappings, Lexie doesn’t know what to think—or who to
believe.
Dominic Brioni’s assignment is simple. Befriend the American
and bring her to justice. Only Lexie seems the most unlikely terrorist Dominic
has ever met. Sweet, determined, and direct, she faces life with courage and
fire, a fire that sparks his protective instincts and a longing for something
more—something he allowed himself to hope for only once before.
But that woman betrayed him, and his boss isn’t about to let
him forget it. With his career on the line and Lexie in danger, will Dominic
learn to trust his heart before they both get killed?
Lexie does her best to look the part of the fashionable woman in Rome, designer handbag and all, with dangerous consequences
The book is available via Smashwords, an on-line e-book seller, that sells each book in various e-book formats:
The book is also available via Amazon.com as either a Kindle e-book or a paperback edition. Here are the direct links to Murder, Mi Amore:
Cara Marsi is the author of several romantic-suspense novels, and other genre novels. Many of her protagonists are hyphenated Italians, celebrating her own hyphenated Italian heritage. Here are direct links to several of them at Amazon.com:
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
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:
Murder Under the Italian Moon (also published as Gemini 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.
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:
