Brava, Valentine

If you love a descriptive author who weaves her story with tradition, food and fashion, this is your kind of book. I may be rating this a little higher than normal because I am looking forward to a vacation in Tuscany this coming September I could envision the lovely countryside of Tuscany and Capri that she captures on paper with her use of familiar smells & vivid colors found in dreams. I enjoyed the story, even with the under-played relationships with the men in her life, and the over-played relationship with her Italian family.

It sounded like a great book. Woman takes over the family business, finds true love and grows up emotionally, all at age 35. But I found the book riddled with stereotypes and disappointing characters. --The loud, brash Italian family --The gay best friend who has fabulous fashion and decorating taste......more

None of Trigiani’s newer books has quite lived up to her original ‘Big Stone Gap’ trilogy for me. This latest offering, however, disappointed me the most. As this was the second book in a series, I’m familiar with and like the Roncalli / Angelini family, and their various friends and associates, but......more

Rating chick-lit is like rating the taste of water: it could technically be really bad, but it's never going to be totally life-changing and interesting. Yet, like water, you need it sometimes. But still, bland. This book is the second in a trilogy about an Italian family who owns the last mom-n-pop......more

The author does terrific job creating characters whom the reader cares about. I like that Valentine doesn’t have it all figured it, that she struggles with family, career, love and friends. Even the minor characters are real and well-drawn, from June, the fabric cutter to Roberta, the new-found cous......more