Customer Reviews

From Italy with Love: The Lure of Capri/An Open Door/To Florence with Love/Roman Holiday (Inspirational Romance Collection)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you?ve ever wanted to visit Italy, here is one way to do it without the expense. Travel to Milan, Capri, Florence, and Rome with four young women who go to Italy as a result of a letter sent to each of them. Experience all the old world beauty and history through their eyes as they follow a destiny planned for them before they were born. In An Open Door, an Italian-American, Steffi Rosetti meets the love of her life in Milan. An American named Paul DiAngelo. Terri Donatelli is drawn to Capri in The Lure of Capri, leaving behind Ryan, a fellow professor and comfortable companion. When she discovers that Ryan is also in Capri, she is dismayed, but God has more in mind for the two of them than they know. Follow the development of their relationship and see that God knows what is best for each of us. Florence Celini has lived a lie as the actress Samantha Day. She has lost her roots in more ways than one. To Florence with Love tells the story of her journey back to her own unique identity. Domenico Ferretti helps her find the way to forgive herself and her grandfather. Emily Cain goes on a Roman Holiday. There she meets Nick Fellini, the man her grandmother had always hoped she would marry. Follow their rocky road to love and happiness.

Prepare to spend the whole evening with this intriguing volume of four novellas set in different Italian locales. The romance is fulfilling, the plots intricate and well-woven, the settings to sigh for, as four heroines are led by letters from the past into challenges and adventure in the present. An expert and excellent job from these multi-published authors.

Magazine writer Steffi Rosetti travels to Italy to cover a high profile fashion event--and to reluctantly pursue a quest into her past. Her work throws her together with impatient fellow American Paul DiAngelo, and a bad beginning for the relationship develops into a supportive friendship. When Paul seeks "An Open Door" to love, can Steffi overcome her childhood fears to find God's direction for her life--and her heart? The scenes in Gail Gaymer Martin's novella are believably driven by the characters' dominant traits. Her attractive descriptions of Milan and Venice eschew a static travelogue by keeping the characters in the forefront.

Dynamic college professor Terri Donatelli, fuelled by dreams of her late Italian great-grandmother's tragic love affair, leaves her "boring" boyfriend Ryan Stevens behind for "The Lure of Capri." When Ryan shows up on the island--taking a one-man honeymoon he'd secretly planned for them as a couple--conflicting tourist itineraries and hidden intentions of the heart turn Terri's vacation getaway into an emotional roller coaster ride. DiAnn Mills skillfully pens a novella layered with the realistic, inherent difficulties of an "opposites attract" relationship on the rocky road to true love.

Florence Celini sheds her internationally famous Hollywood starlet identity to travel to the Italian city of her namesake to meet her estranged grandfather. Recovering from a heart broken by deception, successful lawyer Domenico Ferretti is more than happy to grant his good friend and client's request to tour the beautiful American through his native city. But when he discovers her secret, will he still accept the gift of her heart, marked, "From Florence, With Love"? Melanie Panagiotopoulos's novella emphasizes the healing power of asking for forgiveness and the transformative power of Colossians 3:12-14.

Adrift after a broken engagement and the death of her beloved grandmother, Emily Cain accepts a longtime family acquaintance's invitation for a "Roman Holiday," but faces a cool reception from her host's suspicious grandson. History professor Nick Fellini wants nothing to do with his grandmother's matchmaking scheme, but can't ignore his attraction to the troubled American tourist when she tags along on student field trips. Her discovery of his secret nighttime excursions into a dangerous district of the city draws them closer together, but a guilty vow from the past threatens to tear them apart forever. Lois Richer scores on all counts in this novella, deftly utilizing the famous setting to impact the characters' internal journeys. The hero and heroine suffer the pain from their pasts with dignity, earning the reader's respect along with sympathy.

Also recommended: historical romance anthology TO CATCH A THIEF, by Carol Cox, Lisa Harris, DiAnn Mills, & Kathleen Y'Barbo.

The descriptions of the island of Capri and surrounding areas made me want to get on a plane and see them for myself.
The story is of a lost love, or is it fantasy? DiAnn weaves a tale of fantasy and reality as a young woman looks for her true love. She grows in her faith and sees how she needs to turn her life over to God and strive to live in His will and for Him. Then her life will finally be on track.

"From Italy with Love' contains four novellas, each portraying different cities in Italy. The history lessons are great and of course what better place than Italy for romance. Each heroine found love and most importantly a greater relationship with God. In "The Lure of Capri," Ryan and terri were both able to grow and the proposal was one othe most romantic I've read. I am ready to get out my learn Italian cd.

This book was great to read, but some parts were too religious and frustrating because they seemed very unrealistic. I'm a Christian woman, but it seemed as if the authors, also Christian women, were encouraging other women readers to submit to men. One chapter talked about a woman who tried to get away from her boyfriend by going to Italy, but he followed her and stalked her when she was there. The author romanticized this and made it seem as if this were "romantic", when in reality, he was smothering her and should have respected her and given her privacy to go to Italy on her own with friends and enjoy life.

if you are not into "Christian Literature" this book is not for you.