Customer Reviews

Julie and Romeo Get Lucky

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Julie and Romeo is a fast and light read which reunites the two families we first met in Jeanne Ray's debut book Julie and Romeo. Like all of Ms. Ray's suceeding book this one doesn't fail to deliver the reader a fun time with the two families who once arch rivals and enemies, now friends and lovers.

While Julie and Romeo maintain their own homes which are filled with their children, grandchildren and Romeo's mother, their love for one another is still as intenseas when they were in high school and met again years later.But then Romeo has a back injury cdarrying Julie up the stairs and is confined to Julie's upstairs bedroom. And As if that wasn't enough Julie's daughter is preganant and confined to bed rest and where does she choose to do this but in Julie's living room. And rounding out the family dynamics is Julie's grandaughter whose family also lives with and is not only obsessed with the movie from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory but the lottery as well.

What ensues is a wild and madcap comedy of large families getting along and not getting along. The ending is a pure delight and has you wondering if there will be a next book to find out what adventues and misadventures the clans have been up to. In the tradition of a zany Frank Capra movie, this is a perfect read for a lazy summer's day.

I really enjoyed this sequel, I think it is Ms. Ray's best book since she first introduced us to the characters in Julie and Romeo. Of course it could just be that I was so glad to be visiting these families again.

I won't go into the details of the story, the Amazon description does that quite well, but if you liked Julie and Romeo, you won't want to miss this one. I started reading and found I coudn't tear myself away until the end...I think Ms. Ray's readers are the "lucky" ones.

Julie Roseman's life is complicated enough with her daughter Sandy, her son-in-law, and her two grandkids living with her. But when her true love Romeo Cacciamani damages his back in an ill-advised attempt to carry her up the stairs, he winds up confined to her bed for an indefinite period since he cannot be moved. Then Julie's older daughter Nora arrives on the scene with her own medical problem and moves in, and the house becomes very crowded. Throw in granddaughter Sarah's obsession with Willie Wonka and with lottery tickets, add regular visits from Romeo's sizable Cacciamani clan, and total chaos ensues. With all this confusion, there's not much time left for minding the family florist business. Although the situation seems difficult, Julie finds that good luck comes in family-sized packages.

This is the typical feel-good Jeanne Ray story, where the bustle and domestic squabbles of a close-knit household test the strength of the most patient of mothers, and where the family is brought closer together through love and a mild, and almost humorous, crisis. Ray's stories almost have the feel of fairy tales, since they tend to have happily-ever-after endings. In this one, Lady Luck is a veritable fairy godmother. I didn't enjoy this book as much as its predecessor, "Julie and Romeo," perhaps because as a sequel it didn't have the novelty of the original. But it was still a quick and fun read - the kind that had me smiling as I closed the cover. It's a great beach book.

Eileen Rieback

In Somerville, Massachusetts Romeo Cacciamani and Julie Roseman were raised by their respective families to detest one another. The clans have been competitive florists; so each family member grew up loathing one another.

Both in their sixties and divorced from others, three years ago shockingly ROMEO AND JULIE GET LUCKY (see JULIE AND ROMEO) and fall in love with one another just as their children did. However, the older couple does not live together. Instead Julie's home includes her daughter, her son-in-law (Romeo's son) and her grandchildren while Romeo's is loaded with the family of his other son. When Romeo goes macho lifting Julie up a set of stairs, he injures his back. As she nurses her beloved back to health with the help of Father Al, their families continue to make demands on both of them, which they lovingly try to achieve.

This is a humorous novel that deeply explores relationships especially in extended families. The story line contains plenty of pathos, but also employs amusement so as not to overload the audience. Each of the members has unique personalities, but the tale belongs to the older couple finding one another while "mixing it with love that makes the world taste good" for their cherished descendents. Readers will feel lucky if they peruse this fine charming family drama.

Harriet Klausner

Author Jeanne Ray gave an interview in which she said that she planned to write only three books. I, for one, am glad she changed her mind and decided to write this fourth one. It is laugh-out-loud funny from beginning to end, yet it shows what real family is all about.

The book takes place three years after senior citizens Julie Roseman and Romeo Cacciamani fall in love, despite the objections of their feuding families. They are not yet married and they each live in their own homes with some of their children and grandchildren. One night when they find themselves miraculously alone, Romeo attempts to carry Julie up the stairs to the bedroom where he suffers an injured back. Julie's home becomes a 3-ring circus for the next several months with Romeo bed-ridden with a bad back and Julie's daughter coming to be taken care of before the birth of triplets. Julie's granddaughter adds to the chaos by her obsession with lottery tickets and the movie "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". This book is full of laughs and is highly recommended.

If you haven't already read JULIE AND ROMEO, get that and then surely read this continuing chapter in their lives!

Julie's dear Romeo carries her up the stairs and does a doozy, again, to his back! This sends him to bed for recovery and meanwhile the house gets another visitor, Julie's daughter, Nora, who is pregnant with triplets and also on bedrest. Julie's daughter, Sandy, who is married to Romeo's son, Tony, and their children live in the house as well. It makes for a busy place and there's always something on TV....WILLY WONKY AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY which is Sarah's favorite movie.

Sarah, 8, believes in the film and wishes for winning her own golden ticket. To find out if she does, read this wonderful little story. The ending is the best part in my opinion as it brings the story together nicely for a finish.

There's humor throughout and well-defined characters; I enjoy Ray's writing very much.

This book was fun to read and is a great antidote for those days when you are feeling over whelmed. No one's family could be as bad as this one, at least not every day, and yet you can feel the love that underpins it all. The lesson to be learned is to go hide out in the flower cooler, soak in the beauty, take a deep breath and head back into the fray.

Jeanne Ray has a unique ability to capture family life in all it's glory. Enjoy.

This author has proved to be one of my favorite of all time. Easy to read, fun and will have you laughing throughout the whole book. Maybe you can tell what is going to happen but they are so funny and cozy you can't put it down.

I mean can you picture a 63-year-old woman hiding in her OWN bedroom closet for fear of her boyfriend's mother?!?! I myself like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but know the rolling of the eyes when the movie is played over and over and over!!

Does parenthood ever really end? I mean, are we ever DONE? NO! When my children are grown, I look forward to having a house full of people with all the love that we have read in these books.

Can't wait for another book to come out!! It just can't end this way!!

Julie and Romeo Get Lucky by Jeanne Ray is the sequel to Julie and Romeo. Jeanne Ray's writing is so spot-on accurate, sometimes I swear she must be recording people in their home and then simply transcribing it! But she's so much funnier and sweeter than real life. Romeo throws out his back carrying Julie up her stairs and ends up an invalid in her bed. Nora, Julie's oldest daughter, is pregnant and on bed rest, so she moves home too. Sarah, Julie's granddaughter, is obsessed with Willie Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, and so the story goes from there. Julie can't grab a spare moment to herself when everything is falling apart. Ray has a unique talent for describing physical comedy that few writers can manage. I found myself laughing and gasping out loud at poor Romeo. I wish life was as sweet as it is in Ray's world, and I treasure the moments I get to spend there. Read her other books as well; they're all winners.

Who ever says that love after 60 is boring has never read a story about Julia and Romeo. They have quiet the story to tell and its never a dull moment for them since they each live with other family members.

In Julia and Romeo Get Lucky, the story opens with the couple trying to take advantage of an empty house and partake in a little afternoon tryst when Romeo throws out his back while carrying a scantily dressed Julie up the stairs. Due to the injury Romeo must stay in Julies house and bed until he has recovered.

Adding more confusion to the house, would be Julias daughter Nora who has been put on complete bedrest until her triplets have arrived.

Julie and Romeo Get Lucky is a light easy to read story about luck and love and is the perfect follow up to the original story about Julia and Romeo.