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I take my spot behind Luca and soon we’re racing down winding country roads through the breathtaking Italian countryside, with postcard-perfect sunflowers that carpet faraway fields. I have no other place to be, and no other person I’d rather be with.
Mia Moretti has always dreamed of becoming an artist. But after a fierce battle with a devastating illness that she is terrified will return, Mia is heartbroken to find herself unable to paint like she used to.
So when an opportunity to spend the summer in Italy presents itself, Mia jumps at the chance for a fresh start. She hopes that by travelling to the sun-drenched streets of Florence, surrounded by Tuscany’s rich green vineyards and sweeping hills, she will finally be able to heal.
What Mia doesn’t count on is meeting handsome local mechanic, Luca Bonnici. With his smouldering chestnut eyes, charming smile and irresistible joie de vivre, Mia can’t resist the invitation to jump on the back of his motorbike to the see the country she is already falling in love with. And as she slowly lets down her walls and opens her heart to Luca, Mia starts to fall in love with life again too.
But just when she is ready to let go of her past, tragedy strikes. Will Mia’s strength and her love for Luca be enough to save them, or will they lose each other forever?
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Review
Say you can create the most beautiful things and suddenly life happens. All your energy has to go to this battle and when you come on top, you are devasted once again. Your talent seems to have vanished. Your mind is filled with dark thoughts, which is totally understandable, and that seems to be the only thing your hands are able to recreate.
Besides that there is that all consuming fear for the future. What if you have to start this war all over again? Will you have the strength or will you have to give up?
You are not the only suffering, but you see the pain in the eyes of the people close to you. You see what it does to them and it hurts you deeply.
Maybe a change of scenery is what you need, for yourself and everyone around you and then you are offered the perfect opportunity to heal or try to do so.
Little by little you start climbing out of this dark pit and it’s all thanks to one person. Life is wonderful again until it’s not…
When you read this book, you feel like you don’t need to travel to Tuscany, because the author described everything so brilliantly. On the other hand though, it seduces you to go there and see, feel and smell it all for yourself. Maybee soon… 🙂
It’s a beautiful story where dark clouds and sunny skies alternate and your hearts breaks several times until it’s glued together until eternity. 5 stars
Thank you, Vanessa Carnevale and Bookouture
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About the author
Vanessa Carnevale is an Australian author of women’s fiction. She is also the host of Your Beautiful Writing Life retreats held in Tuscany and Australia.
Vanessa loves to travel, and spent several years living in Florence, Italy, a place she considers her second home. She lives in Australia with her husband and two children.
Her previous novels, THE MEMORIES OF US and THE FLORENTINE BRIDGE are published by HarperCollins and have been translated into German and Slovenian. Vanessa’s third novel will be published by Bookouture in August 2020.
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Author Links
websites: www.vanessacarnevale.com | www.yourbeautifulwritinglife.com
Twitter: v_carnevale
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Book Links
B for Bookreview 