Acquire Today Bella Fortuna Penned By Rosanna Chiofalo Disseminated As EReader Version

thought this book had a lot of potential, It just did not quite get there, The story follows Valentina and every once in a while her mother Olivia, The changes in POV were a bit abrupt sometimes and definitely skewed as to how many pages each were given,of the story was from Valentina's POV while the rest was from Olivia's, It was an awkward amount which I think ended up detracting more than helping, I think Olivia's story would work better as its own separate story,

I didn't mind this story up until almost the end, and then it was ruined, Those who have read it probably know the scene I am talking about, I literally had to stop reading and decide if I could finish the book because I was so weirded out by what had just occurred, I only had aboutpages left so I went ahead and finished it,

I think the story line of this novel was good, There was love, loss, surprise, hate, friendship, The writing style just did not do it for me, There were too many unnecessary details, and I wish I had been shown rather than told everything flat out, Overall, it was not terrible, but could definitely been better without that one scene, Bella Fortuna by Rosanna Chiofalo


Valentina DeLuca has made hundreds of brides' dreams come true, At Sposa Rosa, the Astoria, New York, boutique where she, her sisters, and their mother design and sew couture knockoff gowns, she can find the perfect style for even the most demanding customer.
Now, it's her turn. Valentina has loved Michael Carello ever since he rescued her from a cranky shopkeeper when she was ten years old, He's handsome, chivalrous, and loyal, And in a few weeks, she's going to marry himin Venice,

But just when she thinks everything is falling into place, Valentina is forced to reexamine her life to see what truly makes her happy, And as she soon learns, in a place as magical as Venice, what seems like misfortune can turn out to be anything but, although who knows what may be waiting around the next corner The chance to enjoy a moonlit gondola ride, to sip Prosecco in St.
Mark's Square, to eat mouthwatering gelato, to put aside "sensible" for once and see where the warm Italian breezes guide her as she visits all the sights she's dreamed of: The Doge's Palace, Il Rialto, the little islands of Murano and Burano.
And maybe, along the way, to discover that bella fortunagood luckisn't what you're given, but what you make,
My
I absolutely loved this book, I think the reason why it took me so long to finish it is because I never wanted the story to end, The story of Valentina's life from her teens through her twenties was wonderfully written, I felt like part of her wonderful Italian family and was right along with her on her trip to Venice eating gelato along the way, If you like Adriana Trigiani's books you love this one as well, i just loved this book, the italian words, the dress shop, italy, . . it was hard to put down, This started out as an enjoyable read, But half way thru,it became a dud, The author went off on tangents that had nothing to do with the story,only seemed to fill pages, I couldn't wait to finish it, I spent enough time getting into the story and was not going to quit, Too many good books waiting for me to read, Insipid don't bother I only finished it because I'm a tightwad and I bought it before coming to Italy, Terrible.

My Sicilian heritage made me absolutely love this book! Valentina and her family and neighborhood friends were delightful and charming, For a debut novel, it is fantastic! Bella Fortuna by Rosana Chiofolo

ARC Supplied by Publisher

This was one of the most romantic books I have read so far this year.
It is not a novel that mistakes sex for romance in fact, there is only one sexual scene and it is hot without being vulgar, This is a debut novel and I see that the author still has some seasoning she needs to do, but for a first wow I cant wait to see what Ms Chiafalo will do for an encore!

This is a book of second chances, of close Italian American families, of love, friendship and enemies.
It is also a small peek into the bridal industry and the making of what should be the perfect gown, Set in the ethnic area of Astoria Queens New York, we follow a mother, Olivia, and daughter, Valentina, as they fall in love both the first time AND the second time.
The story mostly concentrates around Valentina and her upcoming wedding to Michael,

I will not bore you with my synopsis since the perfect one has already been written, I will tell you that Ms Chiofolo has managed to capture that bustling area perfectly and has written some of the most complex and likable characters that I have read in a long time.
She has also managed to capture the heartache that comes from losing the one you love to either death or deceit,

I love happy endings, and as romance readers, many of us are used to them and sometimes take them for granted, However in Ms Chiofolos novel I wasnt positive I was going to get a happy ending and I didnt even care, The story just captivated me and I would have went anywhere the author chose to take me without even a whimper,
I had higher hopes for this book than it was capable of delivering, unfortunately, With some strict editing it could have been salvaged, even if it does fall into the "girl disappointed in love, travels, finds herself and a new romance" trope.
As it is, there's way too much extraneous description and nonessential information about the characters clogging up the text, And despite the book prominently displaying an illustration of a Venetian scene on its cover, it takes a full/of the book to even get there and not even all of that final third is spent there.
Bella Fortuna by Rosanna Chiofalo
Through the years Valentina DeLuca, Italian and Christian has endured the neighbors and others and loves Michael but he's into others.
Years later when she's grown and is a wedding dress designer who is getting married to Michael we find out about her and his past histories having been raised in the same neighborhood.

Her sisters and mother are also in the sewing businessdifferent aspects of it, They are finally to be married in Italy and she's just finished her wedding dress, Tracy, who she thought would be her lifelong friend turns on her when they were teens and she gets back at her later in life for the betrayal.

The book also travels back to when their parents had first come to America and the fears and dreams as they lived their lifes on the streets of Greenwich Village and Astoria Park.
Lots of secrets over the years,
Love the talk of the design field and jaunts to Central Park, some cooking secrets, Italian phrased explained in English and the travel to Italywhoa! and the recipes at the end of the book.

Betrayal, cancer, travel, death, and love make this a really great book to read,
As an author, I rarely talk smack about books because I know how hard it is to not only write one but to get one published.
I hate having to do this because I am sure the author is a lovely person and it's heartbreaking to read negative reviews if she's smart she'll avoid them altogether But her acknowledgement "page" went on for pages.
She thanked everyone in the world, It was off putting. I got to pagebefore I had to put it down, She writes like english is not her first language, Her phrases are awkward. For example she says of NY "Probably nowhere else in the world will you encounter as many people from different ethnic, socioeconomic and religious backgroundswell, except for at an airport!" Clumsy.
Then she goes on to be completely racist as she talks about the Asian who runs a store she visits as a child and chides her with "She here every day.
Hide in back. Teenk I no see. I no idiuht. She never buy anyteeng. She steal. " Who does that It's like busking on the corner in blackface,
This author has been in the publishing industry for twenty years, I can only assume it's her connections that helped get this book published, Hey, all the more power to

her! It's hard to get published, But on a practical level, I would have to advise anyone who is interested in reading this book to get it at the library, If you pay for it, you may well be disappointed, Fun easy read, especially if you've ever been to Venice, Italy, I had just been so it was easy to imagine the main character strolling through the canal city, And it was a special treat when she visited Burano, also, which I also enjoyed on our recent Italy tour, The ending was hard to believe, but nice to think it could possibly happen, Wondering if I want to finish this book, . .

It was good until Valentina goes to Venice and runs into smarmy Stefano,
And then to describe him as a Rick Springfield lookalike! I thought she might be bringing him back to meet Aldo, or that she and Aldo, who is her best friend and knows her better than anyone else, might, after all, fall in love even though Aldo is gay.
Stranger things have happened, and it's a shame they didn't happen in this story,
I would have liked the story better if she had enjoyed Venice on her own, as a sort of sabbatical, and recovery from her failed wedding, clearing her mind and heart of Michael and going home with a clear head instead of being drawn in by a smarmy tour guide who has probably used his charms on other unsuspecting female tourists, and behaving like a loose woman herself in response to Stefano's stalkerlike behavior.
Valentina, ignoring the adviv Everything about this book was truly heartwarming, I especially loved the wonderful and sometimes crazy DeLuca family, They embodied their Italian heritage and I was able to feel right at home when they were together, I really love books like this that can really take on a culture and a heritage and portray it through the characters and their actions, Valentina was our main character and the DeLuca sister that was preparing for her wedding day, I was glad to learn that our author, Rosanna, is Italian herself and I often wondered, while reading, if any of the characters were based off of her own family!

I have always loved to read about weddings and I loved following Valentina as she planned for hers.
Not to mention she is having a destination wedding in, yep you guessed it, Italy! I was so thrilled when I learned this and I loved reading along as she made her wedding gown and prepared for a cake and everything else that goes along with any girls big day.
I also enjoyed it whenever her sisters were around, even though they only got on Valentinas last nerve, I felt by the time I had reached the end of the book that I deserved an invitation to this wedding!

I loved the romance in this book because it was not overdone.
I am not one to get all wrapped up in mushy gushy romances, but I love the more realistic ones, I felt like this book fit the latter category, This book really tugged on my emotions at times and I can honestly say that I am very pleased with Rosanna Chiofalos writing, I have read a few reviews in which it was critiqued negatively, I am quite the opposite, Every author has their own style and I try to embrace them all! I am very excited for her next book, I would recommend this book to anyone just for the Italian culture and an inside look at the dynamics of a crazy but loveable Italian family!

Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.