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Dark Harvest by Orna O'Reilly

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    Dark Harvest    By Orna O’Reilly SUMMARY The romantic canals of Venice and the sun-drenched olive groves of Puglia provide diverse Italian backdrops for this story of love and betrayal involving three very different women, toxic neighbours and two men with evil in mind. Claudia, a survivor of an abusive marriage, dares to love again, but her ex-husband's vengeful threats force her to choose between her heart and her loved one's safety. Will she find the courage to overcome her past traumas and embrace a new future? Meanwhile, Janet grapples with a choice between a luxurious lifestyle with her wealthy new lover or her independence. Can Olivia, a countess who lives in a grand palazzo in Venice, finally bring everyone together? In this engaging tale of love and betrayal, Dark Harvest is Orna O'Reilly's spectacular work of fiction, filled with drama, romance and suspense. MY REVIEW: The title ‘Dark Harvest’ gives little away about the plot until you re...
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The Girl From Sicily by Siobhan Daiko

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    The Girl From Sicily   By Siobhan Daiko    SUMMARY: Sicily, 1943:  Lucia and her twin brother Dinu have always been inseparable, but their bond is threatened when Gero, the son of close family friends in America, arrives in their village. Although she finds herself developing feelings for him, Lucia worries about Gero’s dangerous connections and their influence on her brother. As the chaos of World War II closes in, Lucia must navigate love and loyalty to make a difficult choice. Will she risk that the consequences of her decision could bring untold horrors and affect her family for decades to come? 2005:  When Jess inherits a baglio, an ancient feudal farmhouse in Sicily, from the grandmother she never knew, she’s determined to uncover the truth about her family’s hidden past. Following the death of her parents and on the brink of divorce, Jess travels to the island alone. There, with the help of a charming Sicilian, she embarks on a...
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An Italian Island Secret by Victoria Springfield

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    An Italian Island Secret By Victoria Springfield     SUMMARY: Escape to a beautiful Italian island with this wonderfully romantic story, threaded with secrets and intrigue. It’s time to return to Ischia.  Alessia knows her grandmother grew up on the beautiful Italian island off the coast of Naples. But Ornella seldom talks about her life there – or why she never went back. So Alessia is amazed when Ornella reveals that, in the months before she left Ischia, she had worked on the set of a famous 1950s movie filmed on the island. Is there a link between the film set and the tragic death of Ornella’s teenage sister? Ornella has kept her past – and the heart-wrenching promise she made – a secret for over sixty years. She has tried not to think about the love she gave up. But now, perhaps the truth should finally be revealed...Travelling to Ischia together, Alessia falls in love with the utterly captivating island. Meeting handsome journalist Robert...
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The Last Letter from Sicily by Lindsay Marie Morris

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    The Last Letter from Sicily by Lindsay Marie Morris SUMMARY: ‘My dearest Gaetano, if this letter reaches you, know that my heart remains under the Sicilian stars where we made our promise...’ Sicily, 1939. Seventeen-year-old Concetta has just received life-changing news: her family is leaving their sun-drenched Sicilian village and moving to America. Desperate to stay with her secret love Gaetano—a fisherman’s son her father would never accept—Concetta spends one last night with him beneath a blanket of stars. There, among the citrus-scented air and cricket song, he hands her a leaving gift: a fountain pen, with a promise to keep their love alive through letters – and return to each other one day. In America, Concetta refuses to let go of her dream of returning to Sicily, even as she struggles to navigate a strange new world of factory work and prejudice. Her letters to Gaetano become her lifeline, each one carrying fragments of her heart across ...
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Location: Abruzzo, Italy
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Broken Madonna by Anna Lucia

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    Broken Madonna    By Anna Lucia   SUMMARY: Elena Ferrante meets Bernadette of Lourdes in a story of love, loss and belonging, spanning post-WW2 Italy through to 90’s England   Italy 1949 At an orphanage in the poverty-stricken Apennine Mountains, 15-year-old Adelina has only one friend - enigmatic, fragile Elisabetta, 11. When Elisabetta claims to see the Madonna by the river, Adelina has doubts. But after Elisabetta appears to heal a traumatised young soldier, Giulio, who starts to walk again without his stick, crowds flock to witness the mystery of Elisabetta’s miracles. Adelina can no longer contain her misgivings and seeks out the scheming priest, Padre Bosco. The secrets of the past begin to unravel, and Adelina, Elisabetta and Giulio each have to confront who or what to believe. Soon they face a terrible reckoning which will cause deep ripples in all their lives, reaching across the years to 1990s England.   MY REVIE...
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Location: Abruzzo, Italy
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