Sunflower Publishing Book Reviews

  Love at First Sight By Jessica Gilmore SUMMARY She's in love. Just with the wrong man . . . Nora is done with dating, but still dreams of finding the one. So when a handsome stranger comes to her rescue one night and vanishes leaving only a business card, it's like a scene out of a romcom . . . It doesn't take long for the two to 'bump' into each other again, and Nora falls for the perfect-on-paper Gabe. Only a few weeks later, he invites her to Sicily, and she cannot believe her luck! Until Gabe is forced away for work, leaving her alone with his big and warm family in gorgeous Sicily who welcome her with open arms. Everyone but Luca, his older and distrustful brother, who is always around. Soon Nora finds herself on the holiday of a lifetime . . . just with the WRONG brother.   MY REVIEW: When I first started reading the book, Love at First Sight, I thought it would be a typical ‘rom-com or ‘beach read’  - a book you can take on holiday, w...

     Invitation to Italy By Victoria Springfield One-time teenage swimming sensation, Loretta, has run the Hotel Paradiso since leaving Capri broken-hearted. When childhood friend Salvo comes to stay, Loretta is forced to confront her past and the fears that have kept her away from the water for forty years. But just as she finds the courage to open her heart, she discovers all is not as it seems with Salvo... It's a summer of new beginnings for Abi and Loretta - and one they will never forget.     SUMMARY Abi is distraught when her ex-husband Alex takes their twelve-year-old daughter, Chloe to spend the summer with his glamorous fiancée Marisa and her parents at their home on the beautiful Italian island of Procida. Persuaded by her best friend to book a holiday at the island's Hotel Paradiso, Abi finally meets the woman she's been avoiding for so long. Will the two women's strained relationship survive the summer?   MY REVIEW: An invitation ...

   The Maiden of Florence by Katherine Mezzacappa SUMMARY: 'My defloration was talked about in all the courts of Europe. The Prince boasted of his prowess, even as preparations were being made for his wedding, as boldly as if he had ridden across that causeway with bloodstained sheet tied to his lance.' 1584, Italy: Twenty-year-old Giulia expects she will live and die incarcerated as a silk weaver within the walls of her Florentine orphanage, where she has never so much as glimpsed her own face. This all changes with the visit of the Medici family's most trusted advisor, promising her a generous dowry and a husband if she agrees to a small sacrifice that will bring honour and glory to her native city. Vincenzo Gonzaga, libertine heir to the dukedom of Mantua, wants to marry the Grand-Duke of Tuscany's eldest daughter, but the rumours around his unconsummated first marriage must be silenced first. Eager for a dynastic alliance that will be a bulwark agains...

    Saving Madonna by Kate Bristow   SUMMARY: Inspired by real events, an unforgettable story of love, courage and sacrifice to save a country’s heritage. Italy 1943. As the Allies bomb Milan, Elena Marchetti reluctantly gives up her coveted job as an art curator in the city to return to her family farm near Urbino. She takes up a new role assisting Pasquale Rotondi, the Superintendent of Arts in the region, in protecting works of art from all over Italy that have been hidden in the relative safety of the countryside. At a family celebration, Elena reunites with Luca, a close childhood friend. A shattering event instigated by the occupying Germans deepens their relationship, and they start planning a life together. When rumours surface that Italy’s art is being stolen by the German occupiers, Pasquale hatches an audacious plan to rescue the priceless paintings in his possession. Elena and Luca are forced to make an impossible decision: will they embark on a ...

    Stories from La Notte By Ascolta Women Write SUMMARY: In this third anthology, the writers of Ascolta Women explore, deconstruct, and destabilize the stereotypes imposed on women and their activities traditionally associated with the night: witchcraft, prostitution, mysticism, healing, and death rituals. The anthology challenges the concepts of night and darkness as entities of fear and where women are vulnerable and powerless. Through prose, poetry, photos, and artwork, the oppressive binaries of women as virgin/whore, good/bad, witch/healer and hysteric/submissive are brought into stark relief. Instead, more complex, rich, nuanced and authentic lived experiences are offered.   Drawing on their diverse Italian and Italian-Australian heritages, the authors delve into folklore, family stories, critical research, and fantasy to bring narratives into, and out of, the imaginarium of the dark. In the process, we come to understand how light and dark have been p...

                                                                A Taste of Italian Sunshine By Leoni Mack        SUMMARY Jenn has always prided herself on being a city girl – she insists on easy access to good coffee, great food from around the globe, not to mention an easy commute. So, when her job takes her to one of the most famous Italian wine regions in search of the perfect Prosecco, travelling to meetings on a tractor is a bit of a culture shock. Tiziano hates the city.  He was made for the mountains and vineyards of Veneto, and generations of his family have earned their living from the land. But times are changing even in the Italian countryside, and the arrival of Jenn at his grandmother’s B&B opens up a window on a different world. Jenn has two months to persuade the Prosecco producers...