Title: The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany
Author: Lori Nelson Spielman
Year published: 2020
Category: Adult fiction (romance)
Pages: 400 pages
Rating: 4 out of 5
Location: (my 2023 Google Reading map): Italy, USA (NY)
Summary: A trio of second-born daughters sets out on a whirlwind journey through the lush Italian countryside to break the family curse that says they’ll never find love, by New York Times bestseller Lori Nelson Spielman, author of The Life List.
Since the day Filomena Fontana cast a curse upon her sister more than two hundred years ago, not one second-born Fontana daughter has found lasting love. Some, like second-born Emilia, the happily-single baker at her grandfather’s Brooklyn deli, claim it’s an odd coincidence. Others, like her sexy, desperate-for-love cousin Lucy, insist it’s a true hex. But both are bewildered when their great-aunt calls with an astounding proposition: If they accompany her to her homeland of Italy, Aunt Poppy vows she’ll meet the love of her life on the steps of the Ravello Cathedral on her eightieth birthday, and break the Fontana Second-Daughter Curse once and for all.
Against the backdrop of wandering Venetian canals, rolling Tuscan fields, and enchanting Amalfi Coast villages, romance blooms, destinies are found, and family secrets are unearthed—secrets that could threaten the family far more than a centuries-old curse.
Review: This is a BOTM club book that I chose 3 years ago and haven't gotten to! I am glad I finally read it even though it won't make my top 2023 books list.
I love the idea of an 80-year-old aunt taking two of her nieces on an adventure in the home country (Italy) to change a curse. Poppy is bright, engaging, and full of life and manages to pass that on to the two younger women who are convinced the curse is real. Reading the tension between the three at the start (including pressure from meddling family members) and seeing Poppy's zest for life rub off on the other two is charming and fun.
I also loved the romantic story of Poppy and her lifetime love Rico and was looking forward to finding out what happens in the end. Do they meet up? Does he still love her? Will the curse be broken? This story was cleverly woven into the current-day story. I can't say what happens for spoiling the story, but I loved the last 100 pages. It's the romantic in me.
Challenges for which this counts:
- Literary Escapes--Italy
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