Book Review - Belladonna by Anbara Salam

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Isabella is the beloved popular girl that everyone wants to befriend. Bridget, her best friend, is the exact opposite of each other. Bridget keeps to herself but, she watches everyone, especially Isabella.

The girls graduate school and land spots in a coveted art school in Northern Italy. The Accademia di Belle Arti di Pentila is housed in a silent nun convent. The duo was happy to be away from their family and have their freedom.  Bridget is happy because she is free to reinvent herself and no one will discriminate her for being an outsider due to her Egyptian roots.

I thought this novel moved very slowly and was boring. I didn't take an interest in any of the characters. I felt like Bridget only cared about herself and Isabella. She showed very little regard for other people. Isabelle was just using Bridget as a pawn in her own little game. I feel like the author could have gone into more details for some things especially, Bridget's family.

**Disclosure -  This post may contain affiliate links which means I earn advertising and/or referral fees if you purchase an item through my link. Please note, there will be no extra charges to you. Thank you for your support.**

Book Review - Return to Bella Terra by MaryAnn Diorio

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When Maria Tontta receives news that her mother is dying, she travels back to her homeland with her beloved son, Nico. She finds herself missing her home and wanting to return back home. She is devastated when she learns her childhood home might be sold because the family is bankrupt. Maria finds herself torn between the love of her family back home and her new life with her family in America.  When Nico's biological father reappears in Nico's life, Maria is afraid that she will lose him too. Will Maria be able to let go past wrongs?

The book was an interesting read about a woman who conflicted with two separate desires. Maria tries to follow her heart but while abiding to God's will. Each of the characters are flawed and are in situations that they hope can be better. I enjoyed reading this book especially with the dynamic between Maria and Nico. I haven't read the other books in the series, but I just might!

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion** 

Book Review - One More Moon: Goodbye Mussolini! One Woman's Story of Fate and Survival by Ralph Webster

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In the year 1934, Elsa and her husband, Paul are living a comfortable life in Italy. However, all that begins to change when their daughter, Mela tells them of a hotel called Pensione Alexandria that is on sale. Elsa and her husband are suffering through some financial issues and decided that the hotel might be the answers to their troubles. When, the war breaks out Italy and Germany joins forces which cause a strain on travelers and when the situation gets worse, it makes it harder for Elsa and her family to escape. Will Elsa and her husband, Paul be able to escape the war?

Elsa's grandson writes her story through her voice and invites readers into her journey to escape the Italy before they follow the footsteps of Germany to imprison their fellow Jewish countrymen. The novel was written very beautifully and was told in an interesting way. However, I felt like in the beginning, the book was going to be about the two women  they found in the fields or a bit more detailed about Elsa's journey. Instead, it felt like I was reading a lot of fluff and not enough meat bones about her journey. Overall, it was still an enjoyable book and I look forward to reading more from the author.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion**

Book Review - Waking Isabella: Because Beauty Can't Sleep Forever by Melissa Muldoon + Giveaway

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Nora is an assistant research who feels like her life hit the wall. She is going through a divorce and feels like her life is missing something. After coming across a photo of a friend who was surrounded by two men in the vineyard, Nora realizes she is jealous of her friend and hopes that her life changes for the better. However, instead of sitting around and moping, Nora decides to create a documentary about the rebellious Medici princess, Isabella. While working on her documentary, Nora explores the history of two strong independent in the past and hopes that she can use them as a guiding source for her own life. Will Nora be able to have the life she always wanted? Will she be able to use Isabella as a source of empowerment?

The novel starts off with the murder of Isabella by her estrange husband and then switches to modern day with Nora. At first, I loved the concept of meshing the past with the present with a common thread uniting the two. However, when it started doing that for multiple characters and sometimes the novel would switch time without much of a warning and it became hard to keep track of.  While, I am not a dual language speaker, I do enjoy reading novels that have some dual lingo as it helps readers feel immersed in the culture. I would have found it helpful in the author included a dictionary of the Italian terms because I feel like I missed out part of the story when I couldn't understand all of the Italian bits and it was a bit overwhelming to constantly use Google Translate. If you are an Italophile, and/or enjoy art and history, this would be a treat to read.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion**

Book Details:
Book Title:  Waking Isabella: Because beauty can't sleep forever by Melissa Muldoon Category:  Adult Fiction,  250  pages Genre: General Fiction Publisher:  Matta Press Release date:  December 2017 Format available for review: print & ebook (mobi, ePub, PDF)
Will send print books out: internationally Tour dates: Feb 19 to March 23, 2018 Content Rating: PG-13 + M (The story begins with violent rape and murder scene, touches on themes of miscarriage, murder, Nazi violence during war, adultery) ​  

Book Description:
Waking Isabella is a story about uncovering hidden beauty that, over time, has been lost, erased, or suppressed. It also weaves together several love stories as well as a few mysteries. Nora, an assistant researcher, is a catalyst for resolving the puzzle of a painting that has been missing for decades. Set in Arezzo, a small Tuscan town, the plot unfolds against the backdrop of the city’s antique trade and the fanfare and pageantry of its medieval jousting festival. While filming a documentary about Isabella de’ Medici—the Renaissance princess who was murdered by her husband—Nora begins to connect with the lives of two remarkable women from the past. Unraveling the stories of Isabella, the daughter of a fifteenth-century Tuscan duke, and Margherita, a young girl trying to survive the war in Nazi-occupied Italy, Nora begins to question the choices that have shaped her own life up to this point. As she does, hidden beauty is awakened deep inside of her, and she discovers the keys to her creativity and happiness. It is a story of love and deceit, forgeries and masterpieces—all held together by the allure and intrigue of a beautiful Tuscan ghost.

 

Meet the Author:

Melissa Muldoon is the Studentessa Matta—the crazy linguist! In Italian, “matta” means “crazy” or “impassioned.” Melissa has a B.A. in fine arts, art history and European history from Knox College, a liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, as well as a master’s degree in art history from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. She has also studied painting and art history in Florence.

Melissa promotes the study of Italian language and culture through her dual-language blog, Studentessa Matta (studentessamatta.com). Melissa began the Matta blog to improve her command of the language and to connect with other language learners. It has since grown to include a podcast, “Tutti Matti per l’Italiano,” and the Studentessa Matta YouTube channel. Melissa also created Matta Italian Language Immersion Tours, which she co-leads with Italian partners in Italy.

Waking Isabella is Melissa’s second novel and follows Dreaming Sophia, published in 2016. In this new novel about Italy, the reader is taken on another art history adventure, inspired by Melissa’s experiences living and traveling in Italy, specifically Arezzo, as well as her familiarity with the language and art. For more information about Waking Isabella and links to Melissa’s blogs and social media sites, visit www.MelissaMuldoon.com.

As a student, Melissa lived in Florence with an Italian family. She studied art history and painting and took beginner Italian classes. When she returned home, she threw away her Italian dictionary, assuming she’d never need it again, but after launching a successful design career and starting a family, she realized something was missing in her life. That “thing” was the connection she had made with Italy and the friends who live there. Living in Florence was indeed a life-changing event. Wanting to reconnect with Italy, she decided to start learning the language again from scratch. As if indeed possessed by an Italian muse, she bought a new Italian dictionary and began her journey to fluency—a path that has led her back to Italy many times and enriched her life in countless ways. Now, many dictionaries and grammar books later, she dedicates her time to promoting Italian language studies, further travels in Italy, and sharing her stories and insights about Italy with others. When Melissa is not traveling in Italy, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Melissa designed and illustrated the cover art for Waking Isabella and Dreaming Sophia. She also curates the Dreaming Sophia blog and Pinterest site: The Art of Loving Italy. Please visit the Pinterest page for pictures of Arezzo, the Giostra del Saracino, and all the places we go in Italy in both books. Visit MelissaMuldoon.com for more information about immersion trips to learn the language with Melissa in Italy, as well as the Studentessa Matta blog for practice and tips to learn the Italian language.

Connect with Melissa:Website ~ Twitter ~  Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ Youtube 

Book Review - The Pretender: A Blackguard in Disguise (The Caselli Family #1) byTa`Mara Hanscom

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On a snow day in 1975, Tillie Caselli was given the opportunity to show her artwork in a Junior Artist Competition. While visiting a new city, her fellow students sneak out to a bar. Worried that something happened to them, Tille and her friend, Ginger venture into the bar to bring them back to the hotel. Tillie crosses path with bad boy biker, Noah Hansen and  their lives will never be the same. Is Noah the perfect knight for Tille or is he a blackguard in disguise?

When reading the description, the novel seemed very interesting. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get into the book. The conversations between the characters didn't feel real and the writing style was painful to read. The love story between Tille and Noah also felt unrealistic. They fell in love in two days and wanted to get married, but then when something happens, instead of trusting each other and their feelings, one of the characters just completely abandon the relationship. How can someone go from being head over heels in love and then completely ignore their love interest? There was also too many random events and characters which were very hard to keep track of along with the story just droning on and on. 

The author lost credibility in my opinion when she used one of the characters, Tara to call Tillie a "waif". Which means "neglected or abandoned child", and from reading the novel, we all know Tillie is anything but neglected. She has a family that loves and cares for her and she had several suitable prospects. I also didn't like how the family was quick to judge people and call them either blackguards or knights, when they themselves didn't act respectable at times. The Casellis knew their daughter wasn't interested in her prom date, but told her to go anyways, so she has someone to take her there and that Tillie can just be with her friends during the prom instead of her date. Well, the story finally picked up towards the end, I am very hesitant to pick up another book by the author because of the lack of story and poor editing.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion**

Skin & Co Bagnodoccia Sicilian Body Gel

This delicately scented shower gel is packed with zesty ingredients  like orange, rosemary extracts and olive oil which were sourced from Italy. The body wash left my skin feeling soft and lather decently enough. It was okay body gel and I probably won’t be buying it again. I wasn’t too fond of the scent but I did make me wish I was in Italy though!