It’s such a pleasure today to be joining the publication day push for the latest romantic escape from T.A. Williams – Change of Heart is the second standalone book in his latest Beneath Italian Skies series, published today (2nd November) by Canelo, available for kindle and in paperback via Amazon in the UK and US, and on all other major ebook platforms. My thanks, as always, to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading e-copy (provided via netgalley).
My goodness, I can see I’ve missed out on reading Trevor’s last two escapist romances – perhaps it means that I haven’t felt in need of the cuddle his books can be relied on to deliver (which is a good thing…!), but it might just be that I’ve been entirely caught up in his wonderful Armstrong and Oscar cozy mysteries (published by Boldwood). But no-one brings the Italian sunshine into damp and gloomy days quite like Trevor does, and I’m so delighted to return to the fold for his latest. And I will just mention that you’ll find quite a few reviews of Trevor’s lovely books here on Being Anne – just pop his name in my search box – with, I have no doubt, many more to come…
Two families at war and Alice finds herself caught in the middle. Can she re-write a story as old as time?
When cutbacks force Alice out of her assistant manager role at a Devonshire stately home, she turns her sights elsewhere: the picturesque hills above the historic city of Parma. An aristocratic Italian family are looking to open their medieval castle to the public, and Alice is just the woman for the job.
Four years ago, a life-changing accident pushed Alice into depression, but the beauty and charm of the Italian countryside works its magic in brightening her days. Especially when she keeps bumping into handsome Luca…
But rivalries run deep in the town, and Alice’s work – not to mention her potential love life – are caught in the middle of a long-standing feud between two families.
With her job and future happiness in peril, can Alice save the future of the castle, and bring two warring families together?
A gorgeous cover to this one, but you’ll notice that there’s something missing – no black Labrador! But worry not, there’s certainly nothing missing from the story – a rather Shakespearean theme with the warring families and star-crossed lovers, the perfectly drawn setting, a central romance that was everything I wanted it to be, and the wonderful Frank (if I should ever have a dog, isn’t that the perfect name?) may not be on that cover but certainly makes his presence felt.
When Alice is made redundant from her post at a Devonshire stately home, the former owners put her in touch with an Italian family wanting to turn their castle in the hills above Parma into a tourist attraction. She speaks fluent Italian, and has lived in the country before – but her previous stay ended in tragedy with a life-changing accident and a broken heart when a relationship disintegrated. But she takes the job – finding first that not all the family are convinced about updating their home and finding alternative ways of bolstering their income, then running up against the opposition of the village mayor and the historic family feud that’s continued to simmer. Her choice of Luca as the architect could have made the situation even more complicated – but the developing relationship between them (and one I really loved) also helps her come to terms with her mobility restrictions and to open up to the possibility of finding happiness once more.
The less familiar setting around Parma is – as expected – quite wonderfully drawn, as Alice rediscovers her love of horse riding and explores the surrounding countryside. There’s plenty of delicious food too – with Alice first spotting Luca (and Frank!) while eating at the Casa Rosa where Giorgio and his son produce local specialities to make the mouth water. And the steps towards making the castle tourist-ready were simply fascinating – as were the new enterprises of introducing an alpaca herd, and developing the woodlands as an alternative source of income.
The characters were just wonderful. Alice had a place in my heart from the very beginning, but I really enjoyed her interactions with the family and their workforce while getting them all on-side with the changes – and the developing romance, with Alice’s understandable fear of rejection casting an initial shadow, became something rather special that really warmed my heart. But there’s plenty of tension too, with the fierceness of the mayor’s opposition, and the unpredictability of his reactions – and some real drama before there’s any chance of a happy ending. And the whole book has the perfect emotional touch – with a particular sensitivity when dealing with Alice’s issues.
Infused with Italian sunshine, this really was the perfect read to escape the wintery weather outside – with an uplifting and entirely engaging story I thoroughly enjoyed.
About the author
I’m a man. And a pretty old man as well. I did languages at university a long time ago and then lived and worked in France and Switzerland before going to Italy for seven years as a teacher of English. My Italian wife and I then came back to the UK with our little daughter (now long-since grown up) where I ran a big English language school for many years. We now live in a sleepy little village in Devonshire. I’ve been writing almost all my life but it was only ten years ago that I finally managed to find a publisher who liked my work enough to offer me my first contract.
The fact that I am now writing escapist romance is something I still find hard to explain. My early books were thrillers and historical novels and I now also write cozy crime, but my first love has always been romance. Maybe it’s because there are so many horrible things happening in the world today that I feel I need to do my best to provide something to cheer my readers up. My books provide escapism to some gorgeous locations and descriptions of food to make you drool.
Fabulous review Anne! Definitely one to keep the winter blues at bay. X