The Wedding Officer by Anthony Capella is a wonderfully romantic tale set in war-torn Italy. Captain James Gould arrives in Naples in 1943 to become the Wedding Officer, whose main duty is to prevent marriages between British soldiers and their Italian girlfriends. As a stickler for the rules, the young Captain is determined to stamp out the black market and restore order.

He eventually meets and hires Livia Pertini, a beautiful widow whose cooking talent sets her far apart from other women. Captain Gould can’t seem to stay away from the kitchen and it’s not just for the lovely Livia’s cooking. He soon realizes he is falling in love with this earthy and sensuous woman. She in turn, has her own issues with the Allies as the occupation has not always gone smoothly for the locals or for her family. Her take on the young British captain with his stiff and polite ways, is at first disdainful, then she mistakenly thinks he is gay. In a delectable picnic scene, she finds out James Gould definitely prefers the fairer sex.

This is not a book to be read when hungry. The deliciously described recipes are so detailed you can practically smell them cooking, they are guaranteed to give you a craving for Italian food and perhaps even make you blush, as Livia teases James with sexual innuendos thinly disguised as food preparation or eating. At times a comedy-of-errors, at other times a compelling tale of war, love and food, I was entranced with this book and highly recommend it. ( )

This book was a bit of a surprise to me. Reading his first novel, The Food of Love, what you got was a romantic comedy based upon the Cyrano theme: fun-filled, light, and full of sensuous descriptions of food. I expected the same from this book based upon its description.

"It's 1944, and Captain James Gould arrives in Naples, assigned to discourage marriages between British soldiers and their gorgeous Italian girlfriends...Once a masterful cook in her father's restaurant, Livia Pertini is the Allied officers' new chef."

You can guess where it goes from there.

However, though the book is still humorous and generally light reading...and is certainly filled with sensuous descriptions of food...Capella adds a bit more roundness to this work by including the darker aspects of Italy 1944: the complete destruction of a country caused by both retreating Germans and advancing Allies; 40,000 Neapolitan women (out of the estimated 90,000 women in Naples) working as prostitutes to avoid starvation; the Allied plan to kidnap those prostitutes who had syphilis and forcibly relocate them behind German lines in order to infect the enemy soldiers; the list goes on. Some, perhaps, will not like these darker notes in their romantic comedy, but I thought it made the book a richer. Instead of hearing a single note throughout the entire story, one reactions shift back and forth, providing more contrast.

Perhaps I felt that Laura and Bruno in his first book had slightly more chemistry than Livia and James do in this one, but it's a minor flaw in the overall work which I would certainly classify as a very pleasant summer read. Definitely R-rated if you're planning on giving it to someone without reading it first. ( )

A wonderful historical fiction novel about WWII. The sensuality and passion of food, war, and love came through on every page. I could taste the dishes that Livia created. ( )

It took a little while for me to get into this book, just as it took a little while for the main character, James Gould, to really get into the character of Italy. But my patience was rewarded and one day it just clicked and I really got into it and all this great stuff happened and the plot really took off and after I really enjoyed reading it. The magnetism of the characters of James and Livia drive the plot along, but the war and everything that happens to them as a result of that serve a role, too. It was a very informative book, too. I learned a great deal about Italy during World War II that I never knew before.

I read this book for my book club, and I was very glad that we selected it. We're having an Italian dinner to celebrate.

This is a light read to engage many readers. James, a British officer, is stationed in Naples during WWII. He is assigned to interview officer's fiances- to weed out prostitutes. Of course he falls in love, but the engaging elements of this novel makes it worth wading through the story's predictable elements. There's plenty of history to engage many historical romance readers and plenty of food to engage cooks. A great book to take to the lake! ( )