Great summer read! Now I want to go to Italy! ( )

Mind candy with wedding planning, bridal dress design and Venice wrapped up in a romance. A quick read about a young wedding dress designer planning for her dream wedding to her dream guy in a dream dress. What can go wrong? Plenty! The best parts concern her relationship with her family. Made me want to spend a lot of time in Venice. ( )

Bella Fortuna by Rosanna Chiofalo
Through the years Valentina DeLuca, Italian and Christian has endured the neighbors and others and loves Michael but he's into others. Years later when she's grown and is a wedding dress designer who is getting married to Michael we find out about her and his past histories having been raised in the same neighborhood.
Her sisters and mother are also in the sewing business-different aspects of it. They are finally to be married in Italy and she's just finished her wedding dress. Tracy, who she thought would be her lifelong friend turns on her when they were teens and she gets back at her later in life for the betrayal.
The book also travels back to when their parents had first come to America and the fears and dreams as they lived their lifes on the streets of Greenwich Village and Astoria Park. Lots of secrets over the years.
Love the talk of the design field and jaunts to Central Park, some cooking secrets, Italian phrased explained in English and the travel to Italy=whoa! and the recipes at the end of the book.
Betrayal, cancer, travel, death, and love make this a really great book to read. ( )

Bella Fortuna by Rosanna Chiofalo

Challenges read for: Audio 2013, Immigrant Stories

Book cover: It's pretty, but not sure I love it!

I loved this book! Growing up on Long Island, I lived amongst many ethnic groups, the largest being Italian Americans. I love them--the food, the families, the warmth and sense of humor. While doing my own geneology research, I was hoping I would find maybe one Italian ancestor--not a one--just so I could be a part of this loving group of people!

Rosanna Chiofalo does a beautiful job of telling the story of 4 Italian American women living in Astoria, Queens and running a bridal shop. We get to experience the love of a very tight knight family and the strong sense of community that surrounds them. Valentina, the eldest of the DeLuca girls is our main character. She will be marrying her childhood sweetheart (so she thinks) and is designing a spectacular dress for the occasion. When Valentina is heartbroken, she leaves for Venice, the city where her wedding was to take place, to try and come to terms with what has happened and Bella Fortuna--without looking she finds her heart!

I "read" this as an audio book. Narrated by Cassandra Campbell, she did a fabulous job--her NY accent made me homesick and her Italian was beautiful. It made my drive to work everyday truly enjoyable.

This was a wonderful story--if you are an "audiophile", listen to it. It will not disappoint.

( )

Author: Rosanna Chiofalo

Published By: Kensington

Age Recommended: Adult

Reviewed By: Arlena Dean

Book Blog For: GMTA

Rating: 5

Review:

"Bella Fortuna" by Rosanna Chiofalo was a good chit lit fiction romance. I found this novel of a 'Italian American Family' who lived in Queens but also there is some twist in this journey of the story that end up in in Venice. The main character Valentina (the oldest sister), with her mom (Olivia/Sera) and sisters(Connie & Rita) are the owners of a bridal shop called Sposa Rosa. We find from the read that Valentina is preparing for her 'Dream Wedding' with Michael who has been the 'man of her dreams' that is to take place in Italy in the month of June. However, Michael two months before the wedding had different ideas... like changing his mind! Now just what was really up with that? Remember when he came into the shop while Valentina was trying on her wedding dress and he stood there looking and Oliver yells.."Malocchio! Malocchio!...get out! It s bad luck forever!"...Was it? Well, poor Valentina life is now turned upside down again.

Now, the setting moves on to Italy with all of its art and history...and all I can say is this author really makes you feel that Italy is a beautiful romantic place to be especially for a wedding with all of its "happiness and perfection."

I must say the decriptions that this author gave the reader of Italy made me even want to visit this magical place! We find that Valentina has decided to take a vacation for three weeks...yes to Italy. Did she enjoy herself in Italy?...What will happen to poor Valentina?...now, this is the part when I will say you must pick up "Bella Fortuna" to see what is in store for her. Will Valentina learn to live and love again and what was going on with Olivia's mom with her first love? What had happened to Tracy? Was "Bella Fortuna" somewhat predictable?...Yes, but that is OK because I still enjoyed this novel because it held my attention until the end. I found the characters to be well developed and believable bringing each page to life with sadness and even happiness.

I found the storyline of "Bella Fortuna" was wonderful and the romance was a fantastic read especially the Italy visit and would I recommend this read...Yes! ( )