WWJD?
This story is about Andi. She’s recently-divorced from Preston, and is a single parent to teenage Lily. The new relationship she has with her ex-husband is pretty much the same since the separation and divorce, which is amicable and tolerable at best. But he invites her to their planned cabin getaway anyway, which she says no to. Her best friend Juliana (Jules) plans a girls’ weekend trip for the two of them to Nashville instead.
Upon returning from her fun weekend away, Andi contemplates a stay in Italy. And after much debate, six weeks later, she’s leaving for an art exchange program based in Florence for a semester. Her Professor Niccolo Lombardi looked like a GQ cover model, so studying was sure to be a treat. And on an evening out with Niccolo, she met Giovanni, who worked as a bartender at the restaurant they went to. She’d never seen such an attractive man in person before. They were both captivated by each other, so things were definitely looking up for Andi.
Two hot Italian men interested in her… Whilst it felt wrong to be involved with her professor, she was quite open to the idea of exploring Giovanni. So she did. He was full of compliments and sweet passion. They spent more nights together until her last night there. On their last evening together, Gio took her to his grandmother’s home for a true Italian home-cooked meal. Whilst she was happy to be going home, she was also sad to be leaving Italy, not knowing if she’d ever be back. Giovanni told her that ‘Italy is part of who you are now and we always come back to who we are’.
Once Andi got home, she could admit she’d missed her ex-husband too. Her and Preston’s almost-reunion was going so well until she decided to be too up-front and honest with him. And he stupidly accused her of becoming some midlife crisis-having whore! She was sobbing after she threw him out of her house, and called Jules to talk about her evening with him. They both agreed that Pres was ‘guilty of high douchebaggery’ (SO gonna use that phrase!).
After some ups and downs as they try to reconnect, though not really knowing what they want, or how to get there without compromising their relationship. But with a little help from Lily and Jules, they get there. The proposal scene was sweet and funny, with his cute attempt at speaking Italian to/for her.
And that epilogue… SWOON! Florence is literally where I am supposed to be right now, so I LOVED reading about it, and desperately wishing I was really there! I did think that the story ended a bit too abruptly, and wasn’t ready to farewell these very likeable characters! I might be a bit cheeky but I actually thought that Giovanni might make a cameo appearance in the epilogue, just to add a bit of surprise ;) I give this book four and a half Tuscan stars!
And, I have to say, that 2.30am lake surprise was just so sweet and lovely and romantic. The moonlit tryst was so romantic and hot! And, I love that Andi pulled out the latest Erika Phillips novel – nice touch ;)
I received a free copy of this book collection via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.