Brava, Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

Very Valentine

by Adriana Trigiani

Book Description taken from the Harper Collins website

The Angelini Shoe Company, one of the last family-owned businesses in Greenwich Village, has been making exquisite wedding shoes since 1903 but now teeters on the brink of financial collapse. To save their business from ruin, thirty-three-year-old Valentine Roncalli—apprentice to and granddaughter of master artisan Teodora Angelini—must bring the family's old-world craftsmanship into the twenty-first century. Juggling her budding romance with dashing chef Roman Falconi, her duty to her family, and a design challenge presented by a prestigious department store, Valentine returns to Italy with her grandmother in a quest to build a pair of glorious shoes to beat their rivals. And in the course of discovering her true artistic voice and so much more in la bella Italia, Valentine will be turning her life and the business upside down in ways she never expected.

Brava, Valentine
by Adriana Trigiani

Book Description taken from the Harper Collins website

Very Valentine, an instant New York Times bestseller, introduced the contemporary family saga of the Roncalli and Angelini families, artisans of handcrafted wedding shoes in Greenwich Village since 1903.
As Brava, Valentine begins, snow falls like glitter over Tuscany at the wedding of her grandmother, Teodora, and longtime love, Dominic. Valentine's dreams are dashed when Gram announces that Alfred, "the prince," Valentine's only brother and nemesis, has been named her partner at Angelini Shoes. Devastated, Valentine falls into the arms of Gianluca, a sexy Tuscan tanner who made his romantic intentions known on the Isle of Capri. Despite their passion for one another and Gianluca's heartfelt letters, a long-distance relationship seems impossible.
As Valentine turns away from romance and devotes herself to her work, mentor and pattern cutter June Lawton guides her through her power struggle with Alfred, while best friend and confidante Gabriel Biondi moves into 166 Perry Street, transforming her home and point of view. Savvy financier Bret Fitzpatrick, Valentine's first love and former fiancée who still carries a torch for her, encourages Valentine to exploit her full potential as a designer and a business woman with a plan that will bring her singular creations to the world.
A once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity takes Valentine from the winding streets of Greenwich Village to the sun-kissed cobblestones of Buenos Aires, where she finds a long-buried secret hidden deep within a family scandal. Once unearthed, the truth rocks the Roncallis and Valentine is determined to hold her family together. More so, she longs to create one of her own, but is torn between a past love that nurtured her, and a new one that promises to sustain her.
Brava, Valentine, Trigiani's best novel yet, delivers a hilarious and poignant mix of colorful worlds and unforgettable characters as only she can create them.

You can browse inside Brava, Valentine HERE.

Adriana Trigiani is beloved by millions of readers around the world for her hilarious and heartwarming novels. She was raised in a small coal-mining town in southwest Virginia in a big Italian family. Trigiani chose her hometown for the setting and title of her debut novel, the critically acclaimed and bestselling Big Stone Gap, which was followed by the sequels Big Cherry Holler, Milk Glass Moon, and the fall 2006 release Home to Big Stone Gap. Lucia, Lucia, The Queen of the Big Time, and Rococo were all instant New York Times bestsellers. Adriana also teamed up with her family for Cooking with My Sisters, which was cowritten by her sister Mary, with contributions from their sisters and mother. The cookbook-memoir features recipes and stories dating back a hundred years from both sides of their Italian-American family. Trigiani's novels have been translated and sold in over 30 countries around the world.

MY REVIEW

I absolutely adored both of these books. The main character is fabulous and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her and her world. Both books are wonderfully entertaining. Trigiani writes in a powerfully honest, down to earth way. I felt like I really KNEW the characters and could relate to them...which is amazing considering I have never spent any time in New York or Italy and there is not even a stitch of Italian in my family line.

I was completely drawn into the story from page one and I picked the books up to read every chance I got until I was done! I would definitely recommend both Very Valentine and Brava, Valentine to any fiction lovers out there.

Thanks so much to Harper Collins for sending me review copies of these fantastic books!