Lead Review
- Book: Rome is where the heart is
- Location: Rome
- Author: Tilly Tennant
“…the eternal city – eternally present and eternally busy”
The ink is hardly dry on 30 year old Kate’s divorce papers as she heads to Rome for a bit of a break. She shares a taxi into the city with gorgeous Jamie – it’s ok, though, it turns out he is gay so will not be making any moves on her – and they share dinner together. A hiccup that evening sees her drinking too much and falling asleep on the Spanish Steps, but policeman Alessandro soon assists her back to base.
Having her purse lifted out of her handbag at the Colosseum the next day, a sadly common experience for many tourists, she happens upon this rather sexy policeman once again. This of course is not the last time they meet and she soon finds herself in Alessandro’s company at St Peter’s Basilica and much, much more…. As a dab hand at dress making, she is also invited into the bosom of his family to make a few alterations to his sister’s wedding dress, a vexing situation all round. But being in the heart of a typical Italian family, even eating delicious dishes made of lentils (yes, really, they are yummy!), all begin to sow the seed of a possible life in Rome….
Meanwhile things between her and Jamie get sorted and they soon progress to being good friends. A “phew” development as he proves to be good listener and enabler.
But her sisters are concerned that she is in a vulnerable place, so soon after her marriage break up. Anna in particular shows her concern in an overbearing way, it is done out of love of course, but nevertheless is intrusive and stifling. And there is mum who is as needy as any little child. And, so with a family trauma happening out of the blue, she returns to her family, with a heavy but loyal heart, from her wonderfully romantic sojourn in the Eternal City. Her ex husband isn’t making life easy for her either, trying to inveigle himself back into her life; her confidence dwindling, does she have the courage to leave everything she knows behind her in England to start a new life with someone whom she has only known for a week? Can love conquer all? Enjoy the twists and turns of romantic adventures, as exciting as any ride on the back of Alessandro’s Vespa.