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Monday, May 4, 2020

Book Review: Dreaming of Italy





By Sara Steven

Up for a dream promotion, Emma won’t let anything get in her way – not even love.

Working for a major Hollywood film company isn’t all glitz and glam. But when Emma gets sent to tour around Italy to scout the perfect location for a new blockbuster movie, she’s not going to complain. Especially when it could make or break her career…

Historical adviser for the project Mark is a distraction that Emma does not need. As they explore the beauty of Italy, Emma starts to fall for the mysterious Mark, and soon finds herself torn between her job and her heart.

From the wild, northern mountains of Piedmont, down the vibrant coast of Cinque Terre and through the rolling hills of Tuscany, Emma’s journey becomes one of self-discovery as she questions her priorities in life. (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads)

Reading a T.A. Williams novel is like sinking your toes in warm sand, gazing off into the distance while ocean waters crash along the perimeter. It’s comforting, relaxing, yet riddled with exciting moments, it’s largest player the scenery the characters find themselves within. Every single novel by Williams contains the loveliest landscapes and scenery, and Dreaming of Italy felt like the accumulation of the best of all of his locales, and more.

Emma has the job we all wish we had. She earns a living by seeking out the best locations, determining where movies should be filmed. The latest movie endeavor sends her to Italy, but we’re not given a minimal look inside. Each locale is written in perfected detail, so much so that I felt as though I was another character along for the adventure, could almost imagine the fresh air breeze along my skin. There are secondary characters who are along for the ride, too, and who round out Emma’s experiences along the way, yet her major focus is on Mark, a man who has caught her eye, even if she’s totally against the attraction.

I thought this budding potential romance was a sweet one, with a slow burn that left the reader unsure of whether they’d hit it off or not. The expression, “right time, right place” had come to mind frequently, because it never felt as though it would come to fruition for Emma or Mark. Given they live thousands of miles apart from one another, and Emma has her heart set on doing the very best and reaching as far as she can in her career, it seems in order for anything to occur, someone will have to give something up. Neither person wants to do that.

With everything going on right now, Dreaming of Italy felt like the perfect mini-escape from reality, a whimsical experience that made me feel like I was living vicariously, and traveling vicariously, through the characters. A definite five-star read!

Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for the book in exchange for an honest review.

About T.A. Williams

I’m a man. And a pretty old man as well. I did languages at university a long time ago and then lived and worked in France and Switzerland before going to Italy for seven years as a teacher of English. My Italian wife and I then came back to the UK with our little daughter (now long-since grown up) where I ran a big English language school for many years. We now live in a sleepy little village in Devonshire. I’ve been writing almost all my life but it was only seven years ago that I finally managed to find a publisher who liked my work enough to offer me my first contract.

The fact that I am now writing romantic comedy is something I still find hard to explain. My early books were thrillers and historical novels. Maybe it’s because there are so many horrible things happening in the world today that I feel I need to do my best to provide something to cheer my readers up. My books provide escapism to some gorgeous locations and, as a writer, I obviously have to go there in person and check them out first. I love my job…

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