User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Lo amo I’Italia!E un viaggio fantastico !
How can you resist charm of this amazing country? Swimming in Lake Como, sipping those tasty wines at Tuscany’s vineyards, taking a gondola tour at Venice, shopping at Milano, eating amazing margarita pizzas in Napoli, saluting Pope at Vatican, giving ridiculous poses in front of Tower of Pisa as if you’re holding it not to collapse, spending hours and feeding your soul with amazing paintings at Uffizi and of course taking a yacht tour at Capri while devouring more Chianti with (not Ray Liotta’s brain pieces, forget that scene!) seafood pasta!
Mamma mia! I feel in love in Italy when I got my first European vacation tour with my family like Griswolds ( I was only 13, chubby, annoying, because I was my under my drinking age. After I meet with Chardonnay I became a lovely person!) When I returned back, I watched Robert Downey Jr. and Marisa Tomei’s “Only You” and find myself enrolling Italian Culture courses to learn this amazing language.
This book brought me all those amazing memories and my journeys around Italian cities. Many years later, I visited them with my husband and gained 6 pounds at one week because of extreme carbs consumption. It was definitely worth it!
Let’s get back to this amazing story reminded me of my beautiful memories in flashes. If you haven’t seen Italy, this book is realistic guide for your soul journey that make you feel you visit those incredible places, free your spirit and soul, open yourself new experiences. It’s heartwarming, emotional, entertaining story of sisterhood.
Emilia decides to break the family curse to be definer of her own destiny and learn more about her ancestors because she knows that if you want to achieve something concrete in your future, you have to visit your past and learn where you come from and who you are.
Emilia’s self-discovery, influenced journey starting from Venice canals, moving to Amalfi Coast made me so excited. But I also loved to go to the sixty years in the past and enjoy reading Poppy’s story, bringing back to the history of Berlin Wall.
Emilia finds more about her family secrets, lies, betrayals during the journey but she is a bigger person to forgive all of them and move on with her life. This is a hopeful, embracing, sweet, promising reading which helps you to see the stars at the darkest hour of the night and the illuminating light at the end of the tunnel. You smile, you relieve, you cry, you resent but at the end your heart warms and you feel for all those beautiful characters.
It’s about holding your hopes and embracing the life and happiness.
OVERALL: I.LOVE.IT.SO.MUCH, Deserved my five billion stars!
Special thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for sharing this fantastic book’s ARC COPY in exchange my honest review.
Rating: really liked it
Just finished an Unboxing and Review Video for the December 2020, January 2021, Holiday 2020 and New Year's 2020/2021 boxes from Once Upon a Book Club!
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(It was GORGEOUS!!)
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Rating: really liked it
Be sure to visit Bantering Books to read all my latest reviews.Red wine gives me migraines. (Oh, such unfair horror, I know.)
I absolutely cannot drink it. Not one single drop. Even though I love it so. Because if I do, I will be sicker than a dog – for
days.
I can’t even drink a rosé. Or a blush. Believe me, I’ve tried. A wine with even the faintest tint of pink is poison to my body.
It’s one of my life’s little cruelties that I must bear. And for the most part, I’ve accepted this red-wineless fate of mine, with only a smallish amount of occasional complaint.
But once again, thanks to Lori Nelson Spielman’s lovely new novel,
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany, I have a hankering for red wine like you wouldn’t believe. My long-suppressed craving is suppressed no more, and unfortunately, I am without a way to quench it.
Hmm. Maybe I can somehow satiate my thirst as I write this review by recreating in my mind a few of the wine-infused scenes of the story. At the very least, it’s worth a try. More surprising things have happened in life, I suppose.
Over two hundred years ago, Filomena Fontana cursed her younger sister to a life without love, in a moment of jealous anger. And true to Filomena’s words, all second-born Fontana daughters have failed to find enduring love, ever since that day.
But is it truly due to a curse? Or just more of a coincidence? The answer given will vary, depending upon which Fontana family member is asked.
There are those like second-born-daughter Emilia, a contented, single baker in her grandfather’s Brooklyn deli, who strongly believe the similar fates of the Fontana women are nothing more than happenstance. And then there are those like second-born-daughter Luciana, Emilia’s cousin with the world’s worst luck in love, who believe the curse to be pure truth.
All differences of opinion aside, both Emilia and Luciana are taken aback when their Great-Aunt Poppy, who is also a second-born Fontana daughter, invites them to accompany her on an all-expense-paid trip to her homeland of Italy. To further sweeten the deal, Poppy promises that while they are there, she will be reunited with the love of her life at the Ravello Cathedral on her eightieth birthday, thereby forever breaking the family curse.
Enticed by the prospects of both an Italian getaway and Poppy’s bold promise, Emilia and Luciana set off with Poppy on a trip of a lifetime – a trip that will unbury family secrets, ignite newfound inner flames, and change their lives in so many unforeseen ways.
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany has filled a tiny hole in my book-lovin’ heart. A hole that, for the last few years, has been patiently waiting to be patched with a new novel by Sarah Addison Allen. And while Spielman’s story does not have the same touch of magical realism as is so common in Allen’s novels, the tone and the feel of the narrative are the same. It’s a warm and cozy, rich tale of romance, family secrets, and the unbreakable bonds of sisters.
And there’s scrumptious food. And luscious (red!) wine. And gorgeously vivid descriptions of Italy – its people, its cities, and its countryside.
It’s enough to make you wanna jump on the first available flight to Venice, let me tell ya.
Spielman’s writing is vibrant and sparse, clean of any excess. Her characterization is superb, and she has crafted three memorable and lovable characters in Poppy, Emilia, and Luciana. You will laugh with them. Smile with them. You will mourn their losses and celebrate their victories.
You will cheer as Emilia, always the pushover, finally sprouts a backbone and stands up for herself. You will applaud Luciana as she grows into her own place of self-acceptance. You will absorb Poppy’s words of wisdom and hold them close to your heart.
The novel is compelling, emotional, and sincere. It is consuming and highly enjoyable.
I will confess, however, that
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany does feel a bit clichéd and predictable at times. And once again, much of the romance is of the dreaded, eye-rolling
insta love variety. Yet the story is also surprising in many ways, and it takes a few unexpected turns, enough to offset the handful of inevitable plot points that can be seen a mile away.
But what will stick with me the most, I think – and compensates also for the slightly unoriginal narrative – is the overarching message of the novel. It’s a message that, to me, is universal. It is one that both men and women will appreciate. And it is this –
To live a full and happy life, romantic love and marriage are not prerequisites. Yet an opportunity to love, and to be loved, should never be squandered. Love is always worthy of at least
a good looking-over, as Poppy would say.
To this sentiment, I could not agree more.
And on that note, off I go to enjoy a refreshing glass of chardonnay. You should treat yourself to your own glass, too, as you sit and read the beautiful novel that is
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany.
Cheers!
My sincerest appreciation to Berkley and Edelweiss+ for the Advance Review Copy. All opinions included herein are my own. Bantering Books Instagram Twitter Facebook
Rating: really liked it
dnf @ 40%
i'll talk about this more in a video in december, but i think for a book like this to work (one riddled with just about every genre cliche imaginable) the characters or the plot have to rock. neither was the case here. probably would have had a feel good ending but i didn't want to stick around to find out.
Rating: really liked it
Family... Romance... regret... heart... hope... Lori Nelson Speilman swept me away to Italy and stole my heart with her vivid storytelling. For generations the second daughters of the Fontana family have been cursed, never to fall in love and get married. Emilia is resign to her fate, spending her days working in the family bakery and her nights at home with her cat. Lucy’s approach is a bit different, she spends all her energy trying to find a man and is constantly getting her heart stomped on. When the cousin’s Aunt Poppy reaches out to take the girls on an all expenses paid vacation to Italy they are intrigued. But their grandmother has not spoken to her sister Poppy in decades and forbids the girls to go to Italy. Unfortunately for grandma the allure of an Italian trip and the possibility of the curse being broken is too much. So Emilia and Lucy pack their bags and head to Italy. The food... the sights... the sounds... the smells... the family secrets... As The ladies travel around Italy Poppy begins to share the story of her romantic yet heartbreaking past.
I absolutely LOVED everything about this book! It is hands-down the best travel romance I have ever read. Sometimes when you read a book where travel is involved it can get really bogged down with descriptions of the food, and the sights, and all that. This book brought Italy alive, but the vivid descriptive writing did not detract anything from the gorgeous storyline. Emilia, Lucy, and poppy were such well developed characters with so much charm and heart as well as many insecurities and flaws. Most of the story takes place in current times, but we also got a generous sprinkling of flashbacks about Poppy’s lovestory. This is a story that will make you feel. I laughed, I cried, I got frustrated, I found joy. This is a can’t miss for anyone who loves the love.
This book in emojis 🐱 ✈️ 🍷 🎻 🇮🇹 ☔️ 🥑
*** Big thank you to Berkley for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***
Rating: really liked it
This is a women's fiction. This book is mostly told by Emilia, but there are parts told by Aunt Poppy (past and now). The characters in this book are so much fun to follow, and they made you want to keep reading to find out what is going to happen to them. I loved the storyline/plot of this book. There is a big twist that is built up through out this whole book, but I did guessed it. Even if you guess the twist it is more about how the characters handle the twist then you guessing it. This book is about two sisters secrets coming out and forgiving each other. The cover of this book is just everything, and I love it so much.
I picked this book as an add on to my Book of the Month book. https://www.mybotm.com/zr12wnytgc8?sh...
Rating: really liked it
I’m already a fan of Lori Nelson Spielman’s books, and this is her best yet.
How about that cover? Inside, the story is just as charming.
There’s a curse keeping two cousins and their great aunt from finding love. They take a trip to Italy determined that they’ll overcome the family hex. Traveling the canals of Venice to the vibrant Amalfi Coast, and everything in between, will love be found and what old secrets about this family will be uncovered?
LOVED the Italy setting and love love loved these characters. Nothing too heavy, a great escape sort of read with lots of charm and heart.
I received a gifted copy.
Many of my reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com and instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
Rating: really liked it
I stumbled upon this book while looking for books to fit into one of my challenges. Though I am not faring well with these challenges but I am glad that I am doing these because if not for them, I hadn't read this one.
A family saga spanning generations where second born girls are cursed to never find love. An 80 year old such woman, Poppy, ropes in two of second daughters in her family and bring them to Italy to show them that there is no such curse. And they shouldn't hold themselves back thinking that they would never find love because they are cursed.
At first I didn't like Poppy's backstory but once it started to show how crucial this was to the current circumstances, I was hooked. She was portrayed as brave, outgoing, and full of life which Emilia, our other main lead, desperately need her in life. I loved how the author slowly revealed the secrets of the family and how it affected the Fontana family dimensions. Emilia and Lucy find themselves on this journey and it was good to see them standing upto their families who looked down on them, making them feel inferior because of this so called curse.
If you like to read family dramas then this book is for you.
Rating: really liked it
There were two things that I liked about The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany: Rico and Poppy. I enjoyed their story and found myself wishing that the entire book had been only about them. Unfortunately, the flashback scenes were few and far between and I found myself putting the book down quite a bit.
For me, Emilia's story was the complete opposite of Poppy's. Where Poppy was exciting and interesting, Emilia was too plain Jane and boring to be believable. What was it about her that supposedly made every man in Italy want to be with her? Her character fell in love with every man she came across even though she only knew them for a day or two. And on more than one occasion she appears to be desperate and clingy.
At times, I felt like I was reading a travel guide and most of the people felt more like caricatures than actual people. But I guess this made me appreciate Poppy and Rico even more.
*I won this book through a giveaway on good reads. Thank you, Penguin Random House for the advanced copy.
Rating: really liked it
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
This comes out today. If you're looking for an escape, maybe you can find it in Tuscany : ) 3.5 Stars
The Fontana family has had a curse on the second-born daughters for over 200 years. Always to remain spinsters, true love will never be in the cards for them. Emilia has sort of resigned herself to the fact that the curse is a real thing as she remains consistently unlucky in love. Her cousin Lucy takes a different approach – quickly falling for whoever she is dating at the time. When their estranged aunt Poppy calls offering the two a trip to Italy and an opportunity to break the curse forever, they reluctantly agree.
I will admit I wanted this one as soon as I saw the cover, the word “Tuscany” and took a peak at the blurb. I had my hopes up for a cross between . . . . .
And . . . . .
And that is 100% what I got. Although I don’t live in an Italian villa, I was able to read this outside with a big ol’ cheap bottle of Moscato and escape for a few hours one Saturday and that was just what I needed.
ARC provided by Berkley in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
Summer 2019: three weeks in Italy, one of my favorite trip! This book made me travel back there... We can't go very far for the moment, but at least books allow us to escape reality for a while.
I really liked the setting and the premise of the old family curse (
I can't help but wonder... would people really believe that?).
I liked the characters, but some parts of the story were total clichés. The two storylines were equally interesting to me (Emi in the present / Poppy in the past), but it definitely dragged in the middle. Also, I'm not completely satisfied with the reveal of the family secret... I can't imagine the situation would go this far in reality.
All in all, it was a pretty decent read, but nothing was great. I preferred the two other books I read by this author.
Read this book for its lovely Italy setting and for a sweet romance!3.5* (first, I rounded my rating up, but five days later I realize I barely remember the ending... It touched me less than I thought!)
Rating: really liked it
Lori Nelson Spielman's newest book,
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany , serves up a healthy dose of family drama and secrets set against a gorgeous Italian backdrop.
For more than 200 years, there has been a curse in the Fontana family: no second-born daughter has ever found lasting love. Emilia tries not to let the idea of a curse bother her—sure, she wouldn't mind a companion, but she loves working as a baker at her family’s Italian deli and bakery, her Brooklyn neighborhood, and her family (sort of). But her cousin Lucy is weighed down by the curse and desperately tries to find luck with any man who pays her even the slightest bit attention. (Even those who don't.)
Emilia is shocked when her long-estranged great-aunt Poppy invites her and Lucy on an all-expense-paid trip to Italy. Poppy says they must make it to the Ravello Cathedral on her 80th birthday, where she will meet her true love, and the Fontana Family curse will be lifted. (Not that Poppy believes in the curse, but...)
Their grandmother, who raised Emilia and her sister, has forbidden anyone in the family to have contact with Poppy, over something that happened years and years before. But traveling to Italy has always been a dream for Emilia, and the idea of the curse being lifted is too powerful to give up (particularly for Lucy), so they disobey Nonna and join Poppy for the trip.
Of course, there are many family secrets that have been kept hidden for years, secrets that threaten to topple them all. Both Emilia and Lucy realize that they will need to make changes within themselves if they have any chance of happiness, and that may mean standing up for themselves for once. But will Poppy meet her true love? Will the curse be lifted? Will Emilia speak her mind?
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany was a dramatic story, a story of love and loss and courage and family and secrets. I enjoyed the second half more than the first—I found most of the characters pretty frustrating for a while and I wished Emilia would stop being a doormat for everyone. But as Poppy shared her love story and the family secrets kept hidden, the beauty and emotion of the story overtook me.
Italy is a place I’ve not yet had the chance to travel to but Spielman’s imagery made me long for it. Hopefully I'll get there someday!!
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2020 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2020.html.
Check out my list of the best books of the last decade at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/my-favorite-books-of-decade.html.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
Rating: really liked it
Best paired with a bowl of pasta and a glass of wine,
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany follows two cousins, Emilia and Lucy, invited to Italy by their great Aunt Poppy to celebrate her 80th birthday where she’ll reunite with the love of her life. Poppy is determined to show the girls the Fontana family’s Second Daughter Curse is just a myth and that they can find love after all.
I enjoyed traversing through Italy and learning more about the Fontana family’s history in
The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany. What I didn’t like was Emilia’s family, who mostly all seemed very selfish and unsupportive. I was frustrated by her lack of standing up for herself but appreciated her character growth over time. I liked Poppy and really enjoyed the humor Lucy brought to the story.
Rating: really liked it
What an amazing story. Deep dark family secrets are not what they seem to be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Have you ever read a story that just makes your heart sing? A story that is so rich and warm you just want it to go on forever? The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany is that book.
Speilman gifts her readers with an amazing story that crosses generations and completely pulls you in. From New York to Italy, The Berlin Wall to a tiny church in Ravello, we hear a story about a love so profound it can cross the ages.
With tears a plenty, we meet the characters who are so different and unique you can’t help but be entranced by their story. Spielman delves deep into the human psyche with shades of manipulation, jealously, heartbreak, profound love, and more. We meet characters we love and those we love to hate. Those deep dark family secrets are so much more than what they seem.
I just wanted this book to keep going. I wanted more for Poppy. I want to know what happens to Emilia. I just want more!
For an amazing story that will leave you with a warm heart and a bit weepy too, this book is one that will set the mark for those yet to come. Speilman brings it with her storytelling skills and the colorful, rich experience we are left with once we close the pages. The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany truly does make our heart sing.
* copy received for review consideration
Full review - https://amidlifewife.com/the-star-cro...
Rating: really liked it
Meh. This wasn't for me. It's melodramatic and over-the-top in a very soap opera kind of way. While I can enjoy stories like that at times (a number of Beatriz Williams' books come to mind), I have to invest in the characters, and I didn't much like anybody in this book, although I'm sure the nerdy, bookish, jaded heroine was meant to appeal to someone like me. This is also one of those books that's all about forgiveness, and it's granted with nothing more than an apology (or even without one) to several people who absolutely don't deserve it. Yes, forgiveness is a good thing in general, but toxic people need to be cut out, and they don't inherently deserve forgiveness. I'm not into a story that romanticizes toxic people getting away with things scot free.
Details: (view spoiler)
[While Emilia's mean girl sister does apologize, her explanation that she's been horrid because she was worried about her sister is such bullshit. I can see forgiving her, but not maintaining trust. That has to be earned back.
Then there's Poppy's sister (Rosa), who stole Poppy's daughter, pretended that child was hers, and convinced everyone Poppy was insane when Poppy told the truth. Poppy forgives her, and Rosa never apologizes. Poppy insists that the family not be told about what Rosa did until after Rosa dies. At least Emilia hates this, but by the time Rosa does pass, Emilia's full of forgiveness too, sympathetic because of how scared Rosa was. But some people manage to be scared without being monstrously awful. When confronted by Emilia, Rosa didn't grow. This woman doesn't deserve the treatment she gets. Forgiveness is healthy, sure, but I think truth is healthy too, and that's been squandered for forgiveness.
I know some people won't agree with me on this, but personally I thought it was massive bullshit, and it angered me to see this. Being too forgiving leads to emotional manipulation and acceptance of mistreatment. Emilia's whole arc was about learning to stand up to her toxic sister and grandmother and pursue real love for herself, so this forgiveness stuff really seemed to conflict with that. (hide spoiler)] On the plus side, the narration of the audiobook is good, with a well-cast narrator for both Poppy and Emilia. The author merely reads a brief author's note.
