Bøger i The Rock & the Rose Saga serien

Italians don't follow their hearts-they lead with them. After an eventful five months, Angelina, an Italian native, and Benjamin, a transplanted American, have fallen in love and are expecting a child-both events unexpected. They begin planning their wedding in Rimini, on the Adriatic coast of Italy-with Valentina's help, of course-and Angelina looks forward to meeting Benjamin's family from America. Valentina, Angelina's godmother, embraces the wedding planning as she adds matron of honor and de facto mother of the bride to her resumé. Angelina's mother had died more than a dozen years before, but for a few short months in high school, she and Valentina had been the happiest of lovers. Valentina is pleased for Angelina's pregnancy and upcoming wedding to Benjamin and begins to embrace the idea of becoming a grandmother. But first, she must get through the wedding. Just as life is settling down for everyone, people from Valentina's past surface, and she is arrested for the murder of Angelina's first husband. Has Valentina been lying to Angelina all this time? Valentina's personal history as a former spy and police officer adds mystery to romance. Italian phrases throughout the book, along with pertinent quotes by François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire) introducing each Intermezzo chapter, add a delightful romanticism to the stories. "For me, the following Voltaire quote pretty much encapsulates Within Me, An Invincible Summer: 'Superstition sets the whole world in flames; philosophy quenches them.'"-Anne Frandi-Coory, author of Whatever Happened to Ishtar? and Dragons, Deserts and Dreams

Stories of Love, Life, Passion, Resilience, Resistance, and Recovery in Northern Italy>Know Your Own HappinessA timeless story of an Italian woman before her time.>Carlo De Marco, a U.S. Army Captain, swept Loredana off her feet in Bologna, then swept his new bride and stepdaughter away to America, as Loredana joined thousands of other Italian war brides moving to the United States. Loredana and Mariangela found a new hometown, a new family, and a new world different in all the ways expected. But it was the unexpected ways that proved the biggest challenge. Still, Loredana believed that Trenton, New Jersey, would be their forever home. So why was Loredana back in Bologna? Not Within the StarsIn a world where everyone was a survivor-some survived more. Silvia Marchese, daughter of a Rimini fishing family, forced to grow up before her time, found herself before the age of sixteen responsible for a house and her younger brother, after their parents and two older brothers died when their fishing boat was bombed-collateral damage of WWII. After the death of grandmother, Silvia finds herself ostracized by her remaining family, only able to count on only her brother Donni and their boarder, Gregorio, for companionship and friendship. Silvia marries Gregorio and they build a life in Rimini, Italy. Silvia appreciates the maturing influence the vivacious Mariangela, a young woman he met at a Rimini beach, exerts on Donni. Silvia is all too happy to witness her brother's marriage to Mariangela, happier still at the birth of their first child, Valentina. Yet tragedy is never far from Silvia's side, causing her to wonder if she might ever know true happiness. At least, until the track & field championships in Torino. Is Torino where Silvia finally finds lasting happiness? The Lovely Face of LightLose your heart-and find your soul-in Lebanon. Aisha, born a Shia Muslim in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, moved with her parents to the mountain town of Harissa as a teenager. There, she discovered the world was not just far bigger but far different than anything she'd imagined. Aisha finally found Allah but on a different path... a path that also led her to Marco. Marco Bracco, a native of the Puglia region of Italy, had come to Harissa on behalf of his Italian construction firm to manage a significant project for his company. Marco had expected to be in Lebanon for a year or so-and he hadn't expected to meet anyone like Aisha. And just as unexpectedly, Marco soon found himself wondering if Lebanon was meant to be his home. But how was Marco supposed to convince a Lebanese Shia Muslim father that a Roman Catholic man-an Italian foreigner, no less-was a worthy suitor for his daughter Aisha? Perhaps Basi could help.