PINTEREST
BLOGLOVIN
GOODREADS
Two families at war and Alice finds herself caught in the middle. Can she re-write a story as old as time?
When cutbacks force Alice out of her assistant manager role at a Devonshire stately home, she turns her sights elsewhere: the picturesque hills above the historic city of Parma. An aristocratic Italian family are looking to open their medieval castle to the public, and Alice is just the woman for the job.
Four years ago, a life-changing accident pushed Alice into depression, but the beauty and charm of the Italian countryside works its magic in brightening her days. Especially when she keeps bumping into handsome Luca… But rivalries run deep in the town, and Alice’s work – not to mention her potential love life – are caught in the middle of a long-standing feud between two families.
With her job and future happiness in peril, can Alice save the future of the castle, and bring two warring families together?
A gorgeous and uplifting romance, for fans of Rosanna Ley, Sue Moorcroft and Lucy Coleman.
MY THOUGHTS
My thanks to Rachel of Rachel’s Random Resources for the tour invitation. I do enjoy Trevor’s books and am delighted to take part in today’s publication day push by sharing my review. Change of Heart (Beneath Italian Skies #2) is published by Canelo, today, 2 November and is available in ebook and paperback. Whilst this is shown as being the second in a series, the book is a standalone and can be enjoyed as such. My review copy was supplied via Netgalley.
The last book I read by Trevor was last year and reviewed here An Escape to Remember and I had no hesitation in accepting a review invitation for this one. His books are a glorious mix of Italian culture and romance – and the food! I swear I was drooling for much of the book!
Here we meet 31 year old Alice, who after a change of circumstances accepts a job working for the Varaldo family who have aspirations to open their castle to the public. Alice had previously lived in Italy, spoke the language fluently and would seem the ideal person if she could conquer her inner demons and confidence crisis following her accident. The Varaldo family finances are diminishing and although significant restoration will be required, they need to get the project underway. The fly in the ointment is the local Mayor, who can either assist or obstruct their plans. With a feud between the two families going back generations, it is clear which camp he will be in.
Set in Parma, northern Italy, A Change of Heart is an uplifting and heartwarming story of romance, drama and food – did I mention there is food! 😂 I adore Italy and the vivid descriptions of the locations makes me want to be back there. Of course there is also the obligatory black labrador, a trademark of this author’s books.
With well drawn (and mostly) engaging characters this is overall a story of positivity and how being brave and opening yourself to new challenges and opportunities can pay dividends, in all manner of ways. The romance element was charming and although the path to love was not always smooth, I was rooting for our characters all the way and hoping there was a happy ending.
If you haven’t read any books by T A Williams before, do give them a try. I have no hesitation in recommending them. A Change of Heart is a lovely escapist read and one to lose yourself in for a few hours.
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 ten 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 escapist romance is something I still find hard to explain. My early books were thrillers and historical novels and I now also write cozy crime, but my first love has always been romance. 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 descriptions of food to make you drool.
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