Book Review: Dolci di Love

By Sandy Amazeen Apr 7, 2011, 2:18 GMT

New from the author of House of Daughters- an irresistible confection of love, loss, and Italian sweets in the delectable tradition of Chocolat Corporate star Lily Turner abandons the boardrooms of Manhattan for the steep streets of Montevedova when she discovers her "perfect" husband, Daniel, has another family tucked away in the hills of Tuscany. Once there, her plight attracts the attention of the Secret League of ...more

When Lily Turner, a top executive for Heigelmann’s, a major Manhattan based company first discovered a photo stuck in her husband’s golf shoe she didn’t know what to feel. Childless and apparently barren, Lily had wanted nothing more then to be able to hold a child of her own. It was a simple wish but one she hadn’t been able to fulfill. With the discovery of the photo showing a woman with two beautiful children who obviously took after her husband Daniel, it was clear he had set about creating a second family in Tuscany where he worked one week of every month.

In a drunken stupor, Lily books a flight to Italy and sets off without any idea of what she is going to do should she see Daniel. Upon arrival in the sleepy town of Montevedova Lily quickly becomes the latest project of an eccentric group of widows known as the Secret League of Widowed Darners who are actually matchmakers. At first, they think handsome widower Alessandro is the perfect match for Lily but her complicated relationship with Daniel keeps getting in the way. As the widows get Lily involved in a charming cottage industry making cookies, she meets Daniel’s love child and soon falls in love the little girl. With the widows carefully pulling strings in the background, Lily begins to heal, regaining her spontaneity and apperception for the little things but will it be enough to overcome seven years of deceit.

This charming love story immerses readers into small town Tuscany life where the pace is slower, the sun is brighter and the cookies are sweeter then anything to be found in New York. The quirky characters offset the serious issues of infidelity and infertility while liberal doses of humor, genuine remorse and forgiveness provide warmth and depth to this sweet tale that is simply good fun.