Corbello, Italy, 1947. A woman and a little boy stagger into the ruins of an old house deep in the forest, wild roses overwhelming the crumbling terracotta walls. Since the war, nowhere has been safe. But they both freeze in shock when a voice calls out from the shadows…
For young mother Fosca Sentino, accepting refuge from reluctant British war hero Richard – in Tuscany to escape his tragic past – is the only way to keep her little family safe. She once risked everything to spy on Nazi commanders and pass secret information to the resistenza. But after a heartbreaking betrayal, Fosca’s best friend Simonetta disappeared without trace. The whole community was torn apart, and now Fosca and her son are outcasts.
Wary of this handsome stranger at first, Fosca slowly starts to feel safe as she watches him play with her son in the overgrown orchard. But her fragile peace is shattered the moment a silver brooch is found in the garden, and she recognises it as Simonetta’s…
Fosca has always suspected that another member of the resistenza betrayed her. With Richard by her side, she must find out if Simonetta is still alive, and clear her own name. But how did the brooch end up at the house? And with a traitor hiding in the village, willing to do anything to keep this secret buried, has Fosca put herself and her young son in terrible danger?
Before The Tuscan House, I had not read much about WWII in Italy outside of my world history classes. Angela Petch brings the Italian city of Corbello to life, both during the war and after as it is rebuilding. The people of Corbello showed an intense friendship and loyalty to Richard, welcoming him back as if he had always belonged.
Fosca was an interesting character. I’m still not quite sure what to think of her. She was brave, but selfishly so at times. I guess that makes her more human. Richard was the same. I think that is what really stands out for the characters in Corbello – they are human. They try to do the right thing, but feeling, life, and circumstances sometimes get in the way – and a few are just downright awful people. It’s a very realistic mix.
The town was busy rebuilding, and Richard was trying to rebuild his life. It was a fitting place for his story. When he finds the body of a woman in the garden behind his new fixer-upper, the story takes quite a turn. There’s a case of mistaken identity, some blackmail, stolen gold, and even an ex-girlfriend thrown in.
But I feel the heart of the story was further in the past – during the war – when the resistance was doing everything they could to harm the Nazis and Fascists. The daring and bravery of these folks were riveting, and their adventures and sabotage may have really helped the war effort. The Tuscan House has made me add some more books about how Italy managed during the war to my non-fiction list.
I was fully on board, 100%, 5-stars all the way until the very very end. It felt a little contrived, and almost like the author had to wrap up a loose end and didn’t know how else to manage it.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
Pressure is a hot, enemies-to-lovers romance, contemporary romance written in K. Bromberg’s Driven World Project.
Malik Pierce lives with his family’s high expectations in his head. He does his best to make them proud. Slated as the next CEO for a billion-dollar racing company and on track to become its top strategist, he should be on top of the world, but life has handed him a cheating scandal that won’t be simple to solve.
Sarai Lambert wants a man she can trust to do the right thing, but right now, Malik isn’t that man. Not yet, anyway. She can’t sit back and wait as life passes her by. She has to move on, but when she does, the happy life she thought she’d get in exchange for leaving her hometown is nothing but a dream… until or unless Malik can pull himself together and fix the problems in his life.
Will they find a path forward together or are Malik’s problems too much for either to bear?
“Why do I keep running into her?” I mumbled to myself. Since it was still pretty early and I’m not fond of it still being semi-dark, I approached her to see if she wanted to jog with me.
“We keep meeting like this,” I muttered, surprising her and she jumped back and held her hand to her chest catching her breath.
“Sorry for scaring you,” I said.
“What are you doing here, Malik? Are you following me?” Sarai queried as she looked around the area. I chuckled and shook my head no.
“Out for my morning run.”
“I came out to run and never saw you out here,” Sarai replied. “Usually you’ll catch me on the other side.”
“Ohh,” Sarai said.
“You want to run together?” I asked.
“Uhm…sure,” Sarai said.
She followed alongside me as I started jogging at a slow pace keeping my focus in front of me and debating if I wanted to bring up last night. “What time did you get in last night?” I questioned.
“Pretty much thirty minutes after you left,” Sarai said.
“Who is your boyfriend?”
Sarai chortled. “That didn’t last five minutes in before you got in my business.”
“I like to ask questions.”
“Are you dating Asia?” she questioned, and I was taken aback at her constantly asking me about Asia.
“She told my mom you guys were dating and I’m trying to steal you,” Sarai said.
I stopped jogging, placed my hands across my chest and Sarai shrugged her shoulders like it wasn’t a big deal her cousin was going around and lying about me.
“I’m not interested in Asia.”
“I know, but she’s in her own world and trying to find a rich guy to feed into her delusions,” she said.
“I think it’s time for me and Asia to have another conversation.”
“I can talk with her for you,” Sarai mentioned.
“You’re family and I hate to cause any issues between you two.”
“She’s young. I tried many times to help her out with finding work that fits her personality,” Sarai told me.
“Corporate Cares is a great place to work at and to gain world experience,” I said.
We started running again around the track and a few more people showed up as the sun was rising.
“Yeah, I switch between CD Enterprises and Corporate Cares. Most of the time I work out of my main office in the city,” Sarai stated.
“How did you end up working for Pierce Motors?”
“I forget we never had to deal with each other until the last year or so,”
Sarai remarked. That was true because most of the time I stayed more focused on the team and the business side and less on the celebrity side of things with the drivers.
“Once I started working with Colton and from Ry’s recommendations, I was introduced to Arianna and we hit it off and she asked me to meet with Jackson,” Sarai explained.
“So, who do you think is better, CD Enterprises or Pierce Motors?” I joked.
“Never gonna answer that question,” Sarai replied. I laughed and came upon a bench and stopped to sit down to catch my breath and talk more.
Chiquita Dennie is an Author, Filmmaker, Podcast host, and Entrepreneur. Born in Memphis, TN, and currently a Los Angeles CA native. Her background in film/tv has taught and shaped her passion for writing with her debut romance novel Antonio and Sabrina Struck In Love. Since its debut, fans have embraced the unconventional love story of Sabrina Washington and Antonio De Luca an Amazon Best Seller series.
Warlord Wulf thought nothing could be worse than being tortured and contaminated by the Hive. That was before he’s ordered to transport to Earth and represent The Colony in an unfamiliar horror… a human reality show. The Bachelor Beast is the hottest new program on Earth, but being set up with two dozen clingy females is not his idea of a good time. When his Beast refuses to show the slightest interest in any of the show’s potential mates, he knows he must choose one or die due to his raging mating fever.
His Beast prefers execution to claiming anyone but his true mate. Wulf is resigned to his fate, a one-way trip to Atlan, a prison cell and execution. It is the only honorable thing left to do.
Until one glance, one sweet, feminine scent lingering in the air and his beast rages for a female who is not supposed to be his.
But try telling that to his Beast when his entire body transforms on live television and one simple word thunders from his lips…MINE.
This couldn’t be what I thought it was. This huge, gorgeous alien man was not talking about me. No freaking way.
I took a step backward.
Wulf’s roar made people scream.
I didn’t scream. I couldn’t breathe.
Chet had his dramatic voice back under control. “Ladies and gentlemen, what we are seeing is unprecedented in the history of live television. It appears that the alien, Warlord Wulf, has decided to choose a member of our audience as his mate.”
Wulf spun around and faced Chet. The man turned pale under his thick stage makeup. When Wulf loomed over him, Chet gulped, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Wulf grabbed the microphone out of Chet’s hand and squeezed, crumpling the metal as if it were tinfoil, then dropped it to the orange carpet.
Wulf turned around, ignored Chet entirely and made his way in my direction again.
“Turn the cameras!” the producer hissed.
The one nearest me swung about, and I was about to jump out of the way of its path when Wulf stopped it with his palm. The cameraman retreated to safety, and with one push Wulf toppled the huge machine onto its side. The crash reverberated through the set, but all I heard was a second, “Mine,” coming from Wulf’s lips. The producer screamed at the other cameras to get the shot as Wulf stopped directly before me and… sniffed.
I looked up. Way up. My head was tilted so far back my chin was facing him more than my eyes. My mouth hung open.
“Um… hi.”
“Mate.”
“Uh… no. No, no. No,” I stuttered.
“Mine.”
Taking another deep breath, he growled. Men with handheld cameras surrounded us, absorbing in everything. What was I wearing? God, I had on my white T-shirt with the word sassy in sequins across my chest. It was almost laundry day, and I wore a skirt I’d found in the back of my closet. My hair was up in a sloppy bun, and while I did makeup for a living, I wore none. Holy crap, I was on live TV around the world.
I couldn’t think of that now. An Atlan warlord was looming over me, breathing hard and saying mine.
“Genevieve or Willow are lovely choices for a mate. You should pick one of them,” I said, my voice shaky.
“No. You. Mate.”
My eyes widened and I stared. You could have heard a pin drop on the set… and Wulf’s ragged breathing. “Me?”
Grace Goodwin is a USA Today and international bestselling author of Sci-Fi and Paranormal romance with nearly one million books sold. Grace’s titles are available worldwide in multiple languages in ebook, print and audio formats. Two best friends, one left-brained, the other right-brained, make up the award-winning writing duo that is Grace Goodwin. They are both mothers, escape room enthusiasts, avid readers and intrepid defenders of their preferred beverages. (There may or may not be an ongoing tea vs. coffee war occurring during their daily communications.) Grace loves to hear from readers.
