Roman Crazy by Alice Clayton and Nina Bocci

OUR REVIEW:

Where to start? Hmmm. 

Maybe I should start with Alice Clayton, Nina Bocci and the cover of Roman Crazy. I didn't even have to read the synopsis to know I was interested. But I did read the synopsis and stalked Net Galley, constantly searching for it, until it magically appeared and I couldn't click fast enough to request it. 

Or maybe I should start with Avery and Marcello and Daisy (because I really can't leave Daisy out when gushing about this book). 

Avery and Marcello falling in love not just once but twice? Gah. Their love story is passionate and sweet and hopeful. We not only get to read about their love in Italy but how they found each other in Spain. We get to see them meet again and work through hurt or guilty feelings--facing some uncomfortable truths, and then get to the business of learning all about who they are now, all these years later. I enjoyed every step of their journey. A journey I feel like we have to thank Daniel (the ex) and Daisy (the best friend) for. Daniel may have started Avery's chance to rediscover herself but Daisy gave her a place to do it and made it a joyful experience; we all need a Daisy in our lives, don't we?

Maybe I should mention how this is a massive love letter?

In my mind this is a love letter to second chances to love someone who got away..or you let go of...or the time and place weren't right..or...you get the picture, right? The way Avery and Marcello's grown up love affair developed just seemed so right--I wasn't hung up Avery and where she was in her divorce proceedings--instead I was falling in love with the way Avery and Marcello loved each other. 

This love letter wasn't just one for romantic love though; unless you can be romantically involved with Rome and the food porn in this novel. I swear to God I have the hugest desire to book myself a trip to Italy and sample every delicious bite of food and sip every glorious wine I can (and I don't even drink wine!). The descriptions of the sights of Rome were vivid and written with such care and the food? Well, I think I gained 10 lbs just reading about everything they ate. 

Maybe I should...

I should tell you to buy it and read it. It's glorious. Alice Clayton and Nina Bocci paired up to write a romance that sweeps you away to Italy and when you're not laughing at all the funny things these characters say, you're swooning at the love story, and googling "local authentic Italian cuisine" in the hopes that your area has something close to what you were reading about. 

BUY IT: http://amzn.to/2c2zcd8
Synopsis:
Avery Bardot steps off the plane in Rome, looking for a fresh start. She’s left behind a soon-to-be ex-husband in Boston and plans to spend the summer with her best friend Daisy, licking her wounds—and perhaps a gelato or two. But when her American-expat friend throws her a welcome party on her first night, Avery’s thrown for a loop when she sees a man she never thought she’d see again: Italian architect Marcello Bianchi.

Marcello was the man—the one who got away. And now her past is colliding with her present, a present where she should be mourning the loss of her marriage and—hey, that fettuccine is delicious! And so is Marcello…

Slipping easily into the good life of summertime in Rome, Avery spends her days exploring a city that makes art historians swoon, and her nights swooning over her unexpected what was old is new again romance. It’s heady, it’s fevered, it’s wanton, and it’s crazy. But could this really be her new life? Or is it just a temporary reprieve before returning to the land of twin-set cardigans and crustless sandwiches?