That's Amore

Wendy Markham
(aka Wendy Corsi Staub)

6/24/2008

Daria Marshall comes from a long line of gypsies. She has the same wanderlust. She can't settle down in one place. She married and tried to settle in Seattle, but the marriage didn't work out. Then she was on the road again. Now she thinks she'll move to Phoenix with an old friend. While George is getting his new business ready to open, Daria visits her sister, Tammy, in New York City.

Ralph Chickalini is the youngest of five. His father has just died. Ralph never knew his mother and had always lived in the family home with Pop. Now he is trying to come to terms with his life. When Tammy, a medium, meets him, she sees his sadness and how resistant to change he is.

While Daria is sitting at Tammy's trying to figure out what she really wants out of her life, another ghost visits her. She calls him Sad Eyes, an older man with a very sad expression. She has seen ghosts most of her life, like her sister, which is one reason she stays on the road.

A few days later she agrees to accompany Tammy to the local parish church for the annual family New Year's Eve party. Sad Eyes is there. But Daria also sees this interesting man who catches her attention until she learns he is engaged. What she doesn't know is that the woman who asked her romantic advice in the restroom was going to follow it and break off the engagement with that same man - Ralph.

After his engagement is broken, the relieved Ralph slips out of the parish and goes over to the family pizza parlor and takes over for his brother-in-law. Daria also decides to leave the party, and stops to buy a piece of pizza. They start talking. She won't allow one thing to lead to another and after a while goes home - unwittingly without her cell phone. When she returns for the phone on New Year's Day, Daria finds herself pulled by the Chickalini family and especially Ralph. But she knows she isn't the type to settle down and won't let herself be hooked in. She is the worse thing that could happen to Ralph.

Markham has written a heart warming, realistic romance. That's Amore reads easily and is fun escapism. Ralph and Daria don't get together in three days or even three weeks. Ralph still has a lot of healing to do over the loss of his father and the break up of his family as they all move from the old neighborhood. Daria still has to decide she won't be a gypsy the rest of her life. Then they have to work out their relationship.

Most of the book takes place the first week or two after they meet. But their reunion at the end is not rushed nor did I feel cheated as the in between times are skipped except as explanatory to finish the novel. Both characters had more growing to do and Markham allowed them to do that. This novel is a charmer.

You can find more about this book at .

Notice: Somewhat explicit, brief sexual situations

Provided for review