From the inside cover:
Meet the Roncalli and Angelini families, a vibrant cast of colorful characters who navigate tricky family dynamics with hilarity and brio, from magical Manhattan to the picturesque hills of bella Italia. Very Valentine is the first novel in a trilogy that is sure to be the new favorite of Trigiani's millions of fans around the world.
In this luscious, contemporary family saga, the Angelini Shoe Company, makers of exquisite wedding shoes since 1903, is one of the last family-owned businesses in the Greenwich Village. The company is on the verge of financial collapse. It falls to thirty-three-year-old Valentine Roncalli, the talented and determined apprentice to her grandmother, the master artisan Teodora Angelini, to bring the family's old-world craftmanship into the twenty-first century and save the company from ruin.
While juggling a budding romance with dashing chef Roman Falconi, her duty to her family, and a design challenge presented by a prestigious department store, Valentine returns to Italy with her grandmother to learn new techniques and seek one-of-a-kind materials for building a pair of glorious shoes to beat their rivals. There, in Tuscany, Naples, and on the Isle of Capri, a family secret is revealed as Valentine discovers her artistic voice and much more, turning her life and the family business upside down in ways she never expected. Very Valentine is a sumptuous treat, a journey of dreams fullfilled, a celebration of love and loss filled with Trigiani's trademark heart and humor.
This book was just okay for me. I felt that there were too many descriptions. Yes, it's nice to know what Italy looks like, but I don't need to know what every single person is wearing or what everything smells like. That's just me though.
As for the characters, sometimes I like Valentine and felt warmth from her and other times I didn't get her at all. The same went for Roman. There were times when I liked him and wanted them to make it work, but there were other times where I didn't like him and felt like he should have put more energy into their relationship. I did really like the character of Gram. I loved that an eighty-year old women could fall in love.
Overall, I had to put focus into reading this book, it didn't just fly by for me. I'm not saying that it's not good--it is. I'm just not one that likes so much detail.
I gave this book a rating of 3/5.
This book fullfilled items in the following challenge:
A to Z Reading Challenge: V
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