Very Valentine
A Novel
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“Sex and the City meets Moonstruck….Sly, sensual, and dripping in style.”
—People
Poignant, funny, warm, and red hot, Very Valentine is a wonderful treat for Adriana Trigiani fans—a “delightful” (Boston Globe), “romance-soaked novel” (Marie Claire) from much adored playwright, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, and New York Times bestselling author of Lucia, Lucia; Rococo; and Big Stone Gap. The adventures of an extraordinary and unforgettable woman as she attempts to rescue her family’s struggling shoe business and find love at the same time, Very Valentine sweeps the reader from the streets of Manhattan to the picturesque hills of la bella Italia. Already a national bestseller, here is a valentine from the incomparable Trigiani that you can take into your heart.
The Angelini Shoe Company, one of the last family-owned businesses in Greenwich Village, has been making exquisite wedding shoes since 1903 but now teeters on the brink of financial collapse. To save their business from ruin, thirty-three-year-old Valentine Roncalli—apprentice to and granddaughter of master artisan Teodora Angelini—must bring the family's old-world craftsmanship into the twenty-first century. Juggling her 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 in a quest to build a pair of glorious shoes to beat their rivals. And in the course of discovering her true artistic voice and so much more in la bella Italia, Valentine will be turning her life and the business upside down in ways she never expected.
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Author Extras
Reading Guides:
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Critical Praise for
Very Valentine
“ Sex and the City meets Moonstruck … this first in a new trilogy from Trigiani is sly, sensual and dripping in style.”
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People, Lead Review
May be [Triginai’s] best work to date… Delightful, energetic… Trigiani is a seemingly effortless storyteller.”
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Boston Globe
“Well-crafted work with sometime lyrical, sometimes flat-out-funny writing.”
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“Trigiani has certainly not lost her ability to breathe life into everything she writes.”
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Roanoke Times
“Adriana Trigiani listens to her readers, then gives them what they want. That’s why they’ll be ecstatic about her newest novel…”
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Richmond Times-Dispatch
“No one ever reads just one of Trigiani’s wonderfully quirky tales. Once you pick up the first, you are hooked..... Trigiani fills her pages with snappy dialogue and luscious descriptions.... Reading Very Valentine is like tucking into a plate of homemade manicotti: irresistible and delicious.”
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BookPage
“Load up on cappuccino and biscotti before getting lost in the super froth of Adriana Trigiani’s romance-soaked novel, Very Valentine”
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Marie Claire
“Nicely written with vivid images of high fashion, New York City, and traditional Italy, Trigiani’s latest is sure to be eagerly anticipated by her many fans and attact some new readers.”
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Library Journal
“[Very Valentine] will have readers who love romantic novels...swooning. Trigiani’s closing is satisfying, even as it paves the way for the lovable heroine to reappear in a planned sequel.”
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Booklist
“This genteel and lush tale of soles and souls has loads of charm and will leave readers eager for the sequel.”
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Publishers Weekly
“Trigiani offers plenty of reasons to stick around for part two.”
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Kirkus Reviews
Praise for the Big Stone Gap novels: “Fans of this warm, homey series will find added dimension by listening to their favorite characters brought so perfectly to life.”
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Publishers Weekly
“Delightfully quirky . . . chock-full of engaging, oddball characters and unexpected plot twists.”
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People
“Heartwarming . . . Everything that really matters is here: humor, romance, wisdom, and drama.”
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Dallas Morning News
“Trigiani blends playfulness and pathos in this evocative portrait of a small southern town.”
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Booklist (starred review)
“Funny, charming, and original.”
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Fannie Flagg
“[Trigiani’s] characters [are] the perfect antidote to an angst-filled world.”
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Denver Post
“As comforting as a mug of chamomile tea on a rainy Sunday.”
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New York Times Book Review
Praise for LUCIA, LUCIA: “This heartwarming tale is full of lessons about taking risks in life and love.”
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Cosmopolitan
“Trigiani’s writing is as dazzling as Lucia’s dresses.”
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USA Today
“Compelling . . . A breezy read.”
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Entertainment Weekly
“Fast-moving, funny, visual, and moving. . . A vibrant, loving, wistful portrait of a lost time and place. Every page is engrossing and begs us to read the next.”
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Richmond Times-Dispatch
“Trigiani creates a compelling story, artfully uniting a snapshot of the past with the present. This bittersweet novel should have broad appeal.”
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Library Journal
“Filled to bursting with gorgeous clothes, sumptuous meals, beautiful weather, and the rhapsody of New York City.”
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Kirkus Reviews
“You’ll find yourself lost in an Audrey Hepburn movie that was never made.”
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CNNMoney.com
“A heartfelt depiction of homespun characters whose emotions are always very close to the surface . . . Trigiani offers an inviting picture of Italian life as well as a finely detailed appreciation of Old World craftsmanship.”
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Booklist
“A bustling, sparkling 1950s New York City . . . Trigiani does a wonderful job evoking Lucia’s beloved, homey Greenwich Village and the couture-clad Upper East Side. Vivid, too, are the descriptions of Italian cooking and feasting, and the Sartoris’ storybook hometown in the old country.”
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Boston Herald
“Poignant and feeling . . . Readers will laugh with and weep for Lucia and her lost dreams.”
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Publishers Weekly
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