Florence Legacy by Lauraine Snelling

 

Wouldn't it be fun to be gifted a trip to Italy? In Lauraine Snelling's latest book, The Florence Legacy, Breeanna Lindstrom has always dreamed of taking a trip to Italy to see "the David." Breeanna had trips planned with her writing friends a couple of times in the past but they fell through. Then her friend Jade passed away and left Breeanna and her friends in the writing group the money to finally take the trip.

Pierre-Rene Dubois is a widower with a dream of opening a coffee shop that will specialize in helping veterans. He is Breeanna's neighbor's brother-in-law--and he speaks several languages. Before leaving for her trip, Breeanna and Pierre meet and then work together to make sure Breeanna can speak some of the language she will need on her trip. Besides the language lessons, there are some sparks of interest between the two. But can they make a relationship work with all the two have going on in their lives?

The Florence Legacy is a character driven novel with a lot of setting description along with characters with real problems. I enjoyed meeting Pierre and Breeanna. Also, their friends and families. It was interesting to follow along with Breeanna on their trip to Italy as Snelling offers her rich descriptions of the adventures they had there. As a foodie, I especially enjoyed following along on their cooking class and restaurant adventures. I equally enjoyed watching Pierre set up his coffee shop and the challenges that went along with that. I didn't like Breeanna's daughter, Jessica, at first but I felt she had matured quite a bit as the book progressed and that seemed realistic.

I think the modern-day struggles between the characters and their families seemed fairly realistic. The trip also seemed to be fairly realistic although I have never been to Italy. There were places that the book moved slowly for me, but I think that happens in character driven novels sometimes. I felt The Florence Legacy had a satisfying conclusion and I did enjoy much of it but it was not a fast read for me.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.

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