Beautiful Secret by Dana Faletti
This is the first book that I have read by Dana Faletti and I am very pleasantly surprised. Beautiful Secret at first confused me because the writer kept skipping from present day to the past. This is a story about a granddaughter, Tate, struggling with the loss of her grandmother, Maria.
The story begins with Tate struggling with the loss of her parents (within a year of each other) and her marriage going downhill fast when her grandmother passes away. Tate, lost in her grief, takes a trip to Europe in order to learn about her grandmother’s life before coming to America. What Tate finds is not only information on her grandmother, but she finds herself in the process. This is a beautiful story about the woman Maria was, the struggles she soldiered through and the story Tate discovers while discovering herself.
Tate goes to France and Italy in order to meet distant relatives and find out about Maria. She meets so many relatives and loves them instantly. With the help of her great uncle, she travels to Italy and learns all about her Grandmother when she was young, found about her grandmother’s true love and meets (and travels with) Michele. Michele is her second (adopted) cousin, who is hot and sexy. Michele and Tate discover a heated connection that neither was able to resist. They knew their love wasn’t meant to last, however, their love and the story Maria left behind helped heal Tate’s broken heart.
This story is absolutely beautiful. I couldn’t put the book down once I started reading it. Dana Faletti will be an author that I will be looking out for!
Set in the lush hills of the French Ardennes and the scorched mountains of Southern Italy, Beautiful Secret is a tale of family secrets, forbidden love, and unexpected blessings.
Maria’s story unfolds in 1940’s Italy, where family ties and tradition are of utmost importance. When Maria is seduced by her cousin’s fiancé, she becomes pregnant, and the scandal destroys her family. Whisked away from her poor rural village of Tronca to a severe Catholic convent several mountain towns away, she gives birth to a son. Maria is under tremendous pressure to give her baby up for adoption. Against the odds, she manages to keep her child and then must find a way to get him back to the home and family that is his birth right.
Years later, after being forced to marry and emigrate to America, Maria is at the end of her life. As she lies on her deathbed in a Pittsburgh hospital, Maria shares her story with her beloved granddaughter, Tatiana.
Awash in her own marital troubles, Tatiana agrees to Maria’s dying wish – to travel to Europe and retrieve a package from an aunt she’s never met. When Tate journeys to the land of her ancestors, she fully expects to meet her long lost family and to lay eyes on the places that cultivated a spirit like her Nana Maria’s. What she doesn’t anticipate is falling into a forbidden love affair with a sexy French man who happens to be her distant cousin by marriage. Throughout her journey, Tate not only discovers a shocking secret that Nana Maria waited a lifetime to disclose, but she also finds that the trick to life doesn’t lie in the best laid plans but in how you react to the things you never expected.
Available to buy from….
Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk
“Delicious, rich, spicy, delectable and satisfying! I’m not just talking about the cuisine in this book, but the luscious, addictive writing of Faletti who weaves together a multi-generational story that will both break your heart and make it pound loudly!”
– Author Lori M Jones
“This story within a story parallels two women’s lives, two generations apart, taking the reader on a tumultuous and heart stopping journey that you won’t soon forget. Faletti’s use of language is just as lush and striking as the romance that awaits Tatiana on the shores of this other world.”
– Author Carolyn Menke
“A 5-star read for anyone who can’t get enough of stories of forbidden love or romances set in foreign destinations. Excellent, sexy, spicy read with a plot twist at the end that will leave you swooning!”
– Author Cara Reinard
About the author
Dana writes poetry as a survival skill and loves to connect with other writers both online and in person. When she’s not writing, Dana can be found reading on her Kindle, cooking something delicious, or daydreaming about her upcoming travel destinations. She lives in in a suburb of Pittsburgh with her husband, three young daughters, and a snarky Shichon called Dolce.
Find the author on the following sites….
Website Facebook Twitter Goodreads Pinterest Amazon Author Page
Follow the Book Tour
NOW FOR THE AUTHOR’S GIVEAWAY !!
Win $15 Amazon.com Giftcard or Paypal Cash (winners choice) Ending on Friday 4th November at 11.59pm EST
Enter Below & Good Luck !!