SYNOPSIS:

Avery Bardot steps off the plane in Rome, looking for a fresh start. She’s left behind a soon-to-be ex-husband in Boston and plans to spend the summer with her best friend Daisy, licking her wounds—and perhaps a gelato or two. But when her American-expat friend throws her a welcome party on her first night, Avery’s thrown for a loop when she sees a man she never thought she’d see again: Italian architect Marcello Bianchi.

Marcello was the man—the one who got away. And now her past is colliding with her present, a present where she should be mourning the loss of her marriage and—hey, that fettuccine is delicious! And so is Marcello…

Slipping easily into the good life of summertime in Rome, Avery spends her days exploring a city that makes art historians swoon, and her nights swooning over her unexpected what was old is new again romance. It’s heady, it’s fevered, it’s wanton, and it’s crazy. But could this really be her new life? Or is it just a temporary reprieve before returning to the land of twin-set cardigans and crustless sandwiches?

A celebration of great friendship, passionate romance, and wonderful food, Roman Crazy is a lighthearted story of second chances and living life to the fullest.

*****Mel’s Review*****

4.5 “You’re It For Me” Stars!
(ARC provided by authors)

Avery Bardot attended Boston College with plans to work in the art field & pursue her passions. She marries and her life becomes so structured she loses sight of herself over the years. When her life is thrown into a tailspin & she’s in the process of divorcing, she needs a change of scenery. She leaves Boston & her disaster of a life behind and heads to Rome to spend the summer with her best friend Daisy.

On her first night in Rome, Daisy wants to celebrate & throw her a welcome party with some friends from work. Avery is stunned speechless when she comes face to face with a man from her past. A man she thought she’d never see again, but who was once someone very important to her. This gorgeous Italian man is Marcello Bianchi, & he’s an architect in Rome. Nine years ago, Avery and Marcello had a passionate affair while she was in college, & studying abroad in Spain. Marcello is just as beautiful as she remembered, & one look at him & she still feels that draw towards him, that powerful electricity she could never deny.

Marcello can’t believe he is seeing Avery again after all these years since she disappeared without a trace & left him without any explanation. He’s suddenly furious seeing the one that got away & broke his heart.

Avery realizes she needs to make amends & apologize to Marcello for the way she handled things in the past. They eventually spend time together, & talk things out. As Avery’s past collides with her present, she has a lot of baggage & begins to wonder if that happiness could include Marcello.

-“I want this. All of you, now.”

-Having seen, touched, and tasted every inch of this man, I knew what I was dealing with. His voice was dark, husky, and goddamn it washed over me in the best possible way.

-I realized just how much of his body I had memorized; there wasn’t an inch I had forgotten.

-Marcello only saw me.

-For the first time in a very long time, I felt treasured.

Avery is newly single & in Rome. She’s adjusting perfectly to the Italian lifestyle & takes advantage of everything Rome has to offer. Suddenly she’s living life to the fullest, & spending her days exploring, & her nights with Marcello. She’s falling in love with Rome & rekindling a love she never thought she’d feel again. She realizes this is her second chance & new start, & decides she’s not going to waste it. At the same time, Avery is learning to focus on herself & rebuild her life & make it the life she’s always wanted. Romance is new again, she has great friends, & is in Rome. Could this really be her life?

I absolutely LOVED this book! I adored everything about it. Let’s start with Marcello. This man was dreamy, Italian, swoony, DELICIOUS perfection!!! He treasured this woman & was the love of her life & her soulmate. They were both just living an average life apart, & together they experienced pure bliss! This book was about friendship, love, food, wine, & Rome. Taking the time to enjoy life & not just let it pass you by. About a city full of color & energy, that is a hypnotic, magical place where they savor everything. I now want to go to Rome, ride a Vespa, & explore this breathtaking city I feel like I now know. I want to eat tiramisu, pasta & pastries and hope to see a few Marcello’s along the way! ;))

*****Dee’s Review*****

5+++ Just You and Me Stars*****

(ARC Kindly provided by author in exchange for an honest review)

Roman Crazy is a vibrant second chance romance that takes us on a lovely adventure around Italy. A novel about finding yourself, and love again after losing it all.  A fabulous dreamy read, and probably my most favorite book I’ve read this year. A book full of happy!!!!

Avery just found her husband doing the secretary; hot and heavy sex on top of the desk she bought for him. Funny thing is that more so than the fact that she found him cheating on her, she’s overwhelmed with sadness to realize that he has more passion for his secretary than he does for her. Sad because she gave up on her career and on her own dreams , to be a wife. She got lost behind the shadow of her husband, and she too has lost all passion for her marriage and for her life in general.

Avery’s best friend Daisy is an architect living abroad, right now she’s in Rome and after hearing about her best friend’s pain, she invites Avery to spend the summer in Italy with her. Maybe in Italy Avery will find her second wind and renew the passion she once felt for life. Little does Avery know, that on her first night in Italy she will encounter the one that got away, many summers ago; Marcello.

Marcello and Avery met when she was doing an internship in Barcelona. As a major in Arts, Avery had been offered a position in a prestigious museum learning about art restoration. Their love was instant, hot and sizzling. By the time it was time for Avery to go back home to the States, she and Marcello had made plans to continue with their torrid love story, but Avery never came to him.

Marcello was deeply hurt by Avery for not coming back like she had promised, but life took them in different directions, yet somehow now, years later, the attraction is just as strong as it used to be. Will Avery give love another chance? Will she allow love to once again distract her from the career she wants? And can Marcello forgive her, and trust that she will not run again?

So many questions and we get all the answers, along with the most beautiful Italian setting, amazing secondary characters in this vibrant story that will make you swoon and fall in love with Roman Crazy.

I love books that make me smile and feel happy, and Roman Crazy did so in spades. The beauty and authenticity of the story transported me to Rome, I could feel the love, hear the laughter of the people hanging out in the Piazza, I could smell the delicious food, the feelings all too vivid, making me helpless to the charm of the story. These two authors collaborated in a seamless way, you could feel the camaraderie, and how much fun they had writing it, but I couldn’t tell where one’s words started or the other one’s ended, it was perfection.

Even though this book was an absolute winner for me, I gotta say that what I loved the most was that the story wasn’t just solely focused on the romance. Avery was getting a second chance at friendships, at life, and at love. Re-discovering herself, her friends and love, after having lost direction in her own life. As someone who’s been married for a long time I could relate to her; we lose ourselves in the roles of mother or wife and forget a little bit about what we want and who we are inside. Ever since turning thirty I have spent a lot of time contemplating about this, and making it my goal to regain my sense of identity as a woman, and making sure I devote time to myself, and toward my dreams.

To me, this book was so much more than just an entertaining story, it was a reminder for me to never forget about myself, my friends, my family. A reminder for me to stop and smell the flowers, eat the sweets, buy the shoes, drink the wine, because life is too short, and we should live it, and do it passionately.

So… C’mon hop on that Vespa and allow the colorful and sweet words of this story to take over your heart and make you smile, big. A must read!!!!! A wonderful book not to miss.

My Roman Crazy music playlist:
*Summertime Romance by Johnnyswim
*Barcelona by Giulia Y Los Tellarini
*Lost Star by Adam Levine
*Lucky by Jason Mraz
*When I Was A Boy by Biel Ballester Trio
*You’re the One That I Want by Lo-Fang
*She Makes Me Laugh by The Monkees
*True Love by Coldplay

*****Patty’s Review*****

*****4.5 TESORO STARS*****
{ARC Generously Provided by Authors}

Marcello looked every bit like my greatest love and my biggest regret.

ROMAN CRAZY is the debut writing collaboration between Alice Clayton and Nina Bocci, and I do believe these two are off to a great start! This story will whisk you away to one of the most romantic places in the world and once you’ve finished reading, it will leave you yearning to get on the next flight out to beautiful Italy. Rome, itself, is very much a main character in this book and the descriptive writing made this reader feel as if I were actually in Italy experiencing the culture and enjoying all the delicious Italian cuisine. But I must confess all of that took a backseat to the over the topLOVE I felt for Marcello Bianchi!!! OMG!!! I swear he made this book for me!! I want to just pack my bags and my dog and move to Rome in hopes that I can find my very own Marcello!

Avery Bardot is visiting her bestie who has been living in Rome for the past several years. She recently filed for divorce after having caught her husband in the act with his secretary. Avery’s using this time in Rome to relax and to also do some soul searching. She hadn’t been really happy in her marriage for quite some time and she may have even lost a big piece of herself during that relationship. During her first week in Rome, Avery comes face to face with a man she never thought she’d ever see again. Nine years ago while she was studying art in Barcelona, she met and fell in love with one GORGEOUS Italian man – Marcello Bianchi. At the end of their summer study abroad, they made plans to be together. Avery was to go back to the states briefly and then return to Barcelona to be with Marcello, but circumstances arose back home that prevented Avery from going back to Spain. Their first meeting nine years later is definitely a bit strained as we learn that Avery never contacted Marcello to explain why she was not returning. She simply just dropped out of his life and left Marcello with a broken heart.

Avery and Marcello end up reconciling and soon their romance picks right back up where they had left off. They couldn’t get enough of each other and I couldn’t get enough of Marcello! Whenever he was not around I had to fight the urge to skim the pages and when he was front and center, I never wanted the story to end. I was completely enamored of Marcello!!

Aside from the passionate romance that Avery has rekindled, she also is getting back to her other love–art. She volunteers on a couple of art restoration projects and ends up landing a job which would keep her in Italy. All seems to be going in the right direction for her, but then a chance encounter and a once in a lifetime opportunity could ultimately tear the couple apart just when they’ve found their way back to each other.

By the time I got to the end of this story, I was left wanting so much more. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Marcello and what I wouldn’t give for another book or possibly a novella to give me the HEA that I want for this couple. I am not sure just having them appear in the follow-up books as secondary characters is going to be enough to satisfy me.

I do highly recommend this book as I feel that you all need to meet Mr. Marcello Bianchi!!

ROMAN CRAZY is currently available!

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1WeM3f9

BN: http://bit.ly/1m1OfIr

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IndieBound: http://bit.ly/1QHcneR

BAM: http://bit.ly/1SwqYdq