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"... sly, sensual, and dripping in style." —People
What the Critics are saying about BRAVA, VALENTINE:
"Trigiani's sequel to Very Valentine is a sweet second act for shoemaker and designer Valentine Roncalli. Val takes over the New York family-run shoe business with feet-of-clay older brother, Alfred; falls for the dashing, older Gianluca in Italy; and takes a business risk in South America, where she unearths a dusty chapter of family history. There are plenty of picturesque globe-trotting adventures in Tuscany, Manhattan, and Buenos Aires, and, for artistic and independent Val, a grown-up commitment evolves. "There is no art without love. Only love can open someone up to the possibilities of living and creating art," Val writes to the wary Gianluca. And the startling twist of family history finally challenges an old-fashioned, insular clan to join the modern world. But it's always the endearing, unnerving and rowdy Roncallis who steal the show. Look for a heartbreaking exit of one beloved character, and a cliffhanger breakup in this charming valentine to love, forgiveness, and family." —Publishers Weekly
People, Great Reads (March 8, 2010):
CLICK HERE to watch Adriana discuss BRAVA, VALENTINE on the Today Show. And, enormous thanks to O and Vanity Fair for loving Brava, Valentine, and saying so in their February issues! Click below to see!
BRAVA is a Best-Seller! See the New York Times and Publishers Weekly best-seller lists!
Publishers Weekly Best-Seller list says: "In addition to a 16-city tour plus Today and Today in New York gigs, Trigiani hosted 300-plus fans on February 13 at the World's Biggest Book Club event‚ a free brunch in "glamorous New Jersey" featuring "an opulent bacchanal of books, prizes and all the French toast you can eat." New York shutterbugs can win a prize if their photo of the Brava bus ads is one of the top 10 (submit to adrianaasst@ aol.com), Speaking of top 10, the current O magazine lists trigiani's latest as one of its monthly bests. Brava copies in print: 110,000.
From the Hearst Connecticut newspapers (Connecticut Post, Stamford Advocate, Greenwich Time, Danbury News Times)
"Although this is the second volume of a trilogy, I never had the feeling of being lost in the middle of a story. The writer’s supporting characters... are so vivid that we are drawn to them right away. Trigiani sucks a new reader right in with strong characters and situations that are immediately involving — it’s a bit like the feeling I had when I started watching “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City” in their second seasons. The shows hooked me on the spot and then I went back to see what I had missed." —Joe Meyers, entertainment writer
Read the full review hereListen to a podcast about Brava: Visit www.readingwithrobin.com and click on RobCasts, and register to listen!
From Library Journal
"The second novel in Trigiani's Valentine trilogy (after Very Valentine) brings back Valentine Roncalli and her argumentative but loving Italian American family. With her grandmother remarried and living in Italy, Valentine and her brother are now in charge of the Angelina Shoe Company. She's a strong businesswoman, but family and romantic relationships knock her off stride. The marriage problems she sees in her own family don't allow her to trust in a man or her own hapiness. HEr discoveryof a family scandal that leads to Buenos AIres only stirs up more family troubles and romantic difficulties. And the loss of a beloved friend forces Valentine to question her future and look past tearful farewells for love and happiness. VERDICT Trigiani spoke to women's hearts with Big Stone Gap, and her Valentine series continues to do so. Brimming over with life, her latest will be essential reading for fans of humorous, touching fiction. Trigiani's readers will be hard-pressed to wait a year for the final installment, Ciao, Valentine."Brava Valentine by Adriana Trigiani is a transporting yet realistic tale that stars the charismatic Valentine Roncalli and a multigenerational cast of supporting characters in an emotionally stirring and frequently hilarious take on career, family, friendship, love and the delicate balance between respecting tradition and forward-looking pragmatism." —The Rocky Mountain Telegram; Read the full review here
From the Richmond Times-Dispatch
click for a larger version
From BookPage
As we pick up with Valentine Roncalli in this follow-up to the vibrant bestseller Very Valentine, she is taking over the family business from her grandmother, who has, in her 80s, remarried and moved to Italy. But the Angelini Shoe Company isn’t just any business—it’s been passed down through generations, each proprietor painstakingly building custom wedding shoes in the same Greenwich Village shop. But this is post-recession 2010: who has the money to buy such frivolity as custom shoes they’ll wear only once? Valentine wants to expand the business by introducing a line of affordable yet stylish shoes to supplement the custom brand, but she’ll need the approval of her insufferable (and business-savvy) brother, Alfred. Valentine travels to Buenos Aires in search of a suitable manufacturer, but things get complicated when she discovers a long-hidden family secret that opens old wounds in the Angelini-Roncalli clan.
Valentine is one of Adriana Trigiani’s most winsome characters (yes, she even rivals the Big Stone Gap gang). She’s honest, wry and utterly human as she approaches her mid-30s without a man in sight (other than ex-boyfriend Bret and gay roommate Gabriel—both fabulous comrades but not exactly marriage material). When she again crosses paths with Gianluca, a suave, slightly older Italian who is looking for more than a fling, Valentine must figure out if she’s able to balance work and life. “I am my best self, the most alive I can be, when I’m creating in the shop,” says Valentine. “I would never admit this to a man I was interested in, but it’s the truth. Love is not the main course in the banquet of my life. It’s dessert. My mother would say that’s why I’m still single. And my sisters would say I’m lying. But I know this to be true, that love is my treat, my tiramisu, because I’m living it.”
Brava, Valentine is laugh-out-loud funny (the Thanksgiving dinner family blowout is one for the ages), but it’s also an unexpectedly poignant examination of the power and pull of family, faith and love. Can’t wait to see what Valentine’s up to next. —Amy ScribnerFrom BookReporter.com
In this sumptuous follow-up to Very Valentine, a once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity takes Valentine from the winding streets of Greenwich Village to the sun-kissed cobblestones of Buenos Aires, where she finds a long-buried secret hidden deep within a family scandal. Once unearthed, the truth rocks the Roncallis, while Valentine is torn between a past love that nurtured her, and a new one that promises to sustain her. Brava, Valentine is Trigiani’s best novel yet, delivering a hilarious and poignant mix of colorful worlds and unforgettable characters as only she can create them._______________________________________________
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