Review: The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman

BOOK STATS

Rating: ☆
Title: The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany
Author: Lori Nelson Spielman
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Hardcover
Length: 374 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: September 26, 2018
Source: BOTM subscription
Content Warnings: gaslighting, pregnancy, miscarriage

SYNOPSIS

A trio of second-born daughters sets out on a whirlwind journey through the lush Italian countryside to break the family curse that says they’ll never find love, by New York Times bestseller Lori Nelson Spielman, author of The Life List.

Since the day Filomena Fontana cast a curse upon her sister more than two hundred years ago, not one second-born Fontana daughter has found lasting love. Some, like second-born Emilia, the happily-single baker at her grandfather’s Brooklyn deli, claim it’s an odd coincidence. Others, like her sexy, desperate-for-love cousin Lucy, insist it’s a true hex. But both are bewildered when their great-aunt calls with an astounding proposition: If they accompany her to her homeland of Italy, Aunt Poppy vows she’ll meet the love of her life on the steps of the Ravello Cathedral on her eightieth birthday, and break the Fontana Second-Daughter Curse once and for all.
 
Against the backdrop of wandering Venetian canals, rolling Tuscan fields, and enchanting Amalfi Coast villages, romance blooms, destinies are found, and family secrets are unearthed—secrets that could threaten the family far more than a centuries-old curse.

MY THOUGHTS

I hated this book. I was ready to DNF after chapter 3, but since I was the one who suggested it to my book club, I trudged through in hopes it would get better. It did not.

All of the characters are one-dimensional caricatures of actual humans. The main character is a boring doormat who wears slacks casually, worries tortoiseshell glasses are too conspicuous, and has no convictions. The family drama is absolutely ridiculous and over the top in a bad way. The limited character growth is cliché. Overall, I thought the writing was poor and the story lacked depth.

The only things I liked about this book were the descriptions of Italian food, desserts, and countrysides…but you can find that in other books. And my book club did have a very entertaining discussion.