Bella Cigna

Reeling from betrayal and the break-up of her marriage, Sarah Flynn escapes to Rome, Italy. She gets a job teaching English at an all-girls school but soon discovers it is more like a nunnery. The nuns expect her to speak fluent Italian... what has she gotten herself into? She feasts on the art, scenery, and Italian lifestyle while trying to heal from her wounds. It's not as easy as she imagined it would be. Can she open her heart to all that life can bring, even a new love or will she let her fears keep her from la bella vita (the good life)? 

Bella Cigna is a fantastic story about taking risks, traveling to a foreign country and discovering the good life. Wendi Dass takes the reader on a romantic adventure through intensive descriptive narration. It's like I was right there in Italy, which fed my artistic soul. The characters were so well-drawn, I liked them immensely. My favorite has to be Sister Maria. Ex-pats will love this story as will romance readers. I was shocked, however, by the attempted rape scene. It wasn't necessary to the overall story. If you love traveling and looking for an escape to Italy, pick up Bella Cigna today. Fans of Eat, Pray Love will love Bella Cigna. Highly recommend!

My Rating: 5 stars

Just from the simple synopsis this story held promise. In the middle of a divorce and fresh on what she thought was the loss of her dreams of a family, Sarah moves to Italy for a year to teach English. Without speaking a lick of Italian. In Italy Sarah befriends a coworker, Anna, and meets Eduardo, the handsome father of a favorite pupil, Lucia. It is in Italy that Sarah discovers who she is as an independent person and just what matters in her life.

I must say that this book was very heartwarming. There were times that my eyes watered from sympathy and sorrow and others from joy. Sarah's journey is beautiful and now I want to move to Italy and find a handsome man to love me as much as Eduardo loves Sarah. Overall this was a great book with great characters.

As soon as I saw the cover on this, I knew I needed this book. The cover promised beauty and joy, and that is what this book delivered. At times, I got a bit irritated with the characters, but I still found myself coming back. The romance and characters were so sweet and simple, but still super enjoyable to read. I really enjoyed this book.

Bella Cigna follows Sarah, a woman who travels to Rome after a heartbreaking divorce. In Rome, she rediscovers beauty, art, and love. Teaching English at an all-girls school, she makes friends and takes risks. Forced to confront herself and her fear of a broken heart, this book is truly beautiful.

I think one of the things that made this book shine were the friendships it showcased. So many romance novels completely ignore friendship, alienating the main character and focusing only on love. This book however, gave us two loveable friends, each with their own unique personality. I loved Anna because of how outgoing she was, she made this book fun. I get the feeling that Sister Maria will always be a fan favorite, her meddling was impeccable.

The romance in this was a bit weaker, but that's only because I'm very critical of romances. I just felt like there were way too many miscommunications that could have been solved by a single conversation. By the end of the book, I swear Sarah and Eduardo had communicated as badly as possible. I liked them together, I just wished they had talked a bit more, because they both had so many problems that needed to be discussed.

My favorite thing in this book had to be the relationship between Sarah and Lucia. I feel like it did a great job of portraying the special relationships between students and teachers, and it was just super touching. Lucia was such a sweet girl, and I loved how Sarah was always there for her.

I do have one final complaint, and that's the end of the book. I can't say much without spoiling the story, but it just ruined one of the things I loved about this so much. t's a small complaint, but the ending of a book has to be spectacular, and sadly this one wasn't.

With that being said, I really enjoyed this book. If you're a fan of Rome, romance, and traveling, this book is for you!

Thanks to Wendi Dass and Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

A sweet romance after a failed marriage. Off to Rome to forget her troubles and have a new adventure, our lovely protagonist gets even more than desired. Several interesting characters.

The first thing that attracted me towards this book was the absolutely gorgeous cover picture! And to my pleasure, the book turned out to be equally good! The storyline is good but the description of the sights and sound of Rome is beautifully done and takes centre stage--while reading the book I felt like I was traveling the city myself! The Italian words and phrases used throughout does not confuse or hinder in the enjoyment of the book.

When Sarah first lands in Rome accepting a job as an English teacher in a school there, she is at her personal low--her husband has ended their 12 years of marriage after constant failures to conceive a child of their own and him admitting to an extra marital affair. But the sights of Rome, the people and new friends she meets and makes, her job as an English teacher and Eduardo, the gorgeous single father of one of her students hold new promises and fulfillment for her which are all within her reach if only she can overcome her insecurities first.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher The Wild Rose Press, Inc and the author Wendi Dass for the e-Arc of the book. This book was published on 30th September 2020 and is the first book in the Foreign Endearments series. 

Rating:🌟🌟🌟🌟