Rosanna ChiofaloCarissima

Rosanna Chiofalo is a fairly new author that has entertained many of us with a great novel. As I look at the reviews, I'm glad I ignored the negative ones. In this novel, Chiofalo's second, we once again visit the same neighborhood in Astoria, New York, where everyone has a story. In this case, American born Pia Santore, who lost her sister, Erica, in a drowning accident off the coast of San Diego, where Pia and her family lived makes the decision to move to New York, where she will pursue a career in journalism. This was a plan she and her sister had, so because of her grief, she postponed her plans. Pia accepts a position at a prestigious magazine, and moves in with her mother's sister, Antonietta, who owns a bakery in Astoria. In the neighborhood where her aunt lives, there is a mystery mansion, nicknamed the Mussolini Mansion. As soon as Pia arrives, she notices a crowd around the home, and it is rumored legendary Italian actress Francesca Donato is at the home. The mystery is why is she there.Pia approaches her boss to do a story on the actress, but there is a problem. How is she going to get access to her. To find out, one must read the novel. In this novel, Pia falls in love, does get access to the actress, and ends up in Italy. Not only is there romance and adventure in this story, there is a wide range of emotions as Pia discovers a lot more about the actress the hard way. Francesca Donato proves herself to be self-centered, conniving and deceitful. In the end, Pia is the winner in the situation.This novel has colorful characters, will spark emotions, along with a great story line. I am looking forward to more of Chiofalo's novels.

The first book that I read by Rosanna Chiofalo was "Stella Mia" which I liked much more than this one. Though "Carissima" was a well written book with an interesting story and well constructed characters, even if I didn't like all of them, I felt that it was somewhat tedious. Pia got on my nerves at times and I wanted to shout to her: "Go to a grief counselor for heaven's sake." Pia was in deep grief after the death of her beloved sister and she was whiney, insecure and making one bad decision after another. The character of Francesca was an aging actress who was a narcissistic, manipulative witch while the two young men in the story, Gregory and Lorenzo were not strong characters and appeared confused at times as they were both handsome young men caught up in the emotional turmoil created by both Pia's grief and Francesca's guilt. STILL, I liked the book and am happy that I read it. I loved the fact that the book took place in Astoria, NY and later in Rome - a city that I dearly love. I have visited many of the places referred to in Rome and the book brought back many happy memories for me.While reading the interview with the author at the end of the book, I learned that Signora Tesca, who dies in this novel, is a secondary character in "Bella Fortuna" written by the same author. I will now buy that novel for my kindle. I think Rosanna Chiofalo is a fine writer and look forward to reading more of her work.

I am so sorry that I spent $9.39 for this Kindle Book. I suppose it serves me right for not reading more of the reviews or downloading a sample. The writing is very amateurish and the dialogue (especially when Pia is involved) is dreadful. Does not ring true at all. The bad boy biker character goes from saying "How you doin'?" with a "strong New Yorker" accent to saying "I take it from your hesitation that you've never been on a motorcycle". Yeah, right. And just how many times do we have to hear about Pia, Francesca and numerous other characters mentally or physically rolling their eyes? The descriptions of the "action" are plodding and wordy. Pia and Francesca have "rules" for dealing with men that are incredibly juvenile. I don't know if this novel was intended as a young adult romance, but as another reviewer observed, young adults should really be reading well written books to help them grow and learn. This book will not help anyone learn. It's a mildly entertaining read and if I had paid $1.99 for it I would feel I got my money's worth.

I enjoyed the descriptions of famous tourist sites in Rome, the authentic Italian recipes and the descriptions of the New York locations in addition to the love story in this book.

If you Loved Bella Fortuna like I did...then Carissima is a must read for you!Rosanna Chiofalo has created another Italian Family Saga for us.She introduces both new characters and revisits our old friends too.She makes you feel like..."Whew...maybe my Family isn't so bad after all!"...While reminding us that ALL Families are DIS-FUNCTIONAL to some degree.Though I found it slightly less exciting than Bella Fortuna....I still enjoyed thejourney...and so will you.Always Happy To Review Great Reads For Book Readers Everywhere,LadyInRed

The book was basic chick lit, just not as good as most. The characters were wooden, the dialogue was juvenile, and the plot was just too silly. I could not feel any connection with any of the characters in the book and in fact found them all to be unlikable. I just don't feel that real people would behave as the characters in this book did. The only redeeming part of the book, which is why I gave it two stars was the descriptions of various locations in Rome. I think that was the only thing the author was comfortable writing about. I would only recommend this book as a last resort because there is nothing else handy to read.

Novel has good storyline and descriptions of New York and Rome which garnered my 3 star rating. However, this author's writing style is a turn off for me. There are long overly detailed descriptions which are repeated over and over. The book also plods along for the first 2/3 and tgen finally picks up steam.Many people are likely to stop reading before reaching the good parts. It is an entertaining read but there are better written novels in this genre

Really didnt care for this novel Very dragged out and uninteresting

VERY MUCH ENJOYED!

Another great read by this author!