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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Much better than the first Valentine book, I only picked this one up because I like to read Trigiani. This isn't her best work (read Big Stone Gap, Queen of the Big Time or Lucia, Lucia) but this is still solid Trigiani work. I barely made it through the first Valentine book, it is much too detailed about hand shoe-making but "Brava" is so much less instructional and much more interesting character-wise. It really picks up in the second half too so stick with it.
A fun continuation of the story. Can't wait to read the last in the set.
Again, a wonderful story of perseverance, art and love...loved it! Can't wait for the third to be released.
This was a cute story. When I started this, I didn't know that it was the second in a series, so I hadn't read the first novel. But I was able to easily pick up the storyline and characters. The plot focuses on a woman, Valentine, who runs the family shoemaking company after her grandmother gets married and moves to Italy. Essentially, Val learns how to run the company with her brother and friends while also dealing with her feelings for a man in Italy. It's a sweet story and an easy read. However, it didn't leave me excited to read the third book in the series. I don't regret picking up this novel, but I'm also not enticed to continue the story. 3.5 stars, but I rounded up.
The main character is too whiny and I found myself just not caring about her choices or her life. When i realized I had an estimated THREE MORE HOURS of the book I decided to stop because I was not enjoying it and did not care how it ended.
In my memory, the first book had much more to do with shoe design (interesting!) and this one had MUCH more to do with romance (compelling, but also frustrating at times). I must admit being a bit worried that the author would leave us with a tragic ending, but it ended up just fine (whew!), and there were still some interesting scenes of family drama and a tiny bit of shoe design tucked in the corners for spice.
I think I did like this more than the first. It's a very real story of family. Valentine isn't perfect and I love that about her.
This book was just meh.
It felt like a retread of the Big Stone Gap stories. 30 something career woman working in the family business says she's too busy for love. But of course a too good to be true handsome, sensitive, kind man is out there persuing her over and over until she relents.
I really did enjoy the descriptions of the shoe making business and the relationships of the secondary characters especially June and Gabriel. It was the main character, Valentine, that I didn't really care for.
It felt like a retread of the Big Stone Gap stories. 30 something career woman working in the family business says she's too busy for love. But of course a too good to be true handsome, sensitive, kind man is out there persuing her over and over until she relents.
I really did enjoy the descriptions of the shoe making business and the relationships of the secondary characters especially June and Gabriel. It was the main character, Valentine, that I didn't really care for.
As a Adriana Trigiani fan, I was extremely disappointed in this book. We don't need lots of books, Adriana, we need good ones.
Really 3.5 stars. I really did enjoy this book, but the main character's angst-ridden, highly-detailed asides started to get to me after a while. Usually I like lots of details and back story, but a couple of times I wanted to shout "get back to it already!" Good, just not as good as Very Valentine.