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Release date: March 9, 2017

Publisher: Bookouture 

Genre: Chick Lit 

Blurb: 

Can a holiday romance ever have a happy ending? Escape with Kate to the sun-drenched city of Rome where a love affair is just about to begin …

When Kate’s husband Matt dumps her on Friday 13th she decides enough is enough – it’s time for her to have some fun and so she hops on a plane to Rome. A week of grappa and gelato in pavement cafes under azure blue skies will be just what the doctor ordered.

What she doesn’t count on is meeting and falling for sexy policeman Alessandro. But the course of true love doesn’t run smoothly – Alessandro has five meddling sisters, a fearsome mama and a beautiful ex Orazia. They’re all certain that Kate is not the girl for him.

Can Kate and Alessandro’s love last the distance? Or will she return home with the one souvenir she doesn’t want – a broken heart …

Fall in love with the colourful cafes and the cobbled piazzas of Rome and follow Kate’s dreams and her heart in this enchanting escapist read. Perfect for fans of Debbie Johnson and Carol Matthews.

Review: 

I’m delighted to welcome you to my stop on the blog tour for Rome is Where the Heart Is. I’m sharing the day with the lovely Kaisha at The Writing Garnet so be sure and check in there for her thoughts as well. 

Do you need a vacation but it isn’t happening anytime soon? Me too, but after reading this gem of a book I feel as if I’ve had a refreshing holiday in Rome, it provided an absolutely lovely escape from reality and transported me to the sunny streets of Italy. 

Poor Kate, when the story begins she’s just been unceremoniously dumped by her oblivious husband Matt. He seriously needs to get a clue, and though Kate knows she’s better off without him, that’s easier said than done. They’ve been together for almost twenty years after all, and while being suddenly single and free again is exciting, it’s also scary for her. Looking for a way to escape and heal her heartbreak, she books a vacation to Rome, all alone. She has plans to sightsee and eat plenty of delicious Roman cuisine, but almost as soon as she arrives, things don’t go according to her plans, but is that always a bad thing? 

I LOVED the characters in this book, Kate is warm and likable, and her relationship with her two sisters, Anna and Lily was sweet and genuine. She meets Jamie in Rome and they immediately hit it off (as friends) he’s there on business from New York and he was just a whole lot of fun, just the type of friend Kate needs at the right time. Alessandro is a local police officer who represents everything you would picture in terms of a sexy Italian man. I kept hearing his accent in my head and let’s just say I could completely understand why Kate was charmed by him. He has a crazy, dynamic family with five sisters and a typical Italian mother. They were all easy to like and made me laugh. 

This was my first Tennant book and I was drawn to her easy, breezy writing style. The beautiful backdrop of Rome was the perfect setting for love and romance and then add in the food? Heavenly! I was suddenly craving good wine and even better food, guess I need to book myself an Italian vacation. I loved the storyline but what I appreciated the most was that even though Kate and Alessandro had an instant connection, it wasn’t a quick fix to happily ever after. Kate returns home and has to deal with her ex and family making it so much more real than if she had stayed with Alessandro initially. I’m so pleased that this is the first book in a new series and the second book is out in April, can’t wait to see what happens with these two next. 

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Thanks to Bookouture for my review copy. 

About the Author: 

From a young age, Tilly Tennant was convinced that she was destined for the stage. Once she realised she wasn’t actually very good at anything that would put her on the stage, she started to write stories instead. There were lots of terrible ones, like The Pet Rescue Gang (aged eight), which definitely should not see the light of day ever again. Thankfully, her debut novel, Hopelessly Devoted to Holden Finn was not one of those, and since it hit the Amazon best seller lists she hasn’t looked back. Born in Dorset, she currently lives in Staffordshire with her husband, two daughters, three guitars, four ukuleles, two violins and a kazoo.

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