Italian for Beginners

 Until now, I'd only read historical fiction from Kristin Harmel. Italian for Beginners was quite a bit different as it was a romance novel. But it was set in Rome. And well, you know, I'm getting excited about my trip. Harmel did an excellent job of evoking Rome. I can't wait to get there!

Funny thing... after finishing Italian for Beginners, I started a book I'd downloaded from Amazon Prime First Reads for free called La Vie, According to Rose by Lauren Parvizi. And the stories are so similar. And both books reference the classic movie "Roman Holiday" so that's what I watched last night. Great movie.

How are the two novels similar? In both novels, the protagonist gets overlooked for an anticipated promotion at a job that doesn't seem to make her happy. In Italian for Beginners, Cat's younger sister has just gotten married. In La Vie, According to Rose, Rose's younger sister is in final countdown to get married. Both Rose and Cat lost one of her parents at a young age and was raised by a single parent who was overbearing and in some ways not up to the task of single parenthood. Both Rose and Cat take on the responsibility for making everyone happy. And both love watching the movie "Roman Holiday." Although not originally. Cat hadn't watched the Audrey Hepburn movie for her own personal reasons until she's already in Rome. Rose has always loved the movie. I'll add in more of a comparison once I finish La Vie, According to Rose.

Cat's life isn't going the way she'd ever envisioned. Her grandmother embarrasses her at her younger sister's wedding. The promotion that she expected to get at work goes to her boyfriend, the brother of her roommate/best friend. After taking a break from said boyfriend, she goes on a date with the owner of the restaurant where her sister got married. A perfect date. Until she learns something about the guy. She realizes that even though she thinks that her father and her sister can't get along with out her, she needs to get away. A co-worker helped her come to this realization. In totally non-Cat behavior, she's doing something spontaneous. The co-worker reaches out as Cat to a guy that Cat had a relationship with when she was an exchange student in Rome 12 years earlier. He turns out to not be the guy she thought he was.

Things go from bad to worse. But from the bad, many wonderful things start to happen. Cat makes some great new friends and begins to come to terms with things that happened to her earlier in her life. Cat learns to take care of herself, not just everyone else. It was really a lovely story.

Romance is not really my thing. But in this novel, Cat was a hobbyist photographer. Her photo outings have gotten me so excited for my upcoming trip. And hey, it takes place in Rome.