Handling Life's Issues

Brava, Valentine
Adriana Trigiani
Harper, (2010)
Hardcover, 332 pages
Rated 4 stars of 5 possible

Brava, Valentine is the sequel to Adriana Trigiani's Very Valentine, which is the story of the Roncali and Angelini families. Both novels begin with a wedding and end with someone becoming engaged, and cover a complete story as stand-alones, not to mention being part of a larger story as they connect together... Brava Valentine begins three months after the end of Very Valentine, tying the stories together nicely.

The issues that Valentine Roncali must handle make the book sound a bit mundane, but it's how she handles these issues which actually makes the book worth reading. Unlike the first book in this series, the wedding at the beginning of Brava Valentine doesn't seem to be disconnected from the main story, but this one sags a bit in the middle as Valentine gets caught up in her business issues and almost forgets something really important... because of this "sagging" in the middle, I am rating this novel 4 stars. Just as Very Valentine recovered from it's slow start, Brava, Valentine recovers from the middle sag and comes to a beautiful and appropriate conclusion.

Recommended to romance readers, fans of Adriana Trigiani, and to those looking for something a bit better than the "average" romantic tale. This review has simultaneously been published at Dragon Views, LibraryThing, Amazon.com and other appropriate locations on the internet.