A successful 30-year-old career woman seems to have it all. Yet something is missing: a loving life partner. Then in 1995, she meets a strangely prescient man in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport who gives her hope. He tells her to "hold on to the little girl" inside her and to listen for signs from her beloved, deceased Italian grandmother, Rosaria. She courageously commits to a self-examined life, fueled by optimism and intuition, always searching for signs made meaningful by her Catholic faith.

The author's memoir reads like a novel or a well-written, intimate diary. She excels at every retail marketing job she takes, befriends the rich, travels widely, is attractive and athletic, and encounters serial disasters in the romance department. No goody-two-shoes religious figure, she lives a life that might have raised Grandma Rosaria's eyebrows. Ironically, she is a "bride whisperer" for her friends, which starkly outlines her own ill-fated love life. Age forty-two finds the author managing twenty-three distressed malls and hurting from a broken engagement. Despite her personal pain, she continues to be inspired by synchronistic signs of faith, such as flowers appearing when she thinks of St. Therese, the "Little Flower."

The author has a gift for experiencing and expressing joy as well as vividly recalling the events of her life. For example, when riding a bike, she wasn't forty-nine but nine, "and loving every minute of it." She is not shy about recounting how she flirted with Mel Brooks at a topless resort in Italy. She also candidly shares about how she contemplated suicide when a lover died suddenly. The author declares her search for love on the first page of this delightful memoir. By holding on to hope, faith, and "that little girl inside," she inspires readers with her zest and lessons learned.

A 2020 Eric Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize Short List book, First Horizon Award winner, and Romance Category winner

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