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Tom Correlli is a widower who encounters a mystery in his twilight years when photos appear in a fan magazine of him with actress Debra Lee, a woman he admired but had never met. Dan Bevelo, an English teacher and bestselling author, visits an old friend in a hospital and discovers that an accident victim in a nearby room is Lorrie Lane, one of his favorite actresses. When architect Ben Bartelli, a widower, makes a charity donation and wins a resort vacation, he meets history teacher Janet Levinsen, a widow whose husband died about the same time as his wife. Gino Carino’s heart is stolen by many pretty girls throughout his childhood and young adulthood. He even proposes marriage to a girl who breaks their engagement and his heart during his college years. But life gives him a special gift when he rediscovers Annie Banio, the beautiful long-haired girl he met in Sicily when he was twelve years old. Andrew Brown and Christina Corelli begin their relationship on their Hawaiian holidays as friends because of her engagement and discover a true love they never expected to find.
Nonagenarian thriller author Crapanzano goes starry-eyed in this collection of romance stories centered in Italian-American culture. He challenges readers to discover which lucky protagonist in the group experiences his personal love story. Readers looking for more than a heartwarming Hallmark film, a Reader’s Digest-type conflict, or writing that takes one’s breath away won’t find satisfaction here. But Christian romance readers should enjoy the clean-cut, “low heat” stories, heartfelt happy endings at the altar, and find the rare male author’s point of view intriguing. And there is also something for everyone; the protagonists vary in age and experience, so some tales are second-chance romances while others capture characters in the first bloom of love.