2.5 Star read. It ended much stronger than it started (actually it's an excellent ending), but I would have completely eliminated one of the storylines which is why I'm not ranking it higher.

I struggled with this book a little; I found the beginning a little slow-going while the author established a relationship between Elena Damiani (aka Laney Valentine) and Francesca Hackett (aka Cesca). When Cesca finds a very expensive purse in the bin outside her flat, everything is taken except a sealed envelop with the name "Elena" written on it. Turns out her landlord knows of an "Elena" - the one that lives in the palace across the square. Cesca returns the purse and unopened letter - which convinces Elena that she is the perfect person to write her memoir. (Seriously - it reads better than I just wrote it, but that's the basis of the first 30-50 pages).

Once we establish that a memoir is going to be written, the story starts to flip between the past and present; Laney in Newport in the 1960s, California in the 1970s, NYC in the late 1970s and then Rome in the 1980s. We follow Laney from the 16 year old daughter of one of the wealthiest American entrepreneurs to Laney the bride ... and the divorcee ... the wife ... the divorcee ... the wife (again) ... the divorcee... and finally meeting the man of her dreams. Meanwhile, Francesca needs to have a little storyline as well; and so while she's researching the book, she also starts a romance with a Roman named Nicco.

I wish the book had actually been divided into parts - with more focus on Laney's story before she went to Rome. Actually, the entire story could have been simply about Laney/Elena and I think I would have liked it better. Laney was a super interesting character - and by only being shown little snippets of her past, without really going back to them when she was recounting her stories to Cesca felt like a loss of a really good story.

Cesca had moved to Rome for a gap year because something terrible had happened back home in London. The thing is - that whole mystery didn't need to be there. She finally spills the beans on what happened and ... because there wasn't really a lead up to it ... it didn't change anything. I would have rather had a split-narrative story told from Laney and Vito's perspectives.

Love story - check.
Rome - check.
Past and Present story lines - check.
Split-narrative - check.
Decent little story - sure.

As I mentioned, it ended stronger than it started for me. And had this been more about Elena's past life when she was known as "Laney" I would have enjoyed it more.

I know I will be in the minority of readers who pick this up and not love it. If you want a little romance and to escape to the world of the rich and famous and love Rome, you'll likely enjoy this book very much.