Michael and Scottie have just arrived in Siena, Italy. It is the 1950's, eleven years after the war. The pair are newlyweds and both have big secrets. Michael is there to open a Ford dealership in tractors, but the real reason he is there is that he is working for the CIA. Scottie, not really the young innocent she seems, is secretly pregnant with another man's baby and hoping to fool Michael into thinking it is his.

The two start their marriage and start to know each other a bit. Besides working for the CIA, Michael is also living a lie as he is gay but cannot let anyone know as he would lose his job and face disdain from society. Scottie, who needs affection, soon finds it in the men around her. Michael has been told his job is to insure the Communists don't win the mayoral election so that he can save Italy, and the world, from extinction. That puts pressure on him and he has little time for Scottie. He hires a young teenager to accompany Scottie during the days and teach her Italian. All is moving along when Robertino disappears. As Scottie tries to find him, she meets police and noblemen, aristocratic expatriates and many people of the town. Did he run away? Has he been killed for the secrets he knows?

This novel is an interesting one. It delves into Italian society after World War II but it also exposes the dangers of secrets and how a relationship can only be founded on honesty. As the couple's secrets emerge, they start to grow closer. Scottie is a joy and through her, Michael begins to shed some of his reclusiveness and secrecy. This book is recommended for readers of literary and historical fiction.

I really wanted to like this one, but the characters were not very interesting and the writing was just okay. wouldn't recommend it.

The Italian Party takes the reader on a journey of an American couple moving to Italy in the 1950s, both a time period and country I adore! I don't know why I waited so long to read this one, but I loved it all! It's refreshing to have historical fiction take place in Europe that's not WWII based. I loved all the espionage and lifestyle created.

This was a really enjoyable book with a beautiful setting. There was a bit of everything here - mystery, adventure, romance. The effects of the Cold War were an interesting addition to this story, and I loved learning more from an Italian-American's point of view.

Bubbly writing, even though the subject isn't *always* easy, the writing propelled me effortlessly through to the finish. Looking forward to reading more by Ms. Lynch!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this title. Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me. Therefore, I will not be posting a review on Goodreads.

I loved seeing Italy through American eyes.... as an Italian-Americans we often forget we're more the latter than the former... but this book had it all. Food. Spies. Romance. And really vivid writing. More please?

The novel starts like a good housekeeping romance taking place in an Italian village in the 1950's and evolves into a political murder mystery that slowly grips the reader. A satisfying, but non-Hollywood ending was a pleasant surprise. I especially enjoyed the snippets of Italian which helped me brush up on the language. A real pleasure.

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

After a brief courtship, Scottie and Michael have gotten married and moved to Siena, Italy in the 1950s. While on the surface, they seem like a happy couple, each is hiding secrets from the other. When Scottie's 14-year-old Italian tutor goes missing, her search for him leads her to see a different side of Italy. Michael's ideals led him to his current job, but experience is making him jaded.

I enjoyed this historical novel. I didn't realize how much the Cold War extended into other countries beyond the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A. This book had a little bit of everything: mystery, humor, romance, character growth, etc. Scottie and Michael were both believable, well-developed characters. I don't want to say too much else about the book because I don't want to spoil it.

The perfect light-ish summer read, complete with an Italian setting and characters you will find it hard not to love.

I didn't like this. The mystery is too shallow, the characters are not believable and the plot is lacking substance. I was looking for something more, but this one did not deliver.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Italian setting in the 1950s is was what caught my attention to request the book. There were some fun parts and I did enjoy the descriptions, even picturing many of the locations. The first chapters of the book were promising but I found the rest of it to be rather slow and not as interesting as I had anticipated.

This is what I wrote immediately after finishing the book:

This is a really good book. I spent most of today in bed reading it because I'm sick, and I liked it enough that it took my mind off of how awful I was feeling.

Very well written, I never wanted to put the book down. And such great characters, these could have been characters that a person hated - with all their lies and secrets - but they are written in such a way that their behavior makes sense, at least in the moment. I really liked them and was a little sad when the book ended because I wanted more of them.

The Italian setting is wonderful, with quite a bit of information about the political situation during the 50s. I kept grabbing my ipad to look up names, only to realize that if I'd read another line or so, it would have been explained.

Overall, a great book, I highly recommend it.

Will try to write a more thorough review later, when I get over this sinus infection and can think more clearly. (Now that I'm done reading the book, I'm very aware of how bad I feel.)

I received a copy of this via Netgalley.

That was months ago and I never returned to write a more thorough review. I am so very behind on writing book reviews. I've been reading the books and rating them on goodreads, but not writing the reviews in a timely manner.

Anyway, I liked this book a lot. I think what I liked most about it was that it's very much a love story, but not a romantic love story. The people involved, they aren't in love with each other, but do, in fact, despite their strange circumstances, love each other. I think the author did a really wonderful job of showing how their relationship developed and how they grew to care so much about each other.

That's really all I have to add to my initial review. I think I had planned to expand more on the idea of a platonic love story or something like that. But really, just read the book. It's a good one.

The Italian Party by Christina Lynch tumbles through newlywed couple Michael and Scottie getting to know each other and getting to know Italy in the Cold War era and perhaps most of all, acknowledge who they are themselves. Throughout the book, I am unsure if this is satirical comedy or a serious story. This applies to both the broader story and to Michael and Scotti's story. At the end, I am somewhat entertained but somewhat confused.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2018/09/the-italian-party.html

Reviewed for NetGalley.

Set in 1950s Italy, 11 years after the end of WWII, The Italian Party "stars" a young, newly married American couple in the process of moving into a new home and new lives in an Italian town new to them both. You might wonder why I stress the newness of everything, but then you haven't met Michael and Scottie Messina yet. Along with their luggage they bring their secrets - from each other, from their new neighbors and from their new country. This historical fiction set in Sienna, Italy in 1956, as that country and Europe were rebuilding after WWII, is also a comic tale, with satirical moments (and romance too). This newly married young couple begin a life together built on half truths and many secrets--on both sides. Laughter and pain ensue. This novel takes place during the times when the Italian Communist Party was active in that country and a thorn in the side of the ever-watchful and interested American government.

In many ways Michael and Scottie didn't know what hit them - young, almost innocents (but not quite), in far too deep, not really knowing they were in anything. Each was naive but not in the way the other thinks. So much misunderstanding!

This is a light book with a serious backdrop written about a time of vast American unease on so many fronts. A mirror on a world of the 1950s with its silliness and craziness and hints of the darkness underlying it all. This is a time period that is under-represented in the fiction I read so I appreciate the opportunity to have a glimpse..

3.5 rounded to 4

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Unfortunately, it took several months for me to finish the book. The story is charming but then also far fetched and unrealistic at times. I always commit to the author and will complete a book, no matter how long it takes.

I do like to read historical fiction, but I guess it did not blend very well for me.

Though I liked the book, I made the decision at the time I finished not to review it on my site. Maybe in the future I will include it in a book list post or another article.

I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't sure what to make of this book when I first started reading it and I'm still not quite sure now that I've finished it. It had something of a strange beginning, I thought, and I almost put it down. I think I kept reading out of guilt but I'm glad I did. It was nice to follow it through to its conclusion.

It weirdly felt like the book tried to cover too many topics and yet like nothing really happened. The fear of communism isn't something I can relate to so that portion of the story was a bit lost on me. I would've preferred to see the story told entirely from Michael's PoV. I didn't love Scottie; she felt inconsistent.

I'm not upset I read it but it isn't a book I'd recommend.

Thanks for netgalley.com for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. It takes place in 1956 Siena , Italy. It's about an American couple
Transplanted there for "work" each with their own secrets and ways of coping with changes in their lifestyle.
The story moves at a fast pace and was a page turner. I've read other books by her and have also enjoyed them.

Took a few chapters to get into it but I really liked it overall. A sexy, escapist book with an ending I found satisfying.