This was an easy read, but not as much of a dive into historical fiction as I normally read, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to my friends who usually choose historical fiction.

The Flavor of Italy

A dual timeline story set during WWII and modern times in the city of Florence, Italy. An enchanting story of romance and resistance.

Stella unbeknownced to her parents works in the resistance supplying them with message and helping. Her story suddently stops until Tori years later digs into family history and finds the truth about what happened to Stella.

Tori, escaping a lonely marriage finds new romance in Italy while researching Stella's wartime activities.

It was a good book and I enjoyed reading it.

Thanks to the author and the publisher for providing me with a complimentary copy to read and review

Kat Devereaux's Escape to Florence moves back and forth in time to link the lives of Stella Infuriati, a teen Italian Resistance fighter in World War II, and modern day Tori MacNair, who flees to Florence to escape an abusive husband in Scotland.

The puzzle of Stella's fate, as well as Tori's struggle to move beyond her abusive marriage, pull reader interest through this absorbing story.

Escape to Florence is a promising debut from author Kat Devereaux. Set in the dual timeline of 1940's and 2019 Italy, it tells the stories of Tori MacNair, her late grandmother, and the surprising connection shared with Italian resistance fighters during WWII.

The stories that unfold during the book are both compelling in their own ways. I enjoyed watching Tori slowly reclaim herself after enduring years of an emotionally abusive marriage. Her evolution was presented in a realistic and relatable manner with steps forward - and backward - as would be expected in a real life similar situation. Marco was exactly the type of man she deserved in her life. In fact, Marco is the type of man we all deserve. Her sister and mother, on the other hand, deserved a long ride in a small boat with no oars. Endearing, they were not.

I love history and found the story of Stella, Achille, and Tori's grandmother to be fascinating. Devereaux included enough historical facts with the fiction to bring their journeys to life. Her descriptions of the events that unfolded, vivid depictions of the Italian countryside, and the development of Stella (primarily) and her brother, Achille brought it all to life, as a movie rolling across my mind.

The only quibble I had with this book was the abrupt manner in which it ended. I would have loved an epilogue or at least a bit of a look into Tori's future. I like things tied up with a pretty bow, I guess. In this case, as much as I enjoyed the book up to that point, I felt like I was left with too many questions at the end. Not everyone will feel the same, I'm sure.

If you enjoy dual-timeline stories, especially those set during WWII and present day, give Escape to Florence a try. I'm pleased to discover a new author writing in this era and will be looking forward to more books from Kat Devereaux.

ARC received from publisher. Fair and unbiased review.

A book? Set in Italy? Say no more.

Tori McNair flees from her emotionally abusive husband to Florence - a special place where her grandmother used to bring her as a girl.

Tori, an author, decides to scrap her current project writing a book as an estate wife in the Scottish country to find a new subject focused on her new Eat, Pray, Love existence in Florence.

The reader follows both Tori’s journey to freedom and love while also getting glimpses back in time to Stella, a teen girl living in a small town outside Florence during WWII. Stella’s bold spirit entices her to run messages for the resistance to the dismay of her parents.

This book felt like a made for tv movie rom com in the best way. Historical fiction fans will love!

Escape to Florence by Kat Deveraux is a dual timeline historical fiction set in Florence in both War II and the present.

I love books with a great setting and this is a well-written debut set in Florence. I really liked how well the two stories were connected.

A young woman finds herself burying her dear grandmother and leaving her husband. She escapes to Florence where her grandmother had taken her many times and tries to bring back all those memories. In the process, she discovers that there is more to her grandmother than she knew. As she dives into a part of her grandmother's past that she never knew about, she learns of the bravery of many women during the Nazi occupation of WWII. She also learns the bravery of standing up for one's self. 
Taking the reader from present day to WWII keeps the reader on their toes. Each chapter is clearly defined as we watch one woman discover that she has the courage to leave an abusive husband and create a new life and another find that she can help others and fight for her beliefs. 
As I was reading, I found myself drawn to the one who fought the Nazis. She struggled with a family who didn't understand her and a community that struggled to just survive. At an early age, she performs acts that could lead to her death and that of all she cared about. Blood and secrets become too familiar with her. The character was riveting as she pushed forward and found herself in a way few others find. 
The modern day character was more of a struggle for me. I felt at times she was too unsure of what she was doing and never quite a solid character. One moment she was determined to stand on her own then questioned everything she did as though she never wanted to leave him. While that can sound valid at some stages of leaving a toxic relationship, it seems that the majority of the story took place well beyond those stages. She was limp as a character with development that felt forced and less fluid than the development of the historical figure. 
The story itself was very well done. I did enjoy the modern chapters because of the explorations of the people she was researching and the places she visited. Had me wanting to visit Florence as soon as I can. The scenes were very descriptive and had me wanting to know more about those who joined the resistance in Italy, especially the women who fought for their homes and families. 
Overall, a good read. Give it a try.

The story of a girl who’s searching for more and ends up finding it.

What starts out as a story that is going to be heartwarming ends up taking multiple twists and turns before it reaches its end. Each twist and turn, however, brings the narrator, and in turn the reader, closer to where she’s meant to be.

The story also follows a secondary narrator whose identity is known but not fully known. Along the journey, the reader will learn that the two narrators are fairly similar and both learn a great deal about herself.

I just about loved every character in this, even the ones I hated purely because they played a role in the learning and healing of the main narrator.

This is a work that I definitely would recommend to people who want to try out historical fiction but are fearful that the typical topics or events of other novels in the genre may be too difficult for them to read.

This is story is quite unique in its writing style.T ori inherits 30,000 pounds from her grandmother, Rita. Her only request ist hat she spends it on herself. The money is Tori's escape from an unhappy life. She goes back to Florence, a place she had gone many times with Rita to try and finish her latest writing project. A new story is soon uncovered by Tori, a story that will take the reader to many places, to many different times.

The reader embarks on a journey with Tori to discover a part of Rita's life that she didn't know existed. Rita had fallen in love with Achille in Florence in 1953. She fell in love with a race car driver that was loved and respected by many. Rita tamed the bachelor but she couldn't tame the driver. Rita lost her love the following year, returning to England.

Tori becomes obsessed with Achille and so did I. She puts her investigative skills to work discovering all she can. The reader learns a lot about Achille, the driver, but the reader learns even more about Achille, the resistance fighter. Achille and Stella, his sister, played a major part in the resistance fighting against the Nazis. Their story gave me glimpses into the lives of those that fought for their country. Even better, I had a direction to research to discover what my education failed to teach me.

As I gained knowledge of the war, the author softens the story with a budding romance. Tori had left her abusive husband behind in England, but soon discovers love with Marco. In Marco she finds the support she needs to discover Achille's story, learn to love.

I've been missing Florence since returning from a trip last month and this novel did an incredible job of taking me back. Kat Devereaux has managed to bottle up the essence of today's Florence as Tori searches for her own independence, while simultaneously captivating me with the story of the partisan resisters during World War II. Perfect for fans of Still Life by Sarah Winman.

This dual time line novel is a well written story about two women in beautiful Florence who are finding their personal strength as they deal with hardships in their lives.

Even though Stella is only 14, she is the youngest member of the resistance. Because of her age, its often easier for her to perform her various jobs without detection by the Nazis. Her mother treats her like a servant and seems to only care about her brother and both parents forbid her from working with the resistance. Her brother was extremely popular and admired by everyone when he became a race car driver after the war while Stella mysteriously disappeared from life in the area after the war.

Tori is a young writer who has left her mentally abusive husband and fled to Florence. She choose Florence because she and her late grandmother traveled there often and she hopes by going back to Florence, she'll be able to learn more about her late grandmother's past. As she starts digging into her grandmother's past - with the help of Marco, a sexy young lawyer, she begins to uncover secrets that link her grandmother to Stella and her family.

I enjoyed both women's stories but it seems like there were more words spent on the current time line. My only complaint about the book is that it left a lot of questions unanswered when it ended rather quickly. Overall, I thought it was a well written and well researched novel.

This was a fascinating story. I think Italy gets overlooked at times with WWII. I really enjoyed Stella’s story. It was a quick, enjoyable book.

Thank you for the opportunity to preview this book by Kat Devereaux. I immediately became engrossed in the story - partly because of a brief trip to Florence. I found the story fascinating as it covered two timelines - present day Florence and WWII Tuscany - which I also spent some time in.

I also enjoyed the section on Achille and his car enthusiasm. However the book just stopped - ended - almost as if the author ran out of time words, etc. I certainly don't expect all loose ends tied up neatly but this was uncalled for. I would not recommend this book.

Florence, Italy - World War II and 2019

2019:

Tori MacNair has left her husband, Duncan, and their farm, and his emotional cruelty. Learning that upon the death of her beloved grandmother Duncan had withheld an invitation to a memorial vigil, Tori came to the realization that enough is enough. Her husband's constant control of her life, his degrading comments about her, and his excuses as to why she couldn't travel to visit her family have come to a boiling point for Tori. With the money her grandmother has left to her, Tori packs her bags and flies off to Florence where the memories of her trips there with her grandmother are vivid. The only problem is that she is contracted to write a book about her life in the Highlands as a laird's lady. So, that's not going to happen. She'll need to explain this to her agent, and hopefully come up with a substitute topic.

1944 -

Stella Infuriati is in her early teens, but without her parents' knowledge, she is secretly helping the Resistance in her little town in Italy. She and her brother Achille are just a small part of the locals who are doing what they can to foil the Nazis. But it is dangerous work, and the ultimate penalty is death, and they all know this. For Stella, it's also a way to escape the hurt of knowing that her mother and father are much more devoted to her brother than they are to her. They both, however, survive the war, and Achille becomes a famous race car driver, but Stella just disappears, leaving no trace of her existence.

2019 -

Tori's determination to remain in Italy requires that she apply for rights to rent an apartment, as well as have a solid income to live on. With the help of her realtor, Chiara, Tori is introduced to a local attorney, Marco, who begins to assist with the mountains of paperwork required by the Italian government. Tori is also encouraged by her agent in the UK to do some background work on her grandmother's attachment to Italy, and to the famous race car driver that she loved. There is also the distasteful but necessary need to divorce Duncan, and to reconcile herself with her new life. Tori and Marco strike up a tentative relationship, which complicates matters a bit. Tori's anxiety, and her lack of self-esteem thanks to Duncan, are issues that pop up as she grapples with her feelings for Marco. But there is the mystery of her grandmother's life in Florence, the friends she visited there, and the girl who disappeared after the war that keeps Tori from dwelling on her problems.

ESCAPE TO FLORENCE is a debut novel that is undeniably a winner. Readers will immediately get drawn into the fascinating story of Stella, and to embrace Tori's personal life as she works to change her life. Beautifully written, a page turner, and an interesting historical background make ESCAPE TO FLORENCE a Perfect 10 for me.

This book was an incredible journey that takes Tori McNair from Scotland to Florence after her grandmother's death and needing to leave her husband who isn't good for her. She learns about her family mainly her grandmother's life prior to getting married.

It also takes us to a young girl named Stella whose working with the resistance to fight what is happening in Italy back during WWII and in, This life for Stella was hard if not difficult at times. But definitely worth the adventure as we see how she changes through the years and what happened to her when paper trails of her evaporate. No one knows what happened to her after 1945. What became of her?

I really enjoyed the writing and story telling in this book. I had only wished that Tori's family was more understanding to her and her situation. (Don't want to give any spoilers I'm not that kind of reviewer :) ). It was great to see Tori make her own choices without other people impacting her.

I think people who love Kate Quinn and even those who like Susan Elia MacNeal. She keeps you captivated to your seat wanting to see what happens and how the story will play out and you can also feel like you are there with everyone in WWII.

Quick and enjoyable cross of historical fiction and romance. In the current day, Tori is grieving the death of a beloved grandmother who took her on yearly trips to Florence from the UK. A final betrayal by her manipulative husband, combined with her inheritence, drive her to Florence as an escape. The parallel historical story of Stella, set during the German occupation of Facist controlled Italy, introduces a young resistance courier and her family. Until very late in the book, the two stories are only tangentially related, but the connections become increasingly clear. I felt the ending was a bit rushed and left many loose ends about Tori's story in particular, and her search for her grandmother's past as well.

I loved this book. It has a great plot and keeps you reading. The book keeps you reading. I loved the characters in the book.

A beautifully written story with layers upon layers of mystery, love, and fantastic writing! I have never read anything by this author and she is brilliant. This was brilliant - it included everything I want in a good book: family secrets, history, love (both romantic and the love of family), and quality prose. Do yourself a favor and absolutely get this book. You won't be sorry. I couldn't put it down until I turned the last page!

Escape to Florence switches between the present and World War II in telling the story of two women. The first, Tori, is a British author living in the present day on an isolated English estate with a cold, hypercritical husband. The second is Stella, a fourteen-year-old girl who lives in a small town in Tuscany during World War II and works in the Resistance against the Nazis and Italian Fascists. She eventually escapes her abusive family (who adore Achille as much as they despise her) by running away with a young man, leaving no trace of her whereabouts. When Tori's grandmother dies, she leaves Tori enough money to escape the marriage. She flees to Florence, a city she learned to love while visiting there with her grandmother. Tori researches her grandmother’s past and learns her grandmother was the lover of Achille Infuriati, a famous Formula One race car driver—and Stella’s older brother. This romance is to become the basis of a book she’s writing for a British publisher.

There isn’t quite a balanced approach to both women. Escape to Florence starts with Tori, and her story weighs more heavily, in terms of word count, as she adjusts to living in Italy, going through a divorce, and finding a new lover. The Italian aspects ring true to me, having lived for sometime in Northern Italy. Though the story was interesting, the ending seemed a bit flat as too little is resolved: the book is never published, the divorce never comes through, and Tori's new romance is still too new to gel.