Waking Isabella

Waking Isabella is a lovely romance that benefits from being absolutely drenched in Italian sunshine and the good life of that culture. Melissa Muldoon obviously has a great love for Italy and Tuscany in particular and this love shines through her descriptions of Arezzo, especially her evocations of the people and their special festivals. I loved learning about the history of these jousting events and about Arezzo's connection with the famous Medici family. I could easily empathise with Muldoon's heroine Nora who is struggling to identify her place in the world. As readers we can see how perfectly suited she is to the Arezzo life, but making a huge life change such as emigrating to a new country isn't always so obviously a good idea when you're right in the middle of the decision. Of course, having someone like Luca to look forward to might help!

The romance between Nora and Luca builds well and convincingly. It isn't a bland instalove so I could appreciate how their past experiences made them both cautious. I wasn't always as convinced by Nora's imaginative leaps into the past. Uncovering the stories of Isabella and Margaret was interesting in themselves, but I wondered why Nora's friends never seemed concerned when she would suddenly drift away mid-conversation!