Lucia loved her brother Dinu to the depths of her soul, but she also worried about him. He was intelligent yet ambitious, resilient yet hot-headed, and there was a dark side to him that could lead him into terrible trouble one day.
Sicily, 1943: Lucia and her twin brother Dinu have always been inseparable, but their bond is threatened when Gero, the son of close family friends in America, arrives in their village. Although she finds herself developing feelings for him, Lucia worries about Gero’s dangerous connections and their influence on her brother.
As the chaos of World War II closes in, Lucia must navigate love and loyalty to make a difficult choice.
Will she risk that the consequences of her decision could bring untold horrors and affect her family for decades to come?
2005: When Jess inherits a baglio, an ancient feudal farmhouse in Sicily, from the grandmother she never knew, she’s determined to uncover the truth about her family’s hidden past. Following the death of her parents and on the brink of divorce, Jess travels to the island alone. There, with the help of a charming Sicilian, she embarks on a quest to unearth a web of long-buried secrets.
But answers come at a price, and Jess must decide if she’s ready to confront a truth that could change everything…
Siobhan Daiko is a British historical fiction author. A lover of all things Italian, she lives in the Veneto region of northern Italy with her husband, a Havanese dog and a Siberian cat. Siobhan was born of English parents in Hong Kong, attended boarding school in Australia, and then moved to the UK — where she taught modern foreign languages in a Welsh high school. She now spends her time writing page-turners and living the dolce vita sweet life near Venice. Her novels are compelling, poignant, and deeply moving, with strong characters and evocative settings, but always with romance at their heart.
Facebook: @SiobhanDaiko
Twitter: @siobhandaiko
Instagram: @siobhandaiko_books
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My thoughts: Sicily in the Second World War, at one point fighting alongside the Germans, then later, with the Allies. A Sicilian friend once told me Sicily is a bit like Italy, but better.
Lucia worries about her twin brother being drawn into the circle around the local Cosa Nostro don, but is powerless to stop it from happening, her family are poor and Dinu sees become one of the Mafia as an easy way to make money, not thinking of the violence and crime involved. As Lucia worries, she also falls for Gero, the son of old family friends.
Jess is getting to know the area of Sicily her grandmother came from, but she has so many questions. She knows nothing about her mother’s family, a rift before she was born means she is in the dark completely. Learning about Lucia and Gero, and about her great-uncle Dinu will draw her into a terrible tale of family division that lasted generations. She’s also distracted by a handsome Sicilian of her own, just as she’s ready to move on after her divorce.
As the two women’s stories slowly collide, bringing the past into the present, can Jess heal the wounds of the past and fulfil her grandmother’s wish that she find a home and happiness in Sicily?
Charming, romantic, and shocking too, this was a great read, and highly enjoyable.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 
Thank you for reading and reviewing!
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