Story for the Week
Interested in the latest styles? Don’t ask me. I am one of the least fashion forward people I know. 😉
On a typical day, you will find me in yoga pants and a t-shirt, no makeup with my hair in a ponytail…one of the benefits of working from home. I have been known to just throw a hoodie over my pajamas to drive Corinne to school. And just a few weeks ago, Corinne threw a hoodie over her own pajamas to walk the half block to the gas station on the corner for a snack run. When she commented that she looked stupid in her leopard capri pajama pants and crocs, I told her the headline for this blog post, and we had a good laugh about it.
I don’t remember ever really being completely invested in the “latest” styles. I wore the Farrah Fawcett feathers in my hair, bell bottoms, leg warmers, banana combs, and even (God help me) the shoulder pads. You almost couldn’t get away from them. But most of the time, I selected jeans and a t-shirt or sweatshirt on any given day.
Once I started working and had to buy more professional clothes, I didn’t go looking for the latest styles. I looked for something I liked, regardless of what “everyone” was wearing. I commuted into the city every day, so I wanted to be comfortable in something I had to wear all day. And as I’ve gotten older, I care even less what’s fashionable. I want comfortable and practical and, most importantly, machine washable. 😉
I remember having a debate with my late husband one day when I needed a new winter coat. We live in the Midwest, but Dennis lived in New York for a long time before we met and got married. Dennis was all about having the right look, so he shopped for coats that were fashionable…fitted, short, nice big collars, no hood, white. 🙄
I selected down-filled, boot-length coats with giant hoods. Dennis said they were ugly, and my comeback was that I didn’t care what the coat looked like as long as it kept me warm in a Chicago winter.
Recently, I received a text message from Valerie, a saleswoman Dennis always shopped from at the Estée Lauder counter at Macy’s. They started doing facials again after COVID, so she invited her regular customers to make appointments. Corinne and I thought it would be a fun afternoon, so we went, and we had a great time.
It’s literally been years since I wore any kind of makeup, so they went easy on me. After we finished, I sent the picture to my brother-in-law Rodolfo’s girlfriend and said it was because I knew Rodolfo wouldn’t appreciate it.
She showed him the picture and told me that he said he would appreciate it and then made a very Rodolfo comment that she wouldn’t repeat. I, of course, had to know what he said. “He said he always appreciates when you break your normal dress code.” 🤣
Yoga pants, t-shirt, no makeup, ponytail. That’s my fashion…so not forward that it’s backward. And I’m ok with that. 👕
Book Review
⭐⭐⭐
3 Stars for Ciao for Now by Kate Bromley
320 pages
Publisher: Graydon House
Publication Date: June 6, 2023
I received an advance copy of this title from NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/Graydon House.
Publisher’s Description
When an American interning at a fashion house in Rome butts heads with her professor’s surly son, sparks fly!
With her thirties rapidly approaching and a mountain of student debt looming over her, Violet Luciano’s dream of finishing design school and working in fashion has cost her everything. So when she lands an internship at an up-and-coming fashion brand in Rome, she brings her A game to Italy. With nothing left to lose, Violet plans to win the competition among the interns for the ultimate prize—a job at a New York label.
But when a coffee run goes wrong and Violet accidentally destroys a stranger’s laptop, all of the apology Americanos in the world won’t help her. Because it turns out that the man from the café is Matteo, her professor’s eternally grumpy son, who thinks she’s a clumsy American…and maybe a stalker. Their animosity (and undeniable chemistry) grows as together they’re forced to face a summer of chic parties, adventures through Rome, and sharing a home…with the person they can’t stand the most.
The more time she spends with him, the more distracted she finds herself. With her chance to win the competition slipping out of her grasp, Violet has to decide whether to say ciao to Matteo—or ciao to her dreams.
************
Main Characters:
- Violet – a 29-year old New York fashion design student, participating in a four-week competitive internship in Italy
- Marco – fashion design student, competing with Violet in Italy
- Holly – fashion design student, competing with Violet in Italy
- Professor Leoni – design professor who lives in Italy; Violet, Marco, and Holly are staying in her apartment during the competition
- Matt – a television writer who lives in New York and Professor Leoni’s son
- Mira – works in logistics for Gia Luca, the company sponsoring the internship
I wanted so badly to love this book as much as I loved Bromley’s last novel, Here for the Drama. Bromley’s formula places one of her romantic leads in a specific industry, and that allows her to give the reader a backdrop for the entire story. In this case, the industry is fashion design—fabric, seamstresses, fashion shows, design inspiration, Italy.
The premise works. Violet’s arrival in Italy finds her in a café where she falls into a table, spilling coffee and ruining the laptop of an attractive stranger, Matt. When she and her fellow classmates arrive at Professor Leoni’s, they are introduced to “Matteo,” the professor’s son, who is visiting and will also be staying at the apartment for the next several weeks. Violet’s attraction to Matt causes quite the distraction.
It’s a nice light story with a little bit of steam when Violet and Matt finally get together. (Not really a spoiler. It’s a romance.) But I feel like Violet and Matt don’t have a ton of chemistry. Their banter falls flat more often than not. And in all honesty, Matt was a huge di…jerk…at the beginning. I even made a note about 20% of the way in hoping that he wasn’t the love interest. While I love a good enemies to lovers story, Violet changes her opinion of Matt really fast, and they didn’t even spend any time together in two of the four weeks of the internship.
A couple other things don’t work for me. Mira, a woman who works in logistics at Gia Luca, randomly pops up into the story to be a friend to Violet. I won’t give away the role she plays at the end, but the chapters with her were so random that I was actually suspicious of her motives. There is also the element of Violet feeling extremely guilty for some reason that Holly will discover her involvement with Matt. She thinks that Holly will see it as Violet trying to get an edge in the competition, but Professor Leoni (Matt’s mom) doesn’t have anything to do with judging the competition. Violet’s relationship or non-relationship with Matt is kind of irrelevant.
My favorite characters are Marco and Violet’s sister Daniella. I just wish there had been more substance to them and their back stories because they seem like a lot of fun. In fact, I feel like the whole book needs more time. Maybe the competition should have been eight weeks or even the whole summer. The descriptions of Italy and the designs are great, but the development of the characters isn’t nearly enough.
The book is ok. I’ll read others by Bromley because I have enjoyed her writing in the past. This one just didn’t hit for me.
If you enjoyed this post, please comment below. Subscribe for regular updates, and share it with your friends. If you’re interested in starting a conversation, send an email to booksundertheblanket@gmail.com.
As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using the links on my site.
