In that novel, Valentine’s 80-year-old grandmother Teodora surprised everyone by getting engaged to her secret boyfriend, a tanner she met on trips to Italy while buying supplies for her custom shoe business. Valentine misses Gianluca, but isn't sure how 'to do it all.' For loyal fans of Adriana Trigiani, you won't have to worry, because Brava, Valentine doesn't disappoint.Lukewarm follow-up to Very Valentine (2009). She turns away from love to develop a new shoe line, run the company with her brother, and remodel her grandmother's house, of course with the help of her gay best friend, Gabriel. They try and pursue a long distance relationship, but Valentine is distracted by the demands of her new life and doesn't appreciate the art of letter writing. Enter Gianluca, if you read Very Valentine you'll remember him, and she starts something back up with him while in Tuscany, but it quickly fizzles when she goes back to New York. Valentine is destroyed by this, because she hasn't gotten along with Alfred in years and is confused why her grandmother would suggest this. Teodora is staying in Italy with Dominic and handing over her house and her shoe company to Valentine, but the catch is that Alfred, Valentine's brother, will be helping Valentine run the financial aspect of the company. Everyone is having a hard time with this, especially Valentine, because she has to say goodbye to her grandmother, who was her roommate, her mentor, business partner, and best friend. Savvy financier Bret Fitzpatrick, Valentine's first love and former fiance who still carries a torch for her, encourages Valentine to exploit her full potential as a designer and a business woman with a plan that will bring her singular creations to the world.'Īt the opening of the novel, Valentine is with her family in Tuscany for the wedding of her grandmother, Teodora, to Dominic. As Valentine turns away from romance and devotes herself to her work, mentor and pattern cutter June Lawton guides her through her power struggle with Alfred, while best friend and confidante Gabriel Biondi moves into 166 Perry Street, transforming her home and point of view. Despite their passion for one another and Gianluca's heartfelt letters, a long-distance relationship seems impossible. Devastated, Valentine falls into the arms of Gianluca, a sexy Tuscan tanner who made his romantic intentions known on the Isle of Capri. Valentine's dreams are dashed when Gram announces that Alfred, 'the prince,' Valentine's only brother and nemesis, has been named her partner at Angelini Shoes. Goodreads says, ' As Brava, Valentine begins, snow falls like glitter over Tuscany at the wedding of her grandmother, Teodora, and longtime love, Dominic.

Brava valentine by adriana trigiani