To Sicily With Love a love letter to Sicily, Family & Love

Aurora York is used to being in control of her life and you can say she had it all, loving parents, a career and a relationship. Unfortunately, after Aurora loses her parents five years apart, she doesn’t know how to handle it. At one of her speeches, she lets her emotions get the best of her and it shocks her professional credibility. Things become more shocking when Aurora finds out she has a first cousin and a whole family in Sicily that she doesn’t know about. When Aurora’s cousin reaches out, Aurora takes the leap to go to Sicily to meet her family. There Aurora gets close to her family, falls in love & figures out what it is she truly wants in her life.

Writing, Characters, & Growth

As always Jennifer Probst’s writing immerses you in the story and it is so beautiful. I can picture Sicily as though I’ve been there before with all the colors & people speaking Italian the inside of beautiful Catholic Churches. Aurora does a ton of growth throughout the novel. Aurora learns that grief isn’t a one and done thing and that grief and hardship do build character. I also like how Aurora was reminded sometimes not everything needed a plan. Spontaneity is also a good thing. My favorite characters were Aurora, her love interest Quint, & her Cousin Catena.  My least favorite character is Jason as he’s superficial & tried to change Aurora into someone else & didn’t seem to be understanding that grieving a family member isn’t something you are going to get over in a short amount of time. I also love all the beautiful quotes in the novel, one of them being from Aurora’s mother, Wait for the love of your life, even if it’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done. That quote is so true! So many people are willing to rush into a relationship, so they won’t be alone. I’ve seen too many people settle in relationships and some even in marriage, & I knew I would not be one of those people & its why I was relieved after breaking up with my boyfriend in 2019. As frustrating as it is, I rather wait long for the right man than marry wrong.  

If you enjoy novels that take you to faraway places mixed with stories of family, love & growth, & an escape from winter weather since the novel takes place in Sicily, you need to preorder To Sicily With Love by Jennifer Probst coming out on February 18^th! Thank you so much Jennifer for the early copy! I look forward to our Behind The Book Q&A.