The Food of Love...a real treat

Take three characters; a handsome charmer Tommaso Massi, who’s a humble waiter, Bruno, a fantastic chef and friend of Tommaso and Laura a beautiful American girl who’s studying architecture in Italy. Add the beautiful sights and sensations of Rome blend together until mixed thoroughly. Add to these, humor, spice and romance and you are left with a sensational book from the author Anthony Capella that will draw you in from the first page and leaving you wanting more on the last page.

I absolutely loved this book; it would be easy to devour this in a single sitting, as I did just when I got my hands on it on my way home on the bus (something which usually I hate doing) and I did not put it down until the last page in the next two hours, but then I recommend that on your second or third ‘serving’, read about twenty pages a day because the descriptions of Bruno's cooking really should be savored. Trust me when I say that you can almost taste the food that Bruno prepares in the story, you can smell the earthiness of the truffles and taste the fresh herbs...this book is guaranteed to make your tummy rumble! Looking forward with anticipation to my evening 'portion' of Capella's wonderful tale was as tempting as anticipating a meal at Italy's best Osterias

This is a beautiful retelling of the Cyrano De Bergerac story where two men fall for the same girl and the more accomplished one help his more handsome friend seduce the lucky lady. Instead of words these men use food and wow the food is amazing until they both fall hopelessly in love with her and what follows is a delicious mix of comedy, romance and all those wonderful feelings you get when you first fall in Love! This is a book for all the senses.

I loved the descriptions of Rome. I’ve been there and loved the city, but this book made me want to go back. If you have ever been to Rome, this book transports you there in just a few short pages; the author describes not just the food, but the smells, the tastes, the combinations of flavors. Mrs.Capella must be a very lucky woman, no man can write as well as this without being able to love this as well. As the pages flew past and chapters ended I was in love with Bruno, in love with Rome and I swear I put on weight just reading!

The story moves along at a gentle and sweet pace, describing the three main characters extremely well, so that we got to know their likes and dislikes very early on in the story. I loved the fact that the main plot was to incorporate Italian (mainly Roman) food recipes into the story so that when each recipe was described, you are left with a feeling of actually tasting and smelling the fantastic food talked about on the pages of the book.

As the book develops, we follow each of the three characters along their journey of life in Rome and watch as their lives intermingle with each other at certain aspects of the story. There are some nice twists and all in all I found it a very enjoyable story to read especially over the Christmas Season. The language in the book can be a little crude and raw at times but there is also a charm that comes out of the book as well. While the complexity of the relationships unwound, and the description of the food that was being cooked, feeling part of the food feasts being created, I ached to try and taste it all! If you do enjoy the tastes and sounds of Italy this book holds them deep in every page.

I was a bit disappointed with the ending; after all the detail that went into Laura's liaisons with Tommaso, it didn't tell you anything about the Grand Climax of Bruno and Laura getting together! I thought that the e-mails that they sent to each other seemed quite cold and lacked emotion compared to the intensity of passion that had been going on in the rest of the book.

If you’re a fan of some saucy romance, gastronomy and the Eternal City then you will love this book just as much as I did. Just read it greedily as you would a eat greedily a wonderful meal cooked with love and with that in mind you can almost feel the wonderfully green virgin olive oil dribbling down your chin as you lick your fingers and rub your lips together… (just as you can feel the pounds piling up but believe me it's worth a few pounds extra on the belly)... do not forget a lovely glass of Chianti or Valpolicella at each sitting throughout the journey of total satisfaction of almost all senses…