“…the eternal city – eternally present and eternally busy”

The ink is hardly dry on 30 year old Kate’s divorce papers as she heads to Rome for a bit of a break. She shares a taxi into the city with gorgeous Jamie – it’s ok, though, it turns out he is gay so will not be making any moves on her – and they share dinner together. A hiccup that evening sees her drinking too much and falling asleep on the Spanish Steps, but policeman Alessandro soon assists her back to base.

Having her purse lifted out of her handbag at the Colosseum the next day, a sadly common experience for many tourists, she happens upon this rather sexy policeman once again. This of course is not the last time they meet and she soon finds herself in Alessandro’s company at St Peter’s Basilica and much, much more…. As a dab hand at dress making, she is also invited into the bosom of his family to make a few alterations to his sister’s wedding dress, a vexing situation all round. But being in the heart of a typical Italian family, even eating delicious dishes made of lentils (yes, really, they are yummy!), all begin to sow the seed of a possible life in Rome….

Meanwhile things between her and Jamie get sorted and they soon progress to being good friends. A “phew” development as he proves to be good listener and enabler.

But her sisters are concerned that she is in a vulnerable place, so soon after her marriage break up. Anna in particular shows her concern in an overbearing way, it is done out of love of course, but nevertheless is intrusive and stifling. And there is mum who is as needy as any little child. And, so with a family trauma happening out of the blue, she returns to her family, with a heavy but loyal heart, from her wonderfully romantic sojourn in the Eternal City. Her ex husband isn’t making life easy for her either, trying to inveigle himself back into her life; her confidence dwindling, does she have the courage to leave everything she knows behind her in England to start a new life with someone whom she has only known for a week? Can love conquer all? Enjoy the twists and turns of romantic adventures, as exciting as any ride on the back of Alessandro’s Vespa.

If you click on our blogpost link, Tilly also chats to us about locale: http://www.tripfiction.com/romance-novel-set-in-rome/

Thank you to Bookouture for my copy of this book via Netgalley. I have followed Tilly’s books pretty much from the start and I adore her writing style so I knew I had to read her latest story.

This story follows Kate as her husband and childhood sweetheart, Matt, dumps her. Once the divorce comes through Kate decides its time she travelled like she always wanted to. Matt didn’t like travelling so Kate has loads of places she wants to go and top of her list is Rome.

Kate is a lovely girl that seems to have settled in life. I couldn’t work out why she had settled for second best when she was worth so much more but I know from my own life that sometimes these things happen without you even realising it.

I visited Rome a few years ago so I found it extremely easy to picture myself watching Kate from a distance in Rome. Tilly’s descriptions were very accurate. It was clear from the off that Kate was not a seasoned traveller. Everything that could go wrong in the firs few days did. There were times when I wanted to shout at her and times when I wanted to hug her and tell her it will all be ok.

At first I was slightly suspicious of Jamie but in the end I really liked him. He was a good friend to Kate throughout her trip and once she returned home.

Alessandro is the perfect Italian specimen. He’s hot, he’s single, he’s funny, he’s kind, he’s caring and to top it off he wears a uniform. What more could a girl want!

I also really liked Lucetta, Alessandro’s sister. She really made me laugh.

This book was fun and good paced but there were also some quite serious and emotional parts to it. As always I am left me craving my next fix of Tilly’s writing. Luckily I don’t have to wait long as I have just been given a copy of the next book in this series, which is out next month .

What a truly wonderful and delightful read. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish, the setting of the story being Rome was fabulous to read, and i really did feel like I was there at times.

The characters were really well written and i loved getting to know each and every one of them.

So it you love delightful easy reads, then i truly recommend this book. I can't wait to read more books by this author.

*Book provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Main character Kate has bad bad experiences on Friday the 13th and it doesn’t change, because that’s when her husband dumps her. She decides that it’s time for a change and jumps on a plane to Italy.

In Rome her new adventure starts, she explores the city and meets handsome police man Alessandro. She gets to know different sides of him: Police man Alessandro and loving Alessandro, he even takes her to see his family. This is confusing for her and in some moments during the story, she doesn’t know what to think.

At a certain point in the story she has to make a decision about her life and she does. However, there is also a lot going on at home.

Italy always screams home for me and it was so uplifting to read about Rome in this book. The people, the sights and the story between Kate and Alessandro, just “FANTASTICO”.
We also get to follow Kate around in Manchester, that added a great mixture and also mixed up the characters.

Kate friend Jamie adds another spark to the story as well, which is really refreshing. The way they meet and what they experience together.

Tilly Tennant created a wonderful atmosphere in this story, there are some sparkly moments and the excitement is always there. This forms a great flow and makes it build up in an ideal way. The characters are well lined out, they have chemistry and they are all really authentic.

Rome is Where The Heart is is the perfect story to pull you away from every day life and the final winter days. It makes you forget everything around you and you can just dive into the story and be a part of it.

It's been such a delight reading this book especially with the setting in Rome. I felt as if I was transported there as I was reading it. I've not been there yet though it's definitely in my bucket list so you can imagine my excitement getting to experience it first.

I love the development of each character and their individual stories. Each touched me in their own ways. I love Jaime's genuineness and friendliness and the friendship that developed between him and Kate in such a short period of time. It made me wish I could also experience making such friends on my travels.

And of course we have Alessandro whom I could see wearing his tight but smart polizia uniform, and he couldn't have been sexier speaking english with that Italian accent. I love the build up between him and Kate though I wish things had gone smoother with his family.

I did wish there was more support from Anna. I was surprised to see such disapproval coming from her and made me wonder if she was jealous with Kate's new turn of events.

All in all, I enjoyed this read immensely. It's an uplifting book that is not just about second chance romance but friendship as well. This is also my first book by Tilly Tennant and I'm sure it won't be my last. Can't wait for the follow up on Kate and Alessandro.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the review copy of this book.

Wow, the first chapter certainly grabbed my attention! It was a highly charged scene that created a cascade of emotions and introduced me to Kate's (fabulous name by the way) life in a very direct manner. When she headed off to Rome I felt nervously excited for her, she was an easy character to warm to and I wanted her trip to go well. I don't think I'd be brave enough to visit a different country alone so I figured I could live vicariously through Kate's story.

Her antics in Rome entertained and intrigued me, I couldn't wait to see who she would meet and what she would get up to next. Jamie was a wonderful character, although I was a little unsure about his intentions to begin with, he was pretty much guaranteed to put a smile on my face whenever he made an appearance. Then there was Alessandro, what can I say *swoons*. In my opinion, a good looking man in a uniform should always feature somewhere in a storyline!

Inevitably, complications arose and Kate found herself faced with some difficult decisions. I guess when so much happens in the space of just one week, it isn't easy to know what to do for the best. As the reader, however, I had a strong opinion about what she should do and I had to stop myself from verbally telling her what to do (talking to my Kindle is something I'm trying to cut down on).

The authors writing style seemed to pull me into the storyline so that I felt involved - when things went wrong I worried and when things went right I smiled. I like a book that can affect me in that way.

This was a delightful read that brought a smile to my face and swept me away to the warmth of Rome.

Honestly, thank you so much Bookouture and NetGalley for the Arc in exchange for review. I jump at most any book that takes place in Rome, or really any place in Italy. Rome is Where The Heart Is will be added to my favorite books based in Italy that I will read over and over. I typically hate when a book starts out with the woman being dumped, especially in this case where Kate and her husband Matt had a deep history. I often wonder how someone loves someone for years and builds a life together and one of them cheats, or betrays the other. Kate doesn’t know if Matt cheated and at this point it is not all that important because the most important thing is that he left her when she appeared to be clueless that they were not doing well. Kate is pretty shocked, and Matt is a bit of a “tosser” so it is hard to feel sorry for someone that knows they are unhappy but never bothers to try and do something about it and just leaves. But, Kate does the one thing that I admire, head to Rome, which in my humble opinion, can never be a bad idea.
Kate has one week in Rome which not nearly enough to even see half of it, but, she makes the best with the time she has there. She sees some amazing sites and meets some amazing people. It goes without saying that she eats some wonderful food. One of the people she meets, Jamie, takes her under his wing and I like that the reader gets to know Jamie. He isn’t just a passing character. He is an integral part of Kate’s story and he adds so much color to the book. But, that is one of the great things about this book. The characterizations stand out. Each person Kate meets or interacts with is well written. Even the people who are not main characters are colorful and well-written. Kate has a mishap while out one night near the Spanish Steps and meets Alessandro, a policeman in the Rome police department. Oddly enough they run into each other again and hit it off. At this stage, Kate has made two friends in about 2 days in Rome where I have made zero when visiting for about 10 days across two different visits. I’m not sure what I am doing wrong, but, I’m hoping I have it straight for my next visit. Kate has this way of drawing people to her even when she is not trying and her personality shines through in the book. Alessandro is a good looking Roman guy who people appear to love. He loves his job and believes in his city and wants to ensure that others love it also. He has this lively, close family and he and Kate have a lot in common. It doesn’t hurt that Jamie loves him also. What is key is will Kate’s sisters love him enough to cheer for their sister’s second chance at love? It is well worth reading Rome is Where the Heart is to find out. Review can also be found at LadyTechie’s Book Musings http://ladytechiesbookmusings.blogspot.com.

This was just an okay read for me. It wasn’t bad though it could have been more. I did love the idea of a traveling book and there were parts of this story that were interesting. One of the things that I did love about the story was all the focus on Italy. I have always wanted to visit the country so it was nice that the author took us on a tour. I enjoyed those parts a lot and I felt like I was there exploring. The writing was also good as the book flowed nicely. Though one aspect of the story that I couldn’t get into was the heroine Kate. I found it hard to connect with her and it wasn’t until the end that I started to like her a bit. However I did enjoy the relationships that she had with her sisters and her friend Jeremy that she met in Italy. I also liked reading about Alessandro and his family. They were great. But I wanted more of the romance so that I could truly believe in the connection between Kate and Alessandro. Overall, I wanted to like this story but it just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t fully get into it which was saddening. I do think readers that are interested in travel could find this intriguing.

I’m starting to wonder if there’s something in the water that causes married British men to wake up, decide they don’t love their wives anymore and move on. It has been the jumping off point for many of the books I’ve read recently, and seems to push that whole finding yourself again when the world goes pear shaped theme into something different every time. Tilly Tennant introduces us to Kate, when her Friday the 13th went straight into the tip when her husband / partner of 16 years, Matt, decides that he doesn’t want to be with her anymore. Again, lost his ever loving mind – since Kate isn’t crazy, she’s not mean or rude, and while she does have sisters who alternate between lovely and interfering, this is a case of itchy feet and indecision for him. Of course Kate is devastated, but she’s doing everything she can to keep it together and redefine her life without Matt, and after all of the upheavals, a vacation with sun, warmth, good food and a change of scene is more than in order. So she books a flight to Rome, an adventure Matt would never agree to, and the adventure begins.

First in her new adventures is the city itself: full of hidden corners and popular hangouts, gorgeous people young and old, history, vibrancy and food. Oh lots and lots of good food. And a bustle and vibrancy that brings her into contact with Jamie, an American in Rome for business: handsome, attentive and Fun. While Kate isn’t even interested in a ‘man’ or relationship, Jamie does serve to help her see some potential in her new life, and that there is something to look forward to in her newly redesigned life. And then, we meet Alessandro. A policeman with startling eyes, Roman charm and a big family with five sisters and a mama who is tough in the best of situations, he was the Italian Treat she didn’t count on.

Oh this was fun, and I don’t know how I never found Tennant before! Everything I want in a story: great characters, a touch of romance, a wonderful setting that comes alive and the ability to manage difficult or disheartening events with grace and style, and present the characters with choices that allow them to grow and change in new and different ways. Kate was wonderfully complex, hurt but trying to heal as she unleashed her curiosity and love of new adventures, long hidden beneath her ex-husband’s expectations. Alessandro was a wonderful catalyst, interested, intrigued and above all a person who loves life and manages every pitfall (including his ex-girlfriend) with a style that is quintessentially Italian in the most charming way possible. A wonderful introduction to the series and Tennant’s writing, my to be purchased list just grew exponentially.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

After her marriage is over, Kate decides to do things that she's always wanted to do. One of those things to do is travel. First stop: Rome. But traveling on her own worries her sister. Rome is everything Kate has dreamed about. A chance encounter has brought Kate and a sexy police officer from Rome (Alessandro) together.

Can Kate find romance in Rome? Can she start a new dressmaking business? Can she leave her family?

I enjoyed this book. I loved the fact that Kate travelled to Rome alone. She's strong and independent, but very loyal to her family. I loved the blossoming romance with Alessandro. I'm really looking forward to the second book.

I really enjoyed this book. The author does a wonderful job of describing the sights of Rome without sounding like a guide book. The love story is a fairy story, but that's what made it so enjoyable. Rome is a city where anything can happen. Will definitely look for other titles from this author.

I didn't like how the book started out, with him trying to sneak out and break up with her. Then she goes to Italy and meets up with a gay man who shows her around. After chapter 8 I could not read any more, I was just not enjoying this book.

A warm, fun, bubbly story with so much heart in it.

Kate Merry will take you from heartbreak to new, fresh promising start with her optimism and leaping into the unknown with full enthusiasm.

I haven't read anything by author Tilly Tennant before, but when I saw this book on Netgalley, I knew I wouldn't be able to resist reading this one, thanks to its gorgeous bright colourful cover, and a fantastic sounding blurb. Lots of books I have read before have looked at holiday romances, but this one goes that step further into territory I haven't encountered yet! I also recently found out there is going to be a sequel to this book, called A Wedding in Italy, due out a month after this one, in April.

Kate is running away from the failure of her marriage when she books a last-minute holiday to Rome on her own. Her sister's think she is crazy, going away on her own, but Kate is determined to prove to everyone, not least herself, that she can do this. She goes exploring the city, meeting a new American friend along the way, and the pair decide to spend more time together while they are in Rome. Then she meets Roman policeman Alessandro, who she immediately falls for. He is handsome, and determined to apparently sweep Kate off of her feet. But his large Italian family is sure that the English woman can't be the one for him, but maybe the pair have different ideas....

I liked Kate from the beginning. She has had her heartbroken by her husband, been left in a rubbish situation, and is determined not to wallow too much. I admire her for wanting to go on holiday by herself, I think I would quite enjoy it in a few years time, but it's quite a daunting prospect. However, she gets her things together, and heads off to Rome, somewhere she has always wanted to go. Of course things don't go completely smoothly, but I think Kate handled herself really well, even if she was open to meeting new people far too easily in my opinion, these men she befriends could have been anyone!

Alessandro is a lovely male character in the book, you can see why she falls for him so easily, especially when he tries to woo her by showing her around the sites of Rome. I haven't been lucky enough to visit Rome myself, but everyone knows the famous landmarks that Kate visits with her new friends. Tilly Tennant writes them beautifully, bringing them to life on the page, and I loved sitting in my chilly bedroom reading about a sunny, warm Rome, with the characters enjoying ice cold drinks and gelato! It was perfect escapist reading.

The book does take more of a serious tone towards the end of the book when Kate inevitably has to return home, in a more serious storyline involving one of her sisters. I though Tennant handled the really emotive storyline really well, and did well at showing Kate's emotions being torn between wanting to be there for her family, and missing her new love back in Italy. This was a really enjoyable read from beginning to end. I did feel perhaps Kate fell for Alessandro too hard, too fast and it seemed a tad unrealistic at times, since she seemed okay at diving in very quickly with him, but I suppose we could all do with taking a chance at love sometimes. I'm excited to read the sequel to find out what is in store for Kate and Alessandro next! An enjoyable read.

Really enjoyed this book. After separating from her husband, Kate finds her self footloose and fancy free. She takes herself off to Rome somewhere she had longed to visit. Kate certainly finds excitement and uncertainty and gets into one or two tricky situations and tangles with a handsome American and falls in love with an Italian policeman!! A relaxing read that follows the fallout from a marriage and a journey towards independence, adventure and all that that entails for Kate. Will go on to read more by this author now.

Rome Is Where the Heart Is is another fabulous instalment from Tilly Tennant.

Set in the beautiful city of Rome you are instantly transported to the Mediterranean capital city and immersed into the tourist attractions and amazing Italian food.

The story follows Kate, recently divorced from her childhood sweetheart, she decides to embark on a city break to Rome. First she meets Jamie at the airport who becomes a good friend, showing her the sites and taking her out for dinner. Then she meets and falls for Alessandro, a sexy policeman. All too soon her week in the sun comes to an end and she must return to Manchester. But will this mean the end for Kate and Alessandro?

This book is well written and a joy to read. I've read previous books by this author before and look forward to reading more.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Tilly Tennant for the chance to review.

I love the Tilly Tennant books I have already read and was really looking forward to reading this latest release. Kate is the star of the show and as the story starts we see her husband soon become her ex-husband as he decides they aren't meant to be together any more. Fast forward a few months and Kate has made a bold decision. She is taking some holiday due from work and visiting Rome on her own. She decided that now she was on her own it was time to start doing things she wanted to do. When Kate lands at Rome airport she happens to run into a man named Jamie and they decide to share a taxi to the centre. That is the start of her remarkable holiday!

I fell in love with Jamie instantly and the descriptions of Rome were fantastic and have made me more excited about my own upcoming trip to Rome! During the course of her stay she also runs into local Policeman Alessandro and before you know it the two men involved seem to be turning her trip to Rome into something much more interesting. I also loved Alessandro's crazy sister, and the story thread involving Jamie and his trip to Rome.

I thought I knew where the story was going however there was a slight change to that and the story took a sad but unexpected turn featuring Kate's sisters. Although I loved this latest book it wasn't my favourite of hers (hence the 4 stars instead of 5) but it still a thoroughly enjoyable read. This book is an ideal easy read to get you in the mood for you holidays. I also would love to see more on the characters we met in this book whether it be Jamie, or Kate's sisters or indeed Kate herself. Another enjoyable book and I will look forward to the next one!

Rating 3.5/5

What really drew me to this book was Rome as a setting. I’ve never been but I love reading about places that I’ve not managed to visit yet so that I can get a glimpse into what it’s like. I was able to picture the city really well from the descriptions and loved how it was depicted, that it touched upon the landmarks but we also got a look at the paths less traveled as well. This book has definitely made me feel like I want to go off on an adventure!!

Whilst it encouraged the traveler in me I did have an issue with this book, and unfortunately it was kind of a big one, I didn’t find the relationship between Kate and Alessandro very inspiring or believable. Let me clarify, I thought the way that they met and then ended up running into each other again was fine; I was on board with him offering to take her out and show her the sights (because this has actually happened to a friend of mine); what I couldn’t get my head around was that suddenly Kate is love with him, having lots of conflicting thoughts about him and then starts almost obsessing about his ex.

There was no lead up to this relationship, and in my opinion very little development of it, I know that there was the time constraint factor but it was too rushed, I didn’t feel anything for them being together and it began to feel a little stale. I also think that anything to do with Orazia should have been taken out, it felt like it had been added in for a bit of drama to create a tension but didn’t really go anywhere and again wasn’t developed enough to make any real mark.

Having said that I loved the relationship between Kate and her sisters, it was really well portrayed. It felt very realistic and there were plenty of times that I could relate to a situation, like when they were bickering or got mad at each other. I can imagine that Anna might not be too popular but I liked her, she was quite hard on Kate sometimes but it was a good dose of pragmatism and I admired that she was the voice of reason to Kate’s flight of fancy. I also thought it was great how even when they didn’t see eye to eye they still supported each other, the way the author writes about the sisters you can see how they feel about each other without having to be told.

Alessandro’s family also felt really dynamic, like the type of people you do want to be brought into the fold with. A large family, having lunches together with amazing food and all with big personalities, they really gave extra character to the setting. Personally, I think this book would have been more compelling and plausible if there had been more of a conflict involving Alessandro, Kate, and his family. That would have been some serious sparks.

It was also great to see Kate turn her life around, and demand better for herself. I appreciated that even though she did want to follow her new dreams that she was practical about it, and I came away feeling hopeful and that maybe dreams aren’t as far away as we think.

Rome Is Where The Heart Is would make a great summer read, it’s an uplifting book that you can escape into. Even though I wasn’t convinced on the romance aspect, the relationships between the other characters and the brilliant description of Rome are what really made this book for me.

I couldn't resist downloading this book from Netgalley, as quite simply, Italy is where my heart is right now, so the title to Tilly Tennant's new book spoke to me. While I have been to Italy three times, I've never been to Rome, but it's definitely on my 'Places to Visit' list. I couldn't wait to read all about it.

In 'Rome is Where the Heart is,' we meet Kate, who has never had a good Friday 13th. But enough is enough when her husband picks that particular day to leave her. They have known each other since they were eleven, so all Kate knows about herself is who she is when she was with Matt. Without him, her world is flipped upside down and she's not sure what to do. It's not even like Kate can fall into concentrating on her work, she hates her job, spending most of her time there dreaming about the little boutique she will one day open, selling the beautiful dresses she loves to make, usually just for herself.
After reaching her ultimate low, she goes on her computer one night and on the spur of the moment books herself a trip to the place she's always wanted to visit, Rome. Her sisters, who already worry about her all the time, think she's mad travelling alone but Kate knows it's something she has to do; even if she is a little nervous, she wouldn't let them know it.
Luckily for Kate on her very first day she meets her new best friend, Jamie, so things in Rome get a lot more fun, albeit very dramatic. Kate gets to visit places she probably wouldn't have found by herself and she has a companion to chat to that she finds she needs more often that not. Rome doesn't just surprise Kate with it's beauty and new best friends though, there is also a little Romance in the water of the Trevi fountain, in the form of a good looking Italian Policeman. Is Kate ready to open her heart again? Can she win over Alessandro's family? What about her family? She knows Rome is where her heart is but can she stay there?

I adored reading about Italy. Rome sounds so interesting and exciting. I can't wait to go to the Colosseum one day and take in the history. I found Kate to be very brave doing it all by herself, so I was glad that she made a new friend in Jamie. I liked him a lot, as much as he came with a bit of drama, I enjoyed the fact that he seemed so open and easy to get a long with. There were no catches with him, he was just a nice person who wanted to make friends with people while working away from home. As for Alessandro, he again was just an honest, kind man. I loved that he was so passionate about his city and looking out for it's people. It made me smile when he spoke Italian too. I want to be fluent in it one day and have been reading, writing, speaking and practicing so much lately, that it's nice when I can pick things up in books like this, even if it is just a few words. I love it when authors do that as it makes the characters more authentic to me.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this story was how close both Kate and Alessandro's family's were. Kate and her two sisters reminded me a lot of my relationship with my sisters. We're always, always checking in with each other and when we haven't heard from each other, we get frustrated. Then Alessandro's family, made me think of my brother and what it must have been like growing up with lots of sisters...fabulous, of course! ;p They all looked out for one another even when they were picking on each other, which is exactly like my family. Family is everything to me, so to read a book where I really felt the importance of it to the characters too was lovely. As for the meals Kate had, thanks to Alessandros Mum, they made me hungry and happy, reminding me of how lucky I am that they are the meals I have with my Italian Grandparents when I'm home. Nothing quite compares to authentic Italian cooking. Thinking about it is making my mouth water now.