Fiercely independent Mary Pontrelli is blindsided when the New Orleans building housing her New Age store and upstairs apartment is listed for sale. Worse yet, a developer wants to destroy it and her high school ex-boyfriend—ahem, nemesis—is leading their charge. But this budding sweet spot for that weasel from the past can't happen since traitors never change. The best chance Mary has to save her cherished French Quarter building is to join forces with the other business owners whose livelihoods are also at risk. Too bad she avoids teamwork at all costs. Thankfully, a mystical new customer who shares Mary's lost Italian heritage may be able to help alter her stubborn patterns. And, learning about the city's history and her own Sicilian roots from the shopper may prove beyond merely engaging. Even so, acquiring trust in strangers and accepting assistance requires more bravery than any societal expectation she's challenged in her life. But if she doesn't depend on...]]> Fri, 01 Apr 2022 21:20:30 +0300 https://contemporary.library.land/c-dangelo/699815-the_gift.html https://contemporary.library.land/c-dangelo/699815-the_gift.html

Toni Agosti is having a midlife crisis at age thirty-five. Unsurprising, since she hasn't achieved her dream job of becoming a cellist in the Los Angeles Philharmonic and, instead, is trapped teaching music all day. She's also barely surviving in her shaky marriage to former soulmate and new Mr. Condescending, uh...Christian.

When she learns about her ancestor leaving Italy to reestablish his winery in early 1900s LA, she longs to awaken the freedom-filled family legacy and escape her rut. There's just the tiny problem of no experience, no startup money, and convincing Christian there's more to life than one rigid plan.

With an already divided heart, an LA Phil audition surfaces at the worst time. Toni is lost and tired of restriction, including hiding time spent with her closest friend, David. Christian must be wrong about David wanting more than friendship...right?

If Toni revives vineyard history instead of continuing as a cellist,...]]> Fri, 18 Oct 2024 22:16:20 +0300 https://contemporary.library.land/c-dangelo/596775-the_difference.html https://contemporary.library.land/c-dangelo/596775-the_difference.html

When anxiety-prone Rachel Granza learns that her growing sense of emptiness is affecting her relationship with her almost perfect boyfriend and that she's jeopardizing any possibility of a marriage proposal, she knows she must pull herself out of her funk. But how? A dream apartment in New York City, a thriving psychotherapy practice, and her unique obsessions with topics like the Titanic don't even make her feel grounded anymore. Red alert!

Trying to find happiness and meaning again—in more than her beloved Italian food—she stumbles into a genealogy mission to discover childhood information about her idol, aka her grandpa, who died years ago. He never spoke about his Italian immigrant past and now she's determined to find out the reason for his unusual secretiveness.

Rachel's ancestral roller coaster has roadblocks galore, but she needs the answers to her family's hidden history. They're her only hope to know more about her hero, salvage...]]> Sun, 05 Sep 2021 18:25:59 +0300