Very Valentine: A Novel

New York Times Bestseller

Reading List Selection by American Library Association 

Lifetime original movie, starring Jacqueline Bissett and Kelen Coleman

“Sex and the City meets Moonstruck…this first in a new trilogy from Trigiani is sly, sensual and dripping in style.” — People

Poignant, funny, warm, and red hot, Very Valentine is a wonderful treat for Adriana Trigiani fans—a “delightful” (Boston Globe), “romance-soaked novel” (Marie Claire) from much adored playwright, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, and New York Times bestselling author of The Shoemaker's Wife, All the Stars in the Heavens and The Supreme Macaroni Company. The adventures of an extraordinary and unforgettable woman as she attempts to rescue her family’s struggling shoe business and find love at the same time, Very Valentine sweeps the reader from the streets of Manhattan to the picturesque hills of Italy. Here is yet another novel from the incomparable Trigiani that will steal your heart.

The Angelini Shoe Company, one of the last family-owned businesses in Greenwich Village, has been making exquisite wedding shoes since 1903 but now teeters on the brink of financial collapse. To save their business from ruin, thirty-three-year-old Valentine Roncalli—apprentice to and granddaughter of master artisan Teodora Angelini—must bring the family's old-world craftsmanship into the twenty-first century. Juggling her budding romance with dashing chef Roman Falconi, her duty to her family, and a design challenge presented by a prestigious department store, Valentine returns to Italy with her grandmother in a quest to build a pair of glorious shoes to beat their rivals. And in the course of discovering her true artistic voice and so much more in la bella Italia, Valentine will be turning her life and the business upside down in ways she never expected.

“This genteel and lush tale of soles and souls has loads of charm and will leave readers eager for the sequel.” - Publishers Weekly

“[Very Valentine] will have readers who love romantic novels...swooning. Trigiani’s closing is satisfying, even as it paves the way for the lovable heroine to reappear in a planned sequel.” - Booklist

“Trigiani offers plenty of reasons to stick around for part two.” - Kirkus Reviews

May be [Triginai’s] best work to date… Delightful, energetic… Trigiani is a seemingly effortless storyteller.” - Boston Globe

“Adriana Trigiani listens to her readers, then gives them what they want. That’s why they’ll be ecstatic about her newest novel…” - Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Trigiani has certainly not lost her ability to breathe life into everything she writes.” - Roanoke Times

“Well-crafted work with sometime lyrical, sometimes flat-out-funny writing.” - Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“No one ever reads just one of Trigiani’s wonderfully quirky tales. Once you pick up the first, you are hooked..... Trigiani fills her pages with snappy dialogue and luscious descriptions.... Reading Very Valentine is like tucking into a plate of homemade manicotti: irresistible and delicious.” - BookPage

“ Sex and the City meets Moonstruck … this first in a new trilogy from Trigiani is sly, sensual and dripping in style.” - People, Lead Review

“Load up on cappuccino and biscotti before getting lost in the super froth of Adriana Trigiani’s romance-soaked novel, Very Valentine” - Marie Claire

“Nicely written with vivid images of high fashion, New York City, and traditional Italy, Trigiani’s latest is sure to be eagerly anticipated by her many fans and attact some new readers.” - Library Journal