Love Among the Ruins

By: Catherine Maiorisi

Narrated by: Abby Craden

Romance writer Calliope DeAndre's heart was buried with her wife, Abby. Plagued by anxiety attacks, Callie hasn't left her house since Abby's funeral. Callie's publisher is pressuring her for the travel romantic suspense she contracted to write before Abby got sick. But her writing process requires experiencing the thirty-day Romantic Italy tour leaving in two weeks. Encouraged by her friends but hoping the tour is fully booked, Callie calls and is told "we just received a cancellation."

Dana Wittman's heart is broken when she discovers the plot to oust her from the multi-million-dollar firm she built. Then her heart is shredded by her girlfriend Sandy who, thinking Dana is broke, dumps her. Now Dana's planned surprise for Sandy, the Romantic Italy tour ending with a proposal, is no longer an option. So just two weeks before their scheduled departure Dana cancels Sandy's reservation but decides to go on the tour alone.

The first morning of the tour, Dana helps Callie through an anxiety attack. Callie wants to leave. Dana promises to be there for her if she stays. Callie feels safe with Dana, and Dana enjoys helping her. As the month progresses, their friendship and their feelings grow. Callie feels guilty for caring for someone other than Abby. Dana's damaged ego doesn't trust that she's lovable. Will they allow themselves to love?

©2023 Catherine Maiorisi (P)2023 Tantor

Beautiful story

Beautiful story with a slow built love . Enjoy the l quirkiness and the resilience for the characters.

Location location location

Yes, a slow burn but worth the heat. Two broken people coming together by chance.
The main characters are well drawn, quite lovable.
One of the unusual features of this book, however, is how they are thrown together, with whom, and where.
Great sub-characters.
Nice research by the author - bummer you had to spend all that time in Italy 😋
Abby Craden is at the top of my search engine. Such a talented narrator.

Beautiful

This book was unbelievably beautiful. It's a true slow burn, and even though you know the eventual outcome, you love going along for the ride. Love Among the Ruins was masterfully written, and the narration was, as always, phenomenal. Do yourself a favor and become the 13th guest on the trip. Trust me, it's worth both the ride and the credit.

Sweet story about grief and rediscovering passsion

This was a very sweet story. It got a little slow for a bit in the middle but I really enjoyed it and would recommend.

Excellent story!

I confess, when I started to listen to the story I broke down and cried. My wife of (then) 28 years passed away in 2021. We celebrated our 20th anniversary with a cruise of the Mediterranean including Italy. A lot of the places described in the book were places we visited.
As I got deeper into the book, I felt better. I was able to understand the characters with their sense of attraction and Callie’s sense of renewal. I loved the little bird/birds who metaphorically represented her dead wife Abby.

Dans was also a very strong main character who enthusiastically embraced the beauty that Italy (and Callie) had to offer.

Abby Craden’s narration of the novel made it that much more special.

Thank you for placing me back in Italy with the wonderful memories of our trip through the beauty of this novel. Well done!

The Beauty of Italy

A very graphic depiction of Italy and its history, people and culture. Two wounded women find solace in each other’s presence as their tour group finds the romance in Italy’s history and cities. Abby Craden does a remarkable job as narrator.

A winner!!!

This is one of my new favorites!!! Great writing, characters, story, and settings. Of course, beautiful narration by Abby. Loved it all!!!

Absolutely AWESOME!

This is my first time reading this author’s book, and I have to say, I’m thoroughly impressed! Great read!

We’ll done story

Not a lot of angst or obstacles toward coupledom’ that we normally get. The obstacles es were personal, each woman coming with their own hills to climb.

A sweet story, a wonderful travel journal.

Very Romancey Romance

Despite including a death as a major plot point, this was the least angsty book wlw romance book ever. Sometimes i wanted to just fast forward and get on with it already but overall it was a decent book.