IT HAD TO BE YOU BLOG TOUR: REVIEW

IT HAD TO BE YOU
BY JANICE THOMPSON

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Bella couldn't be happier that her long-feuding Aunt Rosa and Uncle Lazarro have finally admitted their love for one another and are getting married. Their forties-style wedding is sure to be a night to remember. But when the Rossi house begins to fill up with family from Italy—and an old mobster from New Jersey—life starts to get complicated. Will Lazarro's friend from the past drive the happy couple apart once more? And will Bella ever have time to think of her own rapidly-approaching wedding amidst the chaos?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Janice Thompson is a seasoned romance author and native Texan. An experienced wedding coordinator herself, Thompson brings alive in her books the everyday drama and humor of getting married. She is the author of Fools Rush In and Swinging on a Star. She lives in Texas.

REVIEW:

LOVE IS IN THE AIR by Janice Thompson is the third and final installment in the “Weddings By Bella” series. Bella’s own wedding is coming up but she must first be sure that the forties-style themed wedding she is planning for her Aunt Rosa and Uncle Laz goes off perfectly. After all, getting those two together when they aren’t feisty and fighting is a feat in itself!

Things get tense as Bella wonders if they will even have a wedding when Rosa and Laz decide they want to cater their own wedding! Of course, when all the family and friends begin to arrive, things get really wild and I think funnier than any of the other books in the series. Pop’s brother, Emilio, and his “bride”, Francesca, who is perhaps a few years older than Bella, and obviously the trophy on Emilio‘s arm, arrive and surprise everyone with their announcement that they just got married! Joining the shocked family, having flown in from Napoli are Bertina and Bianca, (who are so like a couple of my aunts that I had to chuckle at them throughout), but they happen to be the twin sisters of Rosa.

Add to the motley crew Uncle Laz’s life-long friend from Atlantic City, Salvadore Lucci, who arrives in a long, sleek limousine. This is the same limo that brought Lucci’s parrot, Guido, to the house earlier as there were some “personal problems” Salvadore was trying to avoid and it seemed safer for Guido to be there instead of with him. You may have guessed that Sal is rumored to have some connection to the mob and has actually come to attend the wedding and pick up Guido at the same time. Laz, with Salvadore’s best interest at heart, had been teaching the parrot some sermons, songs, and even Scripture. It was Laz’s hope that this might help to bring Salvadore back into the church. Not one to shy away from trouble or mind his manners, Salvadore lets Rosa know what he thinks of her groom and it is frowned upon by the family and starts trouble just before the nuptials. With all these characters, in the truest sense of the word, in place, you can imagine the craziness that ensues. How poor Bella keeps it together and pulls off this wedding kept me reading to see if it really would happen, as well as kept me in stitches!

But the story can’t end without a lesson learned and on a romantic, happy note. Bella finds out the week before her wedding that she can’t do it all and must depend on her family and friends to get her wedding together. She realizes that God was telling her to take time for herself in life and slow down and let some others handle things so she could enjoy the week and her wedding. She learns to thank Him for her health each day as what is life without your health? Janice Thompson finishes the series in a sweet and wonderful way, although sad for those of us wishing for more. She herself has experience as a wedding planner so when you read her colorful descriptions, they are taken from real experience. The ending of the book brings on even more wedding plans and engagements as everyone is in such a loving mood. It is my hope that Ms. Thompson might play on those to continue the series or if nothing else, branch off into another with the same feel to it. I love the fact that each chapter is named for song titles of which “You Make Me Feel So Young” has to be the most poignant of them. Also, with reference to the music, Bonnie Sue’s Top Ten Swing Dancing Tips are included at the end. If you haven’t read the series, I strongly recommend that you start with the first book, FOOLS RUSH IN, and then SWINGING ON THE STAR. IT HAD TO BE YOU can certainly be enjoyed on its own but you will love these well developed, colorful characters so much that you will wish there was more of them to read about so I suggest you read them in order…it will be a real treat for you!

Available May 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group