The Italian Affair by Loren Teague

Gina Rosselini is standing by the altar with her sister as she gets married to Anthony Monopoli . Gina disapproves of this marriage because she thinks he is too controlling and that he is not the right man for her sister. She keeps her doubts to herself. When the vows have been exchanged and the wedding service is over the couple turn from the altar. The unexpected happens, Maria is shot in the chest and falls to the ground in her new husbands arms.

Gina is in shock and runs to her sister's side. She cannot believe who would do this. Rick Caruso who is the best man for Anthony and also an ex-cop and now a private investigator knows what to do in this type of situation and takes control of things. Later when Maria is rushed to hospital it is Rick who drives Gina to the hospital. She along with her grandparents Rosa and Luigi who runs New Zealand biggest fishing industry, Rosselini Fisheries wait for new of Maria fate.

When Gina leaves the hospital a few hours later, Rick shows up at her door to let her know he is now assigned as her bodyguard. Gina doesn't believe him and confronts her grandparents and Anthony. She is annoyed they would go behind her back and hire a bodyguard without discussing it with her first. With no alternative but to agree to their terms, she vows she will not be dictated to by Rick.

As they wait for news of Maria, they are unaware that the killer is still planning his revenge. He wants to destroy the Rosselini. They have ruined his life and destroyed what he worked for, so now he is out to hurt them anyway he can and the next one in line is Gina.

The story in this book keeps you gripped from the beginning. Sadly you are made aware in the first few chapters that they have narrowed it down to a list of who the bad guy might be.

There was one tiny thing that happens to the sister that annoyed me, but I can't say what it is as it might ruin the book. When reading the book jacket you are kinda hoping something different happens.

Gina one of the main characters in the book has some issued to deal with and you can see her transformation as the story progresses. It's great to see her grow and you really get to like her as times goes on because she is stronger than she thinks and she proves it. The location is of course New Zealand as this is where the author lives and she does make some references to locations in the area.

I picked this book up as it was about an Italian family living in New Zealand and I haven't read any books from here before. It was a really good story and I enjoyed reading it and I had it finished in less than 4 hours.

Loren Teague's has published four books since she started writing. She lived in New Zealand but is originally from Scotland. Sadly she passed away in December 2009 from cancer

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