A Portrait of Emily Price

By: Katherine Reay

Narrated by: Kate Rudd

Emily Price learns that not everything broken is meant to be fixed as she follows her heart and finds her joy in the charming Italian countryside.

Emily Price--fix-it girl extraordinaire and would-be artist--dreams of having a gallery show of her own. There is no time for distractions, especially not the ultimate distraction of falling in love.

But Chef Benito Vassallo's relentless pursuit proves hard to resist. Visiting from Italy, Ben works to breathe new life into his aunt and uncle's faded restaurant, Piccollo. Soon after their first meeting, he works to win Emily as well--inviting her into his world and into his heart.

Emily astonishes everyone when she accepts Ben's proposal and follows him home. But instead of allowing the land, culture, and people of Monterello to transform her, Emily interferes with everyone and everything around her, alienating Ben's tightly knit family. Only Ben's father, Lucio, gives Emily the understanding she needs to lay down her guard. Soon, Emily's life and art begin to blossom, and Italy's beauty and rhythm take hold of her spirit.

Yet when she unearths long-buried family secrets, Emily wonders if she really fits into Ben's world. Will the joys of Italy become just a memory, or will Emily share in the freedom and grace that her life with Ben has shown her are possible?

• Contemporary romance set in Italy
• Full-length novel
• Also by author: The London House, A Shadow in Moscow, and Dear Mr. Knightley

Critic reviews

'A Portrait of Emily Price is a portrait of grace and love. Reay expertly weaves a story rich in taste and sight, wrapping it all with sigh-worthy romance. You'll think of Emily and Ben and the hills of Italy long after you've read the last page. Reay is carving her name among the literary greats.'

'A delightful story of love, passion, and appetite, filled with Italian vivacity and charm.'

'Another rich, multi-layered story from Katherine Reay. Fabulously described settings will make readers long to visit Italy . . . This is a lovely tale that will nest in the reader's heart and won't let go.'

'Reay's sensually evocative descriptions of Italian food and scenery makes this a delight for fans of Frances Mayes's Under the Tuscan Sun. The author of The Brontand euml; Plot writes novels that speak to the universal truths in the human heart, and her latest will appeal to readers of new adult fiction with its focus on the power of following a dream.'

I Loved This Book

Fabulous book !!!! It is well written and the art info sounds so very interesting. I thought the romance was going in another direction, but the author did a great job . This is now in my favorites list. 😍😍😍

Heartwarming story

I really enjoyed the story. It is fun and heartwarming. The narrator has a strange accent. I would venture to guess that English is a section language based on where she puts emphasis on the vowels. Her attempt at an Italian accent unfortunately didn't work either. A good Italian accent wouldn't put this audiobook over the top.

Loved this book

Between the art, food and family I felt transported back to Italy! In fact, we booked a trip!

Love!

this is one of my favorite books. I have registered twice. I really like Katherine Reay novels. I loved the journey of a marriage vs waiting for the characters to fall for each other in the end.

I was impatient with Emily

The parts of the story about art and restoration were great! The rest of the storyline was predictable. The confused main character ( woman) who has teenager angst over everything. Ugh.