Dante's Gift

By: Aubrey Wynne

Narrated by: Tom Jordan

Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

Kathleen James has put her practical side away for once and looks forward to the perfect romantic evening: an intimate dinner with the man of her dreams and an engagement ring. She is not prepared to hear that he wants to bring his grandmother back from Italy to live with him. 

Dominic Lawrence has planned this marriage proposal for six months. Nothing can go wrong-until his Nonna calls. Now he must interrupt the tenderest night of Katie's life with the news that another woman will be under their roof. 

When Antonia's sister dies, she finds herself longing to be back in the States. An Italian wartime bride from the 1940s, she knows how precious love can be. Can her own story of an American soldier and a very special collie once again bring two hearts together at Christmas?

©2015 Aubrey Wynne (P)2017 Aubrey Wynne

Dante's gift

This book has something for every book lover. It has history. It has some drama. It has passion, and last but certainly not least it is about finding your one and only. Dante's Gift caught my attention from the beginning and is absolutely a must read!

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Loved it what a love story haaaaa

What is there not to love about this audio…it is such a wonderful delightful love story that really reaches in grabbing your heart and twisting it. At first I didn’t care too much for Kathleen she almost seemed a snob. Here is a little old lady that just lost her sister, her only family is her grandson who is going to bring her to live with him…how sweet is that. The woman he wants to marry doesn’t cook and works long hours. This little old lady won’t live but a few more years, she is going to cook and all for you. I understand it means less time for just them but the house is not small I am sure they could make this work with a little work. On Kathleen side the granny is old she doesn’t know how much help she will have to give the old lady, can she get around, what is her temperament like and lord all the hugging and kissing etc . I understood where she was coming from but still I didn’t care for her that is until…..

Kathleen’s family isn’t much of a loving family oh they love her no doubt but have always been too busy to give a lot of one on one attention. They aren’t the huggy kisss type. She is the kind of person that lets her action speak for her…who needs words. She really is torn between the quit of not wanting the old lady to come and how she should feel. Once granny steps foot in the USA things take a big turn.

Dominic is torn between the two people he loves most in the world, hoping, praying these two women cannot only get along but live under the same roof. His grandmother has always been there for him, even helped raise him, she has been a rock, there is no way he can turn his back on her, no way he will. What about Kathleen who he has asked to marry him with the answer up in the air. She just can’t live without either of these women but it seems they might not be able to live together or get along…

Mr. Jordan has fast become one of my favorite narrators he brings so much to the story from his many different character voices. He really puts thought into each character and their emotions bring them to life giving them meaning, showing us how they feel with powerful voices that leave you in no doubt how each one is feeling and what they are going through. You can hear the hurt in each character as they learn to deal with each issue at hand. I really enjoyed each of his character voices you always know who is talking he gives each character power and depth and really brings them to life. There are no background noises, no volume changes and no repeating of words, delivering a delightful smooth clear audio that you get lost in. If any breaks were taken I could not tell. Mr. Jordan’s natural voice is just a wonderful as his character voices. It is a voice you have no trouble listening to as he brings excitement and sorrow to each character that the author writes about. He has me in the palm of his hands from the first minute until the last.

What happens next put a wonderful twist on the story as one woman relives her younger years of the war and a soldier who held her heart. Kathleen gets to see a side of love she never knew was there. Granny is a wonderful story teller she not only had Kathleen but me as well spellbound through each word. We really wanted her to go on but she kept us on hold until the next time where she took up where she left off. Her dog was something I just love him. He didn’t trust soldiers that is all but one. War is never easy but when you fall in love with a soldier, he goes off to fight you never know if he will come home again. The dog plays a big part in this story bring together two people who love with all their hearts.

Just wait until you get to the end, if you haven’t fell in love with Dominic before you will fall head over heels at the end. My heart just melted with both Kathleen and I having tears in our eyes…I do believe Granny had some as well. The plot wonderful, very thought out, entertaining and keeping you hooked. With an audio I only listen to it when I drive or work around the house…I had trouble putting it down, I wanted to keep listening but knew I had some books I had to read as well. There is no way you can read this and not have it be one of your favorite books. I am looking forward to listening to it again in the future. Come take a journey of love, one that will touch your soul and how one little old lady and a dog over came not only the war but doubts giving the best gift of all…a love to last a life time.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

love story within

Great story, but I am not sure I liked Kath at the beginning and was wondering at Nico's patience with her, but I guess the heart gets what the heart wants. It turns out good in the end, but the road is hard for Nico and my heart went out to him at times. I especially loved the story told by Nico's Nonna to Kath about how she met her love and their courtship and Dante, her collie, was a big part of it. Loved the feeling it left me, the closeness of the whole family over the generations.
Mr. Jordan's voice is becoming a favourite with his warm tones and variations for each character, making it an enjoyable listening experience.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

A really charming, enjoyable tale.

This story is truly beautiful and unique. The story is relatively short but it manages to pack so much information and emotion into that time.

It opens with a refused proposal by Kathleen to Dominic, the man she loves because he tells her that circumstances have made it necessary for his grandmother to live with him.

Dominic heads to Italy to persuade his nonna Antonia to live with him. From here develops a moving story of so many different kinds of love that have spanned decades.

The writing by author Aubrey Wynne is beautifully done and so relatable in the journey through human emotions and how they impact on our life choices and the journey our lives take.

The multiple point of view was so well done by Tom. He maintained a calm to the story throughout while still being able to inject all of the thoughts, feelings and emotions into the story. He maintains the same energy level and there are no unnatural pauses.

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Aubrey Wynne. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Grandma is sweet!

Wynne has a good romance here. But I will say that I was not a fan of the leading lady. Kathleen was very rude and annoying through most of this story. I'm glad she learned to grow up, but honestly she was breaking my heart being all like: I don't wanna be with you and your grandma in the same place. Pretty rude considering the grandma was of sound mind, she just couldn't live on her own as she was old and needed some help. I'd understand if the grandma had alzheimers or dimensia of some sort. I really enjoyed grandma's story about her love life. It was very sweet and heartbreaking. Dominic is also a sweet and loving boy/man. I found it endearing the way he loved his grandma. It was in that caring for family kind of way, not being a momma's boy way. I give the story a 4.5/5 stars. 

Tom did a good job narrating. He had good voices for the main characters and I think captured the tones for each well. I definitely feel like he added a lot of fun to this story and I'd love to listen to him perform something else! Studio production sounds great as well. I give it a 5/5!

I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Aubrey Wynne. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Sweet Romance with an historical twist

I loved this sweet (and clean) romantic story! I found the main characters to be realistic and likeable- and not just one dimensional romance-novel stereotypes. I also loved how the author wove a modern day love story together with a romance from WWII. In both stories the couples overcame challenges and changed for the better to embrace love- what more could you really ask for? 😊

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

A sweet romance

This story is about love, loss and love through a loss. It weaves the past into the present. Katie and Dominic are about to bring their relationship to the next level when Dominic tells Katie he is bringing his Nonna to the states to live with him. As Katie re-evaluates the relationship, she gets to know Nonna. Through Nonna's story of her meeting and marrying her husband, Katie begins to love Nonna too. Nonna's story is a love story that brings us through time back to the war. It tugs at our heart strings. Nonna weaves her story into Katie's heart and makes sure her grandson will have the girl that makes him happy. Nonna is the tie to the past and the one who helps Katie realize her true love as well.

I could not put this story down. Once it captures your heart, you need to finish it. Tom Jordan was amazing in this narration. He had the perfect voice to enhance everything about the story. Mr Jordan was able to make the characters easy to distinguish and follow. He narrated with such emotion that the story became more of a movie then a book. Each character came to life as Mr Jordan narrated and it felt as if I was sitting at the tabke listening to Nonna myself. This is a perfect Christmas story.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Inspiring story

This is a wonderful story about the love of a man and woman who must overcome an obstacle we all know will come at some point in our life. In this case, though, it happens much earlier than expected. The story makes one stop to wonder how we would react in a like situation. We all expect to have many years of marriage behind us before having to make the transition of caring for an aging parent. Kathleen loves Dominic and knows he is the man for her. However, is that love strong enough to still want him when she learns his grandmother must live with them? Dominic loves Kathleen, but feels loyalty to his grandmother. Is Kathleen the woman for him if she can't see it in her heart to welcome her grandmother into their home? Through stories told my Dominic's aging grandmother, they both will learn what it's like to love with a whole heart. I highly recommend this story to anyone, regardless of whether you're a Christian. It has a great lesson of sacrifice and love.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

What a sweet story!

Dante's Gift is a sweet tale that spans two generations. Aubrey Wynne takes us on a trip through time to meet lovely Italian Antonia who lives in war torn Italy during World War 2 and beautifully weaves Antonia's story into that of the independent and beautiful Katie in present day America. As a result of their pasts, both women carry a world of heartache and fears. Fears that prevent them from surrendering their hearts. It is with the patience and strength of the two men who pursue them and the wisdom of a wonderful dog that they learn to trust. Dante's Gift has all the elements I enjoy in a story (humor, wisdom, and tears). Wynne has crafted a beautiful short story guaranteed to warm your heart and make you sigh.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Beautiful short story

Another very beautiful story by this author. The narration is also very good. This is the story of Dominic (Nico) and Kathleen (Katie) and Antonia (Nonna), Nico's grandmother. I love Jazzy, Katie's best friend, and Vince, Nico's cousin and I'd like to learn more about them. I like the quotes at the beginning of each chapter and the fact that the notes by the author at the end are also narrated. There are Web links at the end of the e-book to learn more about Benevento, World War II footage, Strega and the recipe Pumpkin panna cotta with crushed gingersnaps. You have to read/listen to this beautiful story.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Not for me

I am sorry this book was not for me and not finished , I don’t want to be negative as someone else will proberbly enjoy