Book Review: Three Months in Florence

Author: Mary Carter

Publication Date: July 30, 2013
Publisher: Kensington

Lena Wallace was supposed to go to Italy on her honeymoon. That was sixteen years ago. Instead, she settles for cooking Spaghetti Bolognese for her two children while her husband, Alex, is on yet another business trip to Florence without her. Lena deals with his absences in the same stoic way she deals with all her responsibilities. And then comes the call that changes everything—the one from Alex’s Italian mistress.

Stunned and heartsick, Lena flies to Florence to confront Alex. The city is every bit as beautiful as she imagined, from its glittering fountains and cafes to the golden sunsets over rolling hills. But the further she goes to salvage her marriage, the less Lena recognizes herself—or the husband she’s trying to win back. Instead, she’s catching glimpses of the person she once hoped to be and the life and family she truly wants. Most of all, she’s wondering if the real journey is only just beginning…

We marry right after Alex finishes grad school. I decide not to finish because LOVE is my future. I don’t need school to be an artist; the world will be my canvas.

“It’s Florence, Alex. Florence.” I give him the look, the one that says, I gave up my honeymoon for you.

For the first time in sixteen years, Professor Alex Wallace isn’t wearing his wedding ring.

His wife. He called me his wife. I want to ask him to say it again. I want his words to save me, bring me back to life. For this moment, this little passing slice of time, I am still Lena Wallace, somebody’s wife.

Lena met her husband, Professor Alex Wallace, in college and she knew immediately that he was the man she was meant to marry. They start a hot, titillating affair and are married not long after. Lena and Alex are madly in love and share many passions, including Florence, Italy. Lena was promised that Florence would be their ultimate honeymoon destination, but when Alex receives word of a new job opportunity, the honeymoon is put on hold. Lena agrees, for Alex, and chalks it up to another year. Only it never happens. Before she knows it they have been married for sixteen years and have two children, but no honeymoon to Florence. Then Alex is asked to spend a semester in Italy teaching classes, and Lena knows this is finally her chance to spend some time in Florence. She is wrong again because Alex has no intention of bringing his family along with him. After a year of his being there, Lena finds out the worst thing imaginable – Alex has been keeping an Italian mistress. She packs up her family and gets a plane to Florence. But will she be able to save her marriage?

Lena was an exquisite character and I was very pleased with how she handled the entire situation. She was a mother first and put her kids before anything else. However, she was still shaken up after finding out about the affair, so of course she did what any woman would probably do and went straight to Alex. I did not care from Alex. I didn’t care for him from the minute he refused to take Lena and the kids to Florence. I knew that he had ulterior motives. I mean who spends a year in a foreign country without their family? I know that I wouldn’t! But not liking Alex only made me like Lena more. She kept great composure and her thoughts never left me bored!

This was my first read by Mary Carter. But if this is how she always draws readers into a story, then I definitely need to read more of her books. She pulled me directly into Florence and Lena’s life. I felt like I was Lena’s best friend and we were on the journey through Florence together. I actually felt like I could feel Florence unraveling all around me. Her descriptions were beautiful and I loved seeing the city and the sites through Lena’s eyes. She was such a passionate person anyway, so it helped that she was so excited and sometimes just reveled in the beauty of it all!

***A copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Kensington in exchange for my honest review***