Lucinda Stewart, age forty, is a single woman who lives with her brother and sister-in-law. The twenty-year-old scar on her face is an external reminder of a real-life nightmare that won’t let her go. Believing herself to be a tainted woman whom no man would want, Lucinda quietly lives out her days on her brother’s ranch. A trip to Sicily for her niece’s wedding is quite out of character for the self-proclaimed spinster, but it is exactly what she needs.

Vincenzo Castello can turn the head of any woman, but it seems he only has eyes for Lucinda. He is the uncle of the man Lucinda’s niece is going to marry. Although Vincenzo is kind and loving towards Lucinda, she appears to be too haunted by her past to enjoy such tenderness. Worse yet, the fragmented nightmares of one fatal night that brought on the death of her first husband, Matthew, and scarred her face seem to be getting more intense at her stay in Casa Bella. Is Vincenzo a missing piece in the puzzle of her memory? Has she met him before? 

Heartache is familiar to both Vincenzo and Lucinda. Vincenzo lost his wife, the mother of his children and Lucinda lost her husband in the early days of marriage.  Their relationship  to God in the beginning of the novel sets them  apart  from each other. Vincenzo is a member of the Knights of Saint Paul of the Coliseum. He made a vow to serve God in life and if necessary, death.  Vincenzo understands that disappointment and pain are a part of life. Giving our sufferings up to God lightens our troubled hearts. It takes Lucinda time to learn the healing power of God. Once she lets God in, a calmness washes over her, and her relationship with Vincenzo begins to blossom. Just when their new life is beginning to get off the ground, a wicked man from their past shows up in Rome hell bent on destroying the happy couple.  

Anna Lucia is the second book in the Casa Bella Chronicles. While Giovanni and Lucy are featured in the book, the focus  is on the romance of Giovanni’s uncle, Vincenzo and Lucy’s aunt, Lucinda. Lucinda’s backstory in California is fascinating and worthy of its own novel. Apart from creating exciting characters, I love how Liz Galvano weaves together romance and religion.  If this is your first introduction to the Casa Bella Chronicles, you don’t have to worry about reading the first book. Anna Lucia reads more like a stand-alone novel with crossover characters. Christian romance enthusiasts will enjoy the sweetness of two middle-aged people finding a second chance at love with Sicily and Rome as the backdrop.