First, I must give much praise to Bertrice Small the author
of BIANCA I've fallen in love
with and look
forward to the remainder of the series. I've been wanting
to read books by Bertrice Small, but have not gotten the
chance until now and she's fabulous!!!
I could not put BIANCA down,
page after page, it became more interesting with
great characters, romance, lust, family, and friends that
could either love you or stab you in the back literally.
The book is a
history of cultures from Florence, Italy in 1474 and onto
Turkey where not just one wife will do, but a harem of
wives for men of high status is the way of life for their
women.
In Florence, Bianca Maria Rosa Pietro d' Angelo is a most
beautiful young woman who is well known among Florentine
society. When Bianca walks to church with her mother, all
the young men stop and stare at her in awe, for she is not
only the most beautiful young woman they've ever set eyes
upon, but they know she is ready for marriage and will make
a great match for her family. Unfortunately, because of
her brother's actions in covering up a tragic accident, her
father is blackmailed by Sebastiano Rovere who is well
known as a terrible and horrid man, but when Rovere demands
that he will take Bianca as his wife, her father fears for
the rest of his family and gives in to this terrible
demand.
Bianca becomes very angry with both of her parents for
having to marry such a terrible man who is much older than
she. There are terrible rumors that he is a man with no
soul and has murdered his first two wives. After a time,
Bianca steps up to the plate and marries Rovere, but she is
in so much fear of his strange sexual advances towards her.
Rovere cuts Bianca off from her family and then begins his
sadistic and debauched ways with her. She is sick to her
stomach each time she must go to his bed. And as time goes
by, the sexual advances become so horrific that Bianca
would rather die then live with this crazy man for the rest
of her life. After a time, Bianca finds a way to let her
mother visit her and when she does, her mother is shocked
as to what her daughter tells her. Orianna, Bianca's
mother finds a way for Bianca to escape her nightmare
living with Rovere. Her mother puts her in a convent and
when it is safe, she finds a place for Bianca to live in
secret, away from her sick and horrible husband.
Bianca's mother sets her up in the family villa by the sea
where she recovers from her bad experience with her husband
Rovere. While living in the Villa, she meets her neighbor
Amir who she falls in love with and he with her, but as
long as her husband is alive Bianca will not go against her
marriage vows until it is annulled, then she will let Amir
into her bed. As time goes by Bianca starts to give up hope
for a future for her and Amir, but she receives news that
her husband has been murdered. Now she is free to go
forward with her life. The love between Bianca and Amir is
not excepted by Florentine ways for Prince Amir is an
infidel from another land. He is not of her religion, nor
her culture.
Bianca's family is bound and determined to see her wed to a
proper man of wealth and nobility of their choosing. She's
just as determined to defy them and remain with the man she
loves. BIANCA is a must read
for the journey that both
Amir and Bianca make will be dangerous to their survival.
Looking forward to the second of this series!
Renaissance Florence comes to passionate life in a vivid new
historical romance series by “legendary”* New York
Times bestselling author Bertrice Small.
Florentine silk merchant Giovanni Pietro d’Angelo
and his wife want nothing more than to marry their daughters
to wealthy men of distinction. But when their son’s
dangerous indiscretion implicates him in a tragic accident,
it is their eldest daughter who must pay the price.
Blackmailed by the powerful and debauched Sebastiano Rovere,
the Pietro d’Angelos must give beautiful Bianca in marriage
to Rovere to buy his silence.
With the aid of her
mother, Bianca flees her dark, cruel union, seeking shelter
in a seaside villa. It is the shocking murder of her husband
that allows her to find the possibility of love at last. But
Florentine society would never approve of the man she’s
chosen: Prince Amir, grandson of Memhet the Conqueror.
Two passionate lovers...two different cultures...two
worlds determined to keep them apart...