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WRITING · July 2, 2012

Book Review | Among the Cloud Dwellers by Giuliana Sica

Among the Cloud Dwellers from Gemelli PressEvery life deserves a little magic. If you feel like yours is missing that little spark, then boy oh boy do I have the book for you! One of my favorite summer reads so far has been Among the Cloud Dwellers by Giuliana Sica (published by Gemelli Press). This book is a beautiful blend of romance, travel, wine and good food – sprinkled with a little bit of magic.

Porzia Amard has inherited something she never expected from her French grandmother, a family gift of unusual spiritual insight and powers. Returning from her grandmother’s funeral in France to her adopted home in Pensacola, Florida, Porzia is not sure what to do with her unexpected legacy. With the help of her spiritual mentor, Porzia takes the risk to gamble with destiny and follow where fate will lead her, even at the risk of breaking her own heart.

Trying to develop her career as a food and wine journalist while at the same time balancing the confusing emotions revealed in a past life regression that offered a glimpse of her soul mate, intense romance and violence, Porzia sets off to the other side of the world to cover the release of a new Shiraz at a vineyard in Australia. Gambling with fate means accepting the places it chooses to take you, and Porzia finds this out when she sits down next to famous off-road racer Gabe Miller on the overseas flight. The attraction is immediate, the connection deeper than a lifetime of love could create, and before long Porzia is wondering if she has found her lost soul mate.

Giuliana Sica carries readers along through Porzia’s travels through the Australian outback, in search of voodoo recipes in Savannah, Georgia, the Oregon wine country, the enticing scents of New Orleans and the beauty of the Gulf Coast of Florida. Sica was born in Siena, Italy, and her passion for Italy shines through in Porzia’s French-Italian roots and her love of cooking and wine. Food and wine lovers will savor Sica’s exquisite descriptions of delicious recipes matched with the perfect wines. This is truly a gourmand’s romance!

It’s no secret that I love series books. Once I get into a good story, there’s always a sad moment when I’m just pages away from the end. Knowing that Giuliana Sica is at work on the next book made it a little easier letting go of the magical world and characters in Among the Cloud Dwellers … and I can’t wait for Porzia’s story to continue!

_______________

For more information, visit Gemelli Press or find Among the Cloud Dwellers on Amazon. (Kindle edition, too!)

Posted In: WRITING · Tagged: Book Reviews, Books, Books About Italy, Ciao Amalfi Book Reviews, Italy Book Reviews

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Comments

  1. Michelle | Bleeding Espresso says

    July 2, 2012 at 19:19

    What a great review, Laura — thank you so much!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      July 7, 2012 at 10:48

      You’re so very welcome, Michelle! Thank you for introducing me to Giuliana Sica with “Among the Cloud Dwellers.” Great read! (And a beautifully designed and presented book, too!)

      Reply
  2. Sandra says

    July 3, 2012 at 00:39

    A brilliant review that makes me want to RUN to the bookstore! Is this book available in the US? It sounds like it will be a special treat and right up my alley! Thanks Laura!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      July 7, 2012 at 10:46

      Ciao Mom! You’ll have to run to your computer instead of the bookstore. We’ve got to do something about Kindles one of these days! 🙂

      Reply
  3. Miss Footloose | Life in the Expat Lane says

    July 4, 2012 at 08:43

    Oh, thank you, Laura! I’m always looking for good reads not involving blood and gore, so I’m delighted with this one. Sandra, it’s available in the US from Amazon in hardback, paperback and Kindle edition.

    Reply
    • Laura says

      July 7, 2012 at 10:44

      I love discovering new authors not in the blood and gore (or vampire) genre, too! 🙂 I found this book a very refreshing and fun read. Hope you enjoy!

      Reply
  4. Giuliana says

    July 5, 2012 at 16:12

    Grazie Laura!
    I love your writing style! The book is available in the US, Sandra! Amazon and B&Noble.com. Also, via http://www.gemellipress.com. I wrote it in English because if my very very very traditional Italian mother were to read it I would get disowned…;)

    Reply
    • Laura says

      July 7, 2012 at 10:43

      Ciao Giuliana! What an honor to have you stop by Ciao Amalfi. Thanks for your kind words! I loved your book … and can’t wait to read the next one!

      Reply
  5. Sandra says

    July 7, 2012 at 11:08

    Thanks for the information on getting the book in the US..Ordering right away.

    Reply
    • Laura says

      July 7, 2012 at 16:51

      I know you’ll enjoy the read, mom! 🙂

      Reply

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Ciao!

My name is Laura and the Amalfi Coast is my passion and my home. I’m a writer and photographer who is endlessly inspired by the incredible beauty of the Amalfi Coast. Welcome to Ciao Amalfi!

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Celebrating Independent Bookstore Day with a newsl Celebrating Independent Bookstore Day with a newsletter inspired in part by this beautiful song by @samantha_whates & @mgboultermusic. While I could never decide on just seven bookshops for my whole life, I’m sharing about seven remarkable indie bookshops I visited earlier this month in Bath and London. The link is in my bio, but swipe through the photos here for a look inside - each bookshop is tagged if they’re on Instagram. But definitely give them all a follow: 
@persephonebooks 
@mrbsemporium 
@toppingsbath 
@sherlockandpages 
@huntingravenbooks 
@hatchardspiccadilly 
@lrbbookshop 

Long live the independent bookshops! 📚
Thanks Amalfi … I needed a little reminder of th Thanks Amalfi … I needed a little reminder of that this morning. 🩶
Magic to watch the reflections dancing on the wate Magic to watch the reflections dancing on the water. Magic when they’re frozen in time. Just so much magic all around. I could spend a long time in moments like these. ✨
While it’s been a beautiful Easter Sunday in Ama While it’s been a beautiful Easter Sunday in Amalfi, I’m still processing all of the incredible experiences from my trip to England last week. And, thanks to “Square Haunting” by @francescawade, I am still very much haunting the streets and squares of London. Her book opens with this marvelous quotation from Virginia Woolf’s diary written 100 years ago today on April 20, 1925 (photo 1). It captures just what it felt like I was doing days ago - including a saunter through Bloomsbury Square (photo 2). Diving into this book over the weekend has felt like I’ve been able to linger even longer in those rare April days of spring blooms and blue skies in London. 

This book caught my eye immediately at the ever so charming @sherlockandpages in Frome (photos 4 & 5). How could it not when it was surrounded my one of my all time favorite books (“Letters to Camondo” by @edmunddewaal) and one of the best books I read last year (“All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me” by @patrickbringley)?

Hope that your Easter weekend has been a lovely one - with a little bit of “street sauntering & square haunting” wherever you may be!
Just had an unforgettable spring day visiting the Just had an unforgettable spring day visiting the Jane Austen House in Chawton as an early birthday present for myself.(Quite a bit early as it’s not until June.) But earlier this year I decided to have a Jane Austen theme for the year, especially since 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth in 1775. I do love a theme! Seeing the place where she wrote all of her novels, her tiny twelve-sided writing table, a quilt she made, and sitting in the garden listening to the birds sing is altogether something I’ll never forget. ✍️
Watching the colors of the sea and the fish swimmi Watching the colors of the sea and the fish swimming and thinking of the deep connections of old friends. And this poem by Mary Oliver. Hold tight to the friends who always find a way to say “Look!” and laugh in astonishment.

Mysteries, Yes 
— by Mary Oliver

Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous
to be understood.

How grass can be nourishing in the
mouths of the lambs.
How rivers and stones are forever
in allegiance with gravity
while we ourselves dream of rising.
How two hands touch and the bonds will
never be broken.
How people come, from delight or the
scars of damage,
to the comfort of a poem.

Let me keep my distance, always, from those
who think they have the answers.

Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.
Mary Oliver wrote in a poem that “happiness isn’t a town on a map.” But when the little bit of wisteria blooms in Amalfi, I’m not so sure. 💜
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