Official Review: A Dinner in Bellagio

[Grouchiegirl119]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "A Dinner in Bellagio" by Carlotta Melzi d Este.]

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This is a review of "A Dinner In Bellagio" by Carlotta Melzi D'Este. I would categorize this book as erotic romance. The romance is of the May December variety and the erotic themes are dominance, submission, and bondage. The plot is very thin and did not keep my interest. I had a difficult time reading this book because the writing was very simplistic and unsophisticated.

It tells of the romance between Rose and Agostino. It is told in the first person from Rose's point of view. It begins with Rose moving to Lake Como and renting an apartment for the summer in Bellagio, a beautiful summer town. Her second husband of 4 years has died in a car crash and she spends half of her inheritance on the rental. Rose plans to spend her time finishing her 4th book of Italian Cuisine. Her first husband owned an Italian restaurant in San Diego and her 2nd husband was Italian and his family owned a restaurant. She immediately meets Agostino because the apartment is a summer rental owned by his family. His family lives in Milan and he is spending his summer taking care of his families' apartments. He has just finished his 1st year of veterinary medicine. We aren't told Rose's age but she seems to be somewhere over 30. Agostino is described as a young, handsome, somewhat bratty Italian Adonis and Rose is attracted to him right from the start.

The remainder of the book chronicles the romance between Rose and Agostino. There is plenty of sex and Rose sets out to try out her fantasies for dominance and bondage and Agostino is a naive but willing partner. Agostino has had plenty of sex with older women, mostly tourists, but no one has been able to tame him and the sex has been mostly vanilla. Not so with Rose - she has a plan for Agostino and is in charge and sets the tone and pace of their sexual encounters. They cannot keep their hands off each other and have to set themselves limits so that Rose can get her work done. They start by keeping their romance a secret from the nosy townsfolk but gradually everyone can see what is going on. They have some run ins with Agostino's former flames as well as his Italian relatives who are all very interested in his relationship with Rose. At the end of each chapter, a a traditional Italian culinary specialty is woven in to the story and the recipe closes out the chapter. That was probably my favorite thing about this book.

My biggest disappointment in the book is the lack of sophistication of the writing and the lack of an interesting plot. It is predictable and every time a complication arises, it is resolved easily. The characters are one dimensional and they don't have a lot of substance. It is a summer romance and it is light and lacking depth. It just did not hold my interest very well. The sex seemed to be there for show and it lacked excitement and seemed perfunctory. All the individual elements seem to be there but it never really gels into a story that I wanted to continue to read.

I would have enjoyed this book more if there had been more development of the main characters. What is Rose's background? Did she always love to cook? How do their earlier experiences get them ready for this relationship? We get a little of this with Agostino but really nothing with Rose. Also, they don't seem to experience any adversity in their relationship - there is not much struggle of any kind - she introduces some scenes with a potential for some friction and then immediately resolves them.

I give this book 1 out of 4 stars.

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Buy "A Dinner in Bellagio" on Amazon

[ALRyder]

Wow, this is the third review I've read in the "Other Fiction Forum" where the reviewer has said it's a romance. I'm not really the biggest fan of the genre, but I'm surprised the authors didn't put it into the "Romance" section to attract more readers.

[Grouchiegirl119]

My guess would be that she was more focused on the erotic fiction aspect which would possibly also attract a certain group of readers. It is definitely a romance though and not an engaging one, either!

[ALRyder]

Yes, but there's the "Romance and Erotica Forum". I'm just surprised that's not where this was put. I did read and review a book I considered a young adult that was put into this same forum. So, I suppose the "Other Fiction Forum" is a good place for readers of all genres to check out. I suppose it's hard for some authors to categorize their work sometimes, especially because so much of it is of a mixed genre these days.