cover image The Sidewalk Artist

The Sidewalk Artist

Gina Buonaguro, Janice Kirk, . . St. Martin's/Dunne, $22.95 (212pp) ISBN 978-0-312-35803-7

When blocked writer Tulia Rose hits it off with a handsome sidewalk artist while touring Paris, she's intrigued. Is he an admirer? A muse? A stalker? A potential lover? A guardian angel? Or is the stranger, Raffaello, the reincarnation of the Renaissance artist Raphael? As it turns out, the mysterious stranger might be all of these and more in this bittersweet debut by Canadian authors Buonaguro and Kirk. Tulia's investment-banker boyfriend, Ethan, has sent her from New York to Europe with the hope that time apart will give their relationship some much-needed space and allow Tulia to overcome writer's block. While she's entertaining fantasies of her sidewalk artist, Ethan pursues his own romantic endeavors, which serves as an impetus for Tulia to do more than think about Raffaello. The romantic European locales Tulia visits, including Paris, Venice and the Tuscan countryside, are dreamily described, but Raffaello comes across as creepy instead of seductive. Snippets from Tulia's new novel-in-progress pepper the narrative (she's writing a love story about Raphael), though these—dependant on saccharine romantic episodes and dreams—may turn off readers who aren't steadfast historical romance fans. (Dec.)