Elaine Coffman's (The Fifth Daughter) 19th-century saga, The Italian, highlights the struggle between Italy and Austria in the years following the fall of Napoleon. Angelo Bartolini is a member of the Carbonari, a secret society committed to uniting Italy and freeing it from Austria's control. Though he has dedicated his life to his country and is now a wanted man, he cannot forget his love for Beatrice Fairweather, the shy English painter who captured his heart years earlier. Upon seeing her again, he realizes she is the only woman for him, but with fate and the enemy conspiring against him, he fears he may not have much of a future to offer her. Coffman renders Italy's plight with the exactitude of a historian, but her tendency to intellectualize love will leave readers cold. (Mira, $6.99 448p ISBN 1-55166-946-3; Nov.)
Romance goes hand in hand with the holidays, and these four offerings from Zebra cater to romance readers of every stripe. Fans of Marcia Evanick will snap up her charming contemporary caper, Christmas on Conrad Street, which portrays the relationship between a jaded pediatrician and a Norwegian fisherman ($5.99 304p ISBN 0-8217-7424-7; Oct.).
However, those who prefer humor paired with a historical setting will find Martha Schroeder's spunky Victorian-era offering, A Merry Little Christmas, a spirit-lifting experience ($5.99 320p ISBN 0-8217-7345-3; Oct.).
While Linda Cook addresses weighty issues such as war and betrayal in her somber medieval-era A Twilight Clear ($5.99 416p ISBN 0-8217-7343-4; Oct.), Brenda K. Jernigan's warmhearted Christmas in Camelot, involving an unconventional Christmas gift and an unusual wager, contains equal parts romance, adventure and holiday magic ($5.99 352p ISBN 0-8217-7297-X; Oct.).
