To Sicily With Love by Jennifer Probst
Like a granita al lemone, an icy lemon Sicilian treat, which melts on your tongue with delight.
Sicily is a magical island afloat in the Mediterranean Sea and filled with ancient ruins, welcoming people, and delicious local cuisine. In bestselling author Jennifer Probst’s new novel, To Sicily with Love (Berkley Books), Probst shares the story of Aurora York, an ambitious New York millennial driven to tackle the world of self-help. Aurora is a rising social media star, life coach, and author who has established her goals, and will let nothing hamper her success. Even her hunky boyfriend, Jason, a gym owner and health enthusiast, pushes her to be her best self. Aurora has it all!
A Journey to Find Family
Until one day, her loving mother unexpectedly dies. Having previously lost her father; Aurora feels alone in the world. She attempts to summon her strength to work, but when she publicly melts down, everything she has worked for is on the line. An only child and with no relatives, she feels adrift, and out of desperation, she takes a DNA test.
The results are shocking. Aurora discovers her mother was Sicilian, and there is a match in Sicily. She is stymied as she believed her mother was an only child, too, and her grandparents had died long ago. But this does not seem to be the case. Faced with this irrefutable scientific evidence, Aurora wonders whether her whole life has been a lie, why her mother hid the truth from her. And who are these people in Sicily?
Aurora’s podcast, book contract, and career are all in danger, but she finds the courage to make a bold move. With nothing to lose, boards a plane to Sicily in search of her mother’s past, her own identity, a way to heal her grief, and to meet the big Italian family awaiting her on the other side of the ocean.
Her emotional and physical journey takes her to Sciacca, a small village in the south of Sicily. Will the trip serve as an emotional awakening for her, or will it be a disaster? Will her religious, traditional family explain her mother’s backstory, or will they reject Aurora and remain silent about the haunting past?
Warms the Heart and Soul
Aurora’s story centers on discovering her identity and what matters most in the world. It is about balancing her priorities and becoming true to herself, rather than allowing her friends, social media followers, and lover to define her. It took bravery for Aurora to explore a foreign culture and to be open to new experiences while overcoming her overwhelming grief. As Aurora struggles, she embraces the colorful sights, cuisine, and people of Sicily. The reader struggles along with her, hoping she and her new family will make the choices to heal a hurt from the past.
To Sicily, with Love, is like a granita al lemone, an icy lemon Sicilian treat, which melts on your tongue with delight. In the middle of winter, Probst invites us on a magic carpet ride to a warm, sunny spot filled with seafood, wine, laughter and tears. And introduces us to characters who warm the heart and soul and who we will not soon forget.
About Jennifer Probst:
Jennifer Probst is the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of over fifty books in contemporary romance fiction. Her work has been translated in over a dozen countries, sold over 2 million copies, and was dubbed a “romance phenom” by Kirkus Reviews. Her passions include reading, horse racing, Scrabble, Italian wine and food, shameful reality television, and rescue dogs. Like some of her characters, Probst, along with her husband and two sons, calls New York’s Hudson Valley home.
Publish Date: 2/18/2025
Genre: Romance
Author: Jennifer Probst
Page Count: 384 pages
Publisher: Berkley
ISBN: 9780593546062