Kate Buckthorn, a sixty-something woman in a predictable marriage, takes a day trip to Florence, Italy, to relive the months she spent there as a college art history student. After visiting all the familiar sights, she returns to her favorite gelato shop where she tosses some coins into the plastic cup of a Roma looking for change. And change is what she gets, literally. After enjoying her … triple-scoop gelato, she leaves the shop, magically transformed into her twenty-three-year-old self. Does she stay in Florence and have a fling with a gorgeous Italian hottie, pursuing her painting career in the birthplace of the Renaissance? Or does she return to her unfaithful husband as her younger self?
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Stracciatella Gelato: Melting Time by Marilyn Baron made me smile, made me swoon, and made me think. I love books, like Melting Time, which stick with me after I close them. Kate gets the chance to remake one of her decisions from her twenties when a Roma lady in a Florence, Italy gelato shop gives her a little magic. The descriptions are as delicious as the gelato and I was transported to Florence with Kate. Her mature persona was so exquisitely written I felt every aching step and disappointment when her body couldn’t keep up with her twenty-something’s schedule. When her body was transformed, I cheered. No matter which life she chose, I was on Team Kate all the way.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to travel without leaving their seat. Marilyn Baron will transport you to Florence and to the one decision in the back of your mind which makes you wonder ‘what if’.
Second chances don’t come along every day.
Kate was such a likeable protagonist. She’d spent her entire life making responsible choices that gave her the highest chances of success. Her emotional stability and commitment to always doing the right thing only made her decisions in Florence more intriguing. Seeing a side of her personality that no one had caught a glimpse of in over forty years made me eager to find out how her adventures would end. There’s something so special about getting to know a protagonist this well, especially when they have good reasons for keeping certain parts of themselves tucked away somewhere private for so long.
The magical realism in the plot was handled beautifully. This was one of those stories that was perfectly poised in the intersection between the romance and fantasy genres. I couldn’t begin to pick only one of them to best describe it, so it only made sense that both of them mixed together into something that can’t be easily classified. Anyone who generally reads only one of these genres but is curious to try the other one should definitely consider starting here.
I loved the ending. Not only did it suit Kate’s personality perfectly, it left plenty of room for readers to come up with their own theories about the portions of the storyline that weren’t tied up neatly by the final scene. There were so many different ways to interpret it that I was delighted by the thought that I could pick the one that I thought best fit what we learned about the main character and the magical things she’d experienced during her trip.
Stracciatella Gelato: Melting Time was a whimsical tale that made me smile.
A very satisfying short story of a woman in her sixties with decisions to make. Given the opportunity to return to a happy time in your life would you stay there? Kathryn Buckthorn needs to balance what she has against what she’s offered. Stracciatella immerses the reader into not only Kathryn’s life but the atmosphere of Italy. A delicious treat. Highly recommended.
I love Florence, Italy, I love gelato, and I love the idea of becoming my 23 year old self again – if only for a few days. In this novella, Kate, who is now in her late sixties, is in a predictable, unexciting marriage where her husband no longer gives her the emotional or physical support she craves. A trip to Florence has her revisiting her college haunts when she had studied abroad, while her husband is otherwise occupied with business meetings. Feeling glum, she stops for a gelato, encounters a gypsy, and a bit of magic happens.
Escaping into a fantasy, complete with a hot Italian biker and the artistry of Florence, is what reading a good romance is all about. Bravo, Ms. Baron.
A very short read, but definitely worth it! I love the idea of going back in time and reliving some of your best memories, which happened to be a college trip in her twenties in this book. A fun read! And I definitely want a scoop of gelato now.
What a fun read for summer and there’s an Italian slant to the story that you will love. If fact, you’ll melt.
A what if? fable with ice cream
What if you could back to your youth to a romantic place…say, Florence, Italy knowing everything you know now?
Kate is a woman of a certain age in a predictable marriage…who of us hasn’t wondered what if?
Would you do what Kate does? any of it? All of it?
What if you could go back in time and enjoy a tryst with a sexy Italian?