Tag Archives: Venice

Book Release Day!!

04 Friday Oct 2013

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I’m happy to announce the release of my latest historical romance, Venice in the Moonlight. I’d like to thank my editor Lorraine Fico-White and my graphic designer Lorie DeWorken – two ladies that were fantastic to work with. I couldn’t have done it without them! I’d also like to thank my sister who kept me writing with her demands for another chapter to read. Love you, Mary!

Venice in the Moonlight

A Story of Vengeance, Forgiveness, and Love

Venice-in-the-Moonlight-EbookCOVERAfter her husband’s untimely demise, Marietta Gatti is banished from the family’s villa by her spiteful mother-in-law. She returns to her hometown of Venice and her only kin—a father she hasn’t spoken to since her forced marriage. Her hope of making amends is crushed when she learns she is too late, for he recently has died under suspicious circumstances. Grief-stricken, Marietta retraces her father’s last night only to discover someone may have wanted him dead—and she may be next. When the prime suspect turns out to be the father of the man she is falling in love with, Marietta risks her future happiness and her life to avenge the death of a man she once hated.

Elizabeth McKenna’s latest novel takes you back to eighteenth century Carnival, where lovers meet discreetly, and masks make everyone equal.

Ebook: $2.99 (US) at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Paperback: $6.99 (US) at CreateSpace

Character Study – Nico Foscari

06 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by in Characters, Venice

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Raffaele-febbraioName: Nico Foscari, future love interest of Marietta Gatti
Age: 25
Hair: Black, curly
Eyes: Green
Build: Above average height, chiseled like Michelangelo’s David

Nico grew up a member of one of Venice’s oldest ruling families. He lives with his parents and younger sister in a gothic palace on the Grand Canal. The family also owns a country villa near Padua. When he was sixteen, his eyesight began to fail. Currently, he sees shapes, but no details. He likens it to living in a cloud. If it weren’t for Raul Orlando, his manservant, Nico would be house bound.

Realizing Nico wouldn’t be able to run the family interests, his father turns cold and distant toward his only son. On the rare occasion that his father speaks to him, it always ends in a fight. Tired of feeling useless, Nico rebels, becoming the family’s black sheep.  Nico has a reputation as a gambler, a womanizer, and a supporter of the Enlightenment movement, which annoys his father to no end, much to Nico’s amusement.

When he meets Marietta, he is frustrated by her lack of interest in him. He isn’t used to his charms being rebuffed so quickly. What starts as a challenge soon changes to much more. He realizes how much he wants Marietta to like him – the real him – not the gambler or the lover. She sparks inside him the desire to be a better person.

However, with his semi-blindness, he feels like half a man, unworthy of true love. Embarrassed by the white moons covering his pupils, he wears dark glasses that wrap around his eyes. Nico hears of a doctor in France who has developed a new surgical technique for curing cataracts, but his father refuses to pay “for false promises.” Nico must come to terms with his disability and learn to love himself before he can capture Marietta’s heart.

Character Study – Marietta Gatti

22 Friday Feb 2013

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Name: Marietta Gatti (nee Orsini), main character in Venice in the Moonlight
Age: 20
Hair: Blond
Eyes: Sapphire blue
Build: Average height, slender

Marietta grew up in Venice, the only child of loving parents. Her father, Bernardo Orsini, was a renowned painter, and she spent her days at his side, mesmerized by his talent. When Marietta was twelve, her mother died suddenly. Grief-stricken by the tragedy, her father lost his passion for art. With no income, the family fell on hard times.

At fifteen, Marietta met Dario Gatti, a well-off nobleman from Verona. A whirlwind courtship began with nights at the Venice opera and Sunday strolls by the Grand Canal. Shortly after the families agreed upon a marriage contract, Dario showed his true colors. She begged her father to stop the wedding, but he refused. A bad marriage was better than starving.

For the next five years, Marietta spent her days and nights trying to survive an abusive, unfaithful husband and a cold hearted mother-in-law. Her only source of happiness came from painting landscapes of the Verona countryside.

When Dario succumbs to food poisoning, Marietta’s life takes another turn after her mother-in-law banishes her from the family villa. She heads to Venice in hopes of reuniting with her father who she hasn’t spoken to since her wedding.

On the road to Venice, she meets Nico Foscari, a member of one of the city’s oldest ruling families. She finds him charming until she sees that he’s a rogue like all the rest.

When she discovers her father died two months before her arrival in Venice, she wonders if she will ever find happiness. She aches for children and a loving husband. Is it really too much to ask for?