Anica Tomlin, business major, has just learned that the man she’s been planning her future around, her Global Finance professor, already has a beautiful wife and family. Ani cashes in her graduation gift to herself a little early a trip to Tuscany but from the moment she boards the wrong train in Pisa, her plans for solitude and self-indulgence begin to unravel around her.

When a bicycle accident thrusts Ani into the skilled hands of the dashing Dr. Cosimo Lazzaro, she reluctantly accepts his invitation to recover in his family’s country villa, perched on a hilltop surrounded by the Lazzaro olive groves. But it’s been a black year for olive growers all over Italy, and generations of tradition are being put to the test like never before.

Ani is swept up in the drama of life in Tuscany, the convergence of old and new, and the passions that drive people to pursue the desires of their hearts. Just as Ani begins to get her feet under her again, an unexpected turn of events leaves her doubting the very existence of happily-ever-after, unless she can learn to trust the desires of her own heart.

Although All the Way to Heaven is a stand-alone novel, it is the first book in The Fallout Series, a collection of sweet contemporary romances that follow characters featured in the first book.

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My Thoughts

I enjoyed the first book of Becky’s Gustafson Girls series so much that I joined her newsletter and jumped at the opportunity when she asked for volunteers to read and review this book. At the beginning of the book, I would describe Ani as vulnerable and insecure. She is doubting herself and her ability to make wise choices. I think all of us go through a period in our lives like this and for many of us it is during those late teens and early twenties, like Ani.

The landscape and culture of Tuscany came to life on the pages and Ani’s travels are filled with tangible experiences including trying new foods and unfortunate tourist mishaps. The village of Lucca is filled with vibrant characters, loving people who nurture Ani, complex people who challenge her, and of course her best friend via encouraging emails and phone calls. By the end of the book, Ani is a young woman who is stronger, wiser, and ready to follow her heart once again. All the Way to Heaven is a promising beginning for The Fallout Series.

I volunteered to read and review this book and received a complimentary copy from the author in order to do so. The opinions expressed are my own.

About the Author

Becky Doughty is the author of the award-winning Elderberry Croft series and the voice behind BraveHeart Audiobooks. “I write fiction, mainly because nonfiction is hard! Yes, I’ve tried. Let’s just say I like to color outside the lines when it comes to sticking to facts…or anything else, for that matter. I write Women’s Fiction with strong elements of romance and Young Adult/New Adult Fiction. Some of my fiction is written from a Christian worldview (and labeled as such), and some of it is not. My stories, however, are all categorically “clean” or “sweet” (light on language, violence, and sex), so if you’re looking for a book you don’t have to shove under the couch cushion when visitors stop by, you’ve come to the right place!”

Becky is married to her champion of more than 25 years. They have three children, two of whom are grown and starting families of their own, and they all live within a few miles of each other in Southern California. They share their lives with too many animals, a large vegetable garden, and a strange underground concrete room they’re certain was built for dark and sinister purposes…

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