It’s always a joy when T.A. Williams has a new book out and so when Faye Rogers asked if I’d like to be part of the launch celebrations for Trevor’s latest story, Dreaming of Venice, I jumped at the chance. T.A Williams has featured on Linda’s Book Bag several times, most recently with my review of Chasing Shadows that you can read here.

Dreaming of Venice was published in e-book by Canelo on 24th April 2017 and is available for purchase here.

Dreaming of Venice

Find love, friendship and prosecco – in the magical city of Venice

Life is tough for Penny. A dead end job in a London café, a boyfriend in Australia (what could go wrong?) and an art career going nowhere. But then Penny is approached with an extraordinary proposition.

It isn’t going to be easy but, if she can pull it off, she will turn her life around and at long last see the fulfilment of her dream – to visit Venice. And, just maybe, find true happiness with the handsome man of her dreams.

But can dreams come true?

My Review of Dreaming of Venice

Penny lives in a room in a rat infested house and life is not treating her well. An act of bravery leads to a different set of experiences altogether.

I don’t know if it is because I’d just read a couple of very intense books when I picked up Dreaming of Venice, but it was the perfect read for me, feeling akin to eating a refreshing sorbet after a heavy meal. Unashamedly women’s fiction, Dreaming of Venice has an assured touch that transports the reader away from the cares of the world into the lives of Penny, Caroline and Olivia in a hugely satisfying way.

Admittedly, one has to suspend disbelief at the underlying premise (but I don’t want to explain more for fear of ruining part of the plot), but I had no difficulty in doing that and found myself relaxing into a gorgeous narrative that had me entirely entertained. I found the writing flowed effortlessly and thoroughly enjoyed the naturalistic dialogue and the smattering of Italian too which served to add credibility to the story.

What also appealed to me alongside the expected love elements of such a genre was the description and quality of the art and of setting, especially in Venice. I wanted to go and look up some of the paintings mentioned so that I was having the same experiences s the characters and I found myself completely transported to Venice making me want to return immediately.

The themes T.A. Williams explores are deftly handled. In Dreaming of Venice there is much about identity and how we judge others by appearance, and as well as love we find grief, friendship and family relationships so that there is depth as well as entertainment.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dreaming of Venice and cannot recommend it highly enough to those wanting a smashing escapist read. It’s just lovely.

About T. A. Williams

My name is Trevor Williams. I write under the androgynous name T A Williams because 65% of books are read by women. In my first book, “Dirty Minds” one of the (female) characters suggests the imbalance is due to the fact that men spend too much time getting drunk and watching football. I couldn’t possibly comment. Ask my wife…

My background, before taking up writing full time, was in teaching and I was principal of a big English language school for many years. This involved me in travelling all over the world and my love of foreign parts is easy to find in my books. I speak a few languages and my Italian wife and I still speak Italian together.

I’ve written all sorts: thrillers, historical novels, short stories and now I’m enjoying myself hugely writing humour and romance. My most recent books are the What happens… series. What happens in Tuscany reached #1 in the Amazon.uk Romantic Comedy chart and What Happens on the Beach, the last in the series, came out in July 2016. Chasing Shadows is still romance, but with the added spice of a liberal helping of medieval history, one of my pet hobbies. I do a lot of cycling and I rode all the way to Santiago de Compostela on a bike a few years back. This provided both the inspiration and the background research for Chasing Shadows.

I’m originally from Exeter, and I’ve lived all over Europe, but now I live in a little village in sleepy Devon, tucked away down here in south west England. I love the place.

You can find Trevor on Facebook, Goodreads and Amazon. You can also follow him on Twitter and visit his website.

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