Julie and Romeo

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Summary: Romeo and Juliet as gray panthers!
Review: Just when you thought Romeo and Juliet couldn't be told in any other manner, along comes first time author Jeanne Ray with her book Julie and Romeo. And if I had only one word to describe this book, it would be DELIGHTFUL. I cannot recommend this book enough and think its perfect for ones summer vacation or at any other time as well. I also imagine that Jeanne Ray has a real bright future ahead of her as an author.

When and how do family feuds begin? Thats exactly what Julie Roseman Roth and Romeo Cacciamani would like to know when they meet at a business seminar. For almost all of their 60 odd years, through marraige and children, all these two can remember is their families feuding in the manner of the Montagues and Capulets although nobody knows the origins of the feud. But this isn't Verona in the 17th century and we're not reading about two teenagers. Instead the story takes place in Boston in the 90's where these two adults continue to run their small florist shops. And as if the budding relationship between the two isn't already complicated, both now have to contend with their children who would just as soon continue the rivaly.

The book unfolds as a most delightful read as these two older people find love in all the wrong places and we move along with them laughing and sighing as their tale reaches its conclusion.

A fun and poignant read you won't forget too quickly. And next time you hear Romeo and Juliet, you'll be thinking Julie and Romeo.

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Summary: Great Reading
Review: I happened to be on a business trip when the man sitting next to me gave me his New York Times and as I was reading it I saw the ad for this book. When I got to my destination I happened by a book store and decided to get the book. What a wonderful treat for me. I started reading the book and could not put it down. I laughed so much. It was wonderful reading about Romero and Julie. The best thing was that they were older, more mature people and they found love. This just goes to show that you are never too old for love. The grandmother was so funny. But by far the funniest scenes were when Romero and Julie were caught naked in the flower shop by Raymond and when Romero and Mort got in a fight. I loved the fact that Tony and Sandy were able to find each other after 15 years.

Treat yourself to a wonderful book about finding love when and where you least expect it. This was pure enjoyment.

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Summary: A delightful and quick read.....
Review: Did you ever wonder what would have happened if Romeo and Juliette had been able to work it out? Although not many 15-year olds who've known each other for three days have had successful relationships, let alone marriages, what if Romeo and Juiette were older--a lot older.

This is love story about an older Julie(tte) and Romeo, rival florist-shop owners whose parents were Hatfields and McCoys, Guelphs and Ghibbilines--feuding parties named Roseman and Cacciamania. From poisoning rose bushes and snapping the heads off unoffending daffodils, to placing dead fish or buckets of fleas on enemy premises in the dead of night, these warring parties have done it all.

One day, Julie Roseman and Romeo Cacciamania meet at a business conference. Sparks fly, one thing leads to another and before you can say "here's pansies that's for thoughts" they are discovered naked in the Cacciamania florist shop in the middle of the night by Romeo's son. All hell breaks loose as the rest of the family members discover what these two love birds have been up to.

Will the lovers overcome the divisions and distractions that have occupied their clans for generations. Will they be able to fend off outraged children and ex-spouses? Will their chance of happiness be ruined by a 90-year old rose assassain called Mama?

To find out, take this book on your next flight, or to the beach. I read it in 6 hours, and found it absolutely delightful--rather like a Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie when both of them are 60 years old.

There are chick flicks, and this is probably a chick book. Since I am near the age of the protagonists I could identify. I don't know if younger folks would enjoy it or not. It really depends on whether you think old folks can still "do it".

Rating:
Summary: An endearing, romantic read!
Review: I simply adored Jeanne Ray's first book. The dialogue was fresh, the main characters very appealing. Mr. Shakespeare would be very proud of Ms. Ray's retelling of his story. Well done. I highly recommend Julia and Romeo.

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Summary: Flirty and Charming
Review: This book attracted me for a very simple and not very intelligent reason. I liked the cover. I thought it was pretty. I know, not a very thoughtful way to pick out a book but, once I started this sweet tale I was enchanted. I found it to be very likeable and very sexy. It's a wonderful tale of love, the problems that always seem to come up with that and the endearing belief that it will conquer all. The cast of characters add a wonderful sense of adventure, humor and sometimes frustration. But, I completely enjoyed this book. It was a fast and fun read!

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Summary: new twist on an old story
Review: What a wonderful story! Two sixty-something people, Romeo, a widower, and Julie, a divorcee, whose families have been feuding a la the Montagues and Capulets for three generations, meet and fall in love. Each runs a family-owned flower shop and each comes equipped with the baggage of grown children totally immersed in the hatred caused by the feud and dedicated to seeing that the growing relationship between their respective parents ends. Add in Julie's meddling ex-husband and Romeo's ninety year old mother and the sparks really begin to fly.

Ms. Ray portrays her characters with understanding, pathos and humor. She shows that love and passion are not the exlusive province of the young and that the young are just as prone as their elders to holding on to blind prejudice.

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Summary: I laughed out loud so often I knew we had to publish it
Review: Last spring, I took home the manuscript for Julie and Romeo, pulled it out on the subway, and made an idiot of myself, laughing out loud and smiling continuously all the way back to Brooklyn. No novel that I can remember has ever made me feel so good about life and love and possibility. I came in the next day and told the editor who gave it to me that we absolutely had to do what it took to make the deal. I hope everyone who reads it enjoys it as thoroughly as all of us at Harmony.

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Summary: Warm, wise, and entertaining
Review: While the title, and basic theme might sound trite and tired, this is truly a wonderful reflection on human relationships. Ray's work is full of keen insight insights and wisdom and profound in an understated, matter of a fact way.

The major protagonist, Julie, is reminiscent of those rare, wise, older people we occasionally have the good fortune to encounter who have grown patient and tolerant through life times of experience. After her husband leaves her for a trophy bride she finds herself a single struggling small town florist, who has also become caretaker for a daughter, whose marriage also failed, and two grandchildren. Rather than wallowing in self pity, she is pragmatic and focuses on day to day essentials -- work and family, and has come to accentuate the positive, having come to recognize that prejudice and anger are self indulgences which thwart happiness and success. She is caught by surprise by the opportunity for a personal happiness and satisfaction she had forgotten could exist, in the form of her family's personal, and professional nemesis, her town's rival florist.

Ray effectively and humorously depicts the dogmatism and impetuousness of the young who unblinkingly embrace the prejudices of their families. She also eloquently focuses on what is truly important in life: family and friends, and the essential characteristics for happiness -- tolerance, generosity, humor, and forgiveness.

This is one of the most refreshing books I've read in years. Not only did I finish it in one "sitting", I don't think I even blinked. It is such a touching, yet entertaining book, that I look forward to giving copies to friends with the hope it will make them smile as it made me.

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Summary: What a charmer!
Review: According to Census Bureau data, there are 76 million "Baby Boomers." So what a nice change it is for all of us of that generation to read a romance in which the young lovers are in their sixties!

JULIE & ROMEO is a clear take-off on that other Romeo and Juliet, but not to matter. Author Jeanne Ray has done a wonderful--and believable--job by making her lovers into members of the two families which own a small town's rival florist shops.

Ray's descriptions of the florist's life are, once again, believable. There are points when she is detailing what it feels like to be a florist, to love the flowers, their scents, their colors, the spill of the soil, at which her writing is lyrical.

Though the novel is a love-story, it never becomes predictable, and that's quite a trick. Author Ray's subplots are compelling; her incidental characters are well-developed and interesting.

Altogether, JULIE & ROMEO is a touching book, and a fun one. In other words, it's a charmer!

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Summary: Made my long drive shorter
Review: I just picked this off a library shelf and it was the audio cassett edition. I am not even a fan of fiction. This might now be catagorized as "chick lit," but for me, a guy, the book was fun, interesting, and thought provoking. My own position as a 60 something widower might have had something to do with my enjoying the book. Nevertheless, I think most people looking for a funny, kind of suspenseful, and original story will love this book. If you happen to be listed in the Personal Online Ads as "mature" you will like it even more. If your parent(s) are in that catagory you will enjoy the book. If you have adult children you will love the book. This is a love story between a divorcee and widower. Nothing new there, but when you meet the two stars and then their strange families you will find out that there is a big difference between the average love story and this one. jeanne Ray also has a great knack of understanding and describing both Jewish and Italian families and their generational gaps. Underlying the story is a mystery of why two families feuded for generations and how hatred is carried from generation to generation almost without any thought being given to why. Read or better yet listen to Jeanne Ray read the book.