The Rome Affair

by Laura Caldwell

Book Overview

It was an affair...to regret. Rachel Blakely's charmed life is significantly tarnished after her husband Nick's infidelity, but she wants to give her marriage a second chance. Then a business trip to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0778323099
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: MIRA
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.6" x 0.8" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Slow start, but then WOW!

I almost stopped reading this book ... the first eight chapters while not necessarily offputting were almost depressing and I wasn't sure how it was going to turn into anything other than blackmail and more blackmail. I so never expected the big thing in the middle and then really never expected the twist at the end. I was all but skimming it at that point thinking things were pretty well wrapped up. It took me a week to read the first eight chapters and then one evening to read the rest. I've loved all of Laura Caldwell's offerings, the earlier chick-lit and also the newer suspense fiction. I'm looking forward to reading more.

Couldn't put this book down!

Having read one of Ms. Caldwell's chick lit books, I decided to read her fiction novels as well. Last summer I read Look Closely and thought it was good. I just finished reading The Rome Affair and thought it was GREAT!! I just couldn't stop reading!! I really felt for Rachel throughout the book. Makes one think that an extra-marital affair is not a black and white issue and it may end with severe consequences. Read this one and you will not be disappointed!

A must read!!

I was hooked! Stayed up late, and even read while the kids were talking to me! Nothing could take me away! A++++

An Affair to Drive a Very Long Chill Down Your Spine

Isn't the whole point of female friendship to be nurturing accomplices? To keep inconvenient secrets and forgive the cause--no matter what--so each friend can carry on the messy business of life less burdened by guilt or self-doubt? The Rome Affair starts from that comfy premise. Then unravels it--and a likable heroine's life--with the methodical ardor of a kitten pawing a ball of twine. Simply put, it's a Hitchcock-worthy tale with a chilling payoff. Rachel Blakely, self-possessed Chicago sales executive, embarks on a business trip to Rome taking her childhood friend Kit, all flaming red hair and wild theatricality. Kit's failed acting career leads Rachel to pay for her ticket. But Kit pays her back with emotional support. Rachel has been struggling mightily to forgive her husband Nick, a dedicated surgeon, for a year-old, two-night affair with a stranger he confessed with heartfelt remorse. Kit props her up. She's the only person in Rachel's life who supports her decision to forgive him. Once in the Eternal City, certainties become less so. Rachel shoulders the blame for a disastrous sales meeting. Then she can't locate Nick by phone at home or office. She harbors dark thoughts that her husband couldn't wait to cheat on her again. Her self-discipline collapses when she's swept away by a portrait painter masterful in the masculino arts. But Nick, it turns out, hasn't been unfaithful at all. How will Rachel reconcile her own two-night stand? Rachel vows that what happened in Rome must stay in Rome. Kit agrees. Especially when Nick's social ambitions propel them into a glitzy new role as couple du jour in Chicago's philanthropic set. Only Kit is less dependable than Rachel had been led to expect, with surprises that just keep on coming. This was my first from Laura Caldwell, a suspense novelist and trial lawyer who applies both skill sets to play delicious mind games. Like any good trial lawyer, she saves her best surprise for last. In my own case, until 4AM with booklight blazing. Ms. Caldwell knows a lot about people--from the privileged who grin like timber wolves from the society pages to pariahs suffering the humiliations of the criminal justice system. And her writing benefits from a taut, precise style that crackles with emotional intensity. This is not, as some of her previous books were described, a "chicklit" that would turn off male readers--like me. Trust me on this one. What are friends for?

Scent of a Screenplay

Laura Caldwell moves one through THE ROME AFFAIR with just the right dashes of setting, suspense, character, and backstory. It takes the reader to unexpected places, providing twists just when one thinks he knows the coming sequence. Highly recommeded! James Conroyd Martin, Author of AGAINST A CRIMSON SKY