The Witch of Little Italy

It would have made much more sense to play up this book's magical realism in the packaging, instead of trying to pass it off as typical chick lit, which relies on zippy dialogue and a cute love story. The dialogue in Witch of Little Italy is clunky and unrealistic, and the love story - well, don't even bother. The hero, Anthony, has allegedly been in love with the heroine Elly ever since they were 13 years old, even though he hasn't seen her in 10 years. We know nothing about their early interactions or about his life, so it has absolutely no impact when they are reunited and Anthony immediately tells Elly he still loves her.

But there's something that kept me turning the pages, primarily the interaction between Elly and her grandmother/great aunts and the need to find out the secret behind Elly's memory loss. Plotting is definitely one of Palmieri's strengths, even if dialogue and characterization are not.

I really enjoyed I'll Be Seeing You, which Palmieri (as Suzanne Hayes) co-wrote with Loretta Nyhan. But her debut title as a single author is disappointing. She's a good storyteller but needs work on her actual writing skills.