It’s the beginning of an extended European vacation, and Tulia Rose is in Paris. Alone. Her boyfriend has given her this vacation as a gift, but he didn’t come with her. With all the research she has planned for her new book, surely that’s not so bad. She believes he’s at least trying to patch up their relationship.

While wandering through Paris, Tulia discovers a sidewalk artist of amazing talent. He wields chalk the way old masters wielded the brush. Known to Tulia only as Rafael, the artist captures her heart through simple reassurances and his brand of magic.

Inspired by Raphael’s story of a love lost, Tulia begins writing her new novel. The hero is Raffaello Sanzio—the legendary Italian painter—and the heroine is an unnamed poet of gentle nature. Romance blossoms for Tulia even as it develops in the story she writes. Raphael introduces her to secret corners of Florence and Venice, where her appreciation for his namesake grows.

Dark, mysterious, and infinitely gentle, Tulia’s Raphael shows her the meanings of love and loss. Her life will never be the same. The question will be where she goes from here.

This debut novel is phenomenal. It is written with a voice so eloquent and beautiful that it will take the reader on the kind of emotional journey only elicited by true masters of the word.

Buonaguro and Kirk are to be highly commended. The Sidewalk Artist is destined to become a romantic classic that will appeal to anyone who has tasted the power of love.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
8/2/2006

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