Julie Carobini

Chasing Valentino Julie Carobini

Can a postcard from the past ... give them a future?




As a child, Greta had heard about her great-gran's past as a starlet in the 1921 film, The Sheik, starring Rudolph Valentino. And she had always wondered why Great-gran eventually settled for a less-than glamorous life.




Greta's own life had lost some shine lately, too, with a broken engagement and job layoff. Was she destined to live a drab existence as well?




When a nearly 100-year old postcard appears in her mailbox, raising questions about her great-gran's life, Greta seizes a chance to delve into the past, and perhaps, change her own destiny.




Hollywood by the Sea, that fabled stretch of beach, may have been the background for Valentino films, but Dr. Zac Holt found it less than glamorous. Rowdy tourists, a broken heart, and his annoying neighbor drove that point deeper. Yet when Greta rents the place next to his house for the summer, he's intrigued by her warmth and curious nature.




Unfortunately, the disillusioned doctor insults his new neighbor from the start with his sour attitude, and his attempts to make amends are met with caution.




Greta hadn't come to the small beach town to find love, but answers. She'd already had more than her share of romantic failures, and an embittered doctor wasn't going to change that.




It will take a starry-eyed exploration of Hollywood by the Sea and beyond to change Greta and Zac. And what they discover in themselves--and each other--might just heal them both.