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Multi-published, award winning professional author, Robbi Perna, born and raised in Denver, Colorado, is the oldest of four children in an Italian-American family. As the only girl, she gained a unique insight on the Italian male psyche over the years. Her stories often reflect her Italian heritage and the traits many Italian men and women possess. At a recent reunion, a classmate approached her and remarked, "I remember two things about you. You always wanted horses and you were always writing stories.” Robbi happily confirmed she had owned Arabian horses for a number of years before moving away from Denver and she still wrote stories. She now makes her home in Northern Virginia where she spends her time embellishing her townhome to resemble an Italian palazzo and crafting her stories.
Robbi brings a diverse perspective to her writing. Her degrees in Art History and a professional background in business, strategic planning and communications, and more than twenty years as a Senior Military Analyst provide a wealth of inspiration. She is the author of thirty-one published credits that include novels, short stories, articles, essays, and editorials. Robbi’s genre fiction encompasses romance, the paranormal, history, adventure, and women’s literature. Her goal is to live up to one reviewer’s comments: “When you find a writer who can tell a wonderful story that captures your heart and can tell it superbly, well you simply have a great find. Robbi Perna's stories fit the bill to a T!”
Reviewed by Katelyn Hensel for Readers' Favorite
The Roman Phalera: The Vines of Bordessi, Book One by Robbi Perna is a blend of historical fiction and saucy romance. There is a whole lot of action and movement here as well which helped to charge up the scenes with excitement and tension. Carlo Cavaleri is devastated when his beloved twin brother is taken out of action by tragedy. Struggling to go on, he throws himself into work, but the Fates have more than that in mind for these twins...
Twins! I absolutely love twins, as I am one myself. I'm always fascinated by their portrayal in literature, particularly romantic literature. Is there an evil twin and a good dichotomy going on? Are they two sides of the same coin? Are they 100% identical in a creepy sort of paranormal way? While we don't get much action from Paolo before the unfortunate event strikes, it was really compelling and heart-wrenching to be in Carlo's shoes, seeing him deal with all his pain and reservations. Then when they are back fighting fit (in a strange and paranormal way...), we get to see how much Carlo appreciates Paolo and what it means to him to see his brother one last time.
Robbi Perna has a very solid writing style that helped to expose the characters in different ways. I felt as though I was allowed to get to know all of them on a more personal level, which let them endear themselves to me. The descriptions are great, and Perna has an eye for the details of sights, sounds, tastes, and smells that just let you sink into the story like a warm bath. There was romance here, but it was an undertone. The main focus really was sibling bonds and brotherly love and I think we can all get behind that.
