On Tour 01/26/25-03/04/25 “Everything We Thought Was True” by Lisa Montanaro

Release Date: January 27, 2025

About The Book:

New York, 1983: When an argument erupts during dinner and Teresa Antinori, a typically docile wife and mother, hurls plates filled with pasta sugo e piselli at her husband, Frank—the future of their Italian American family is changed forever. Frank has found a safe harbor with Teresa, but longs to truly be himself, while Teresa struggles with the startling discovery that her husband is gay and living a lie.

Los Angeles 2015: Thirty-two years later, their daughter Lena is still picking up the pieces. When her father calls with unexpected news, it throws her right back into her least favorite place—the past. Lena is torn between supporting her father and her enduring loyalty to her mother, who once demanded secrecy at all costs.

Told in alternating points of view—Frank and Teresa in the past, and Lena in the present—EVERYTHING WE THOUGHT WAS TRUE is the story of a family trying to reconcile their past, understand the secret at the heart of the family’s rupture, and embrace the future. Brimming with love and loss, heartache and hope, this multigenerational family saga weaves a tapestry of identity, healing, and forgiveness.

About The Author:

Lisa Montanaro is part no-nonsense Italian American New Yorker and part sunny Californian. She has a unique background as a performer, teacher of deaf students, recovered lawyer, coach, speaker, and author. Her debut novel, Everything We Thought Was True, a multigenerational Italian American family drama, will be published by Red Adept Publishing on January 27, 2025. Her chapter, “The Brand Called You! Personal & Professional Branding for Authors,” was included in Launch Pad: The Countdown to Marketing Your Book, published by Red Penguin Books in 2023. She is also the author of The Ultimate Life Organizer: An Interactive Guide to a Simpler, Less Stressful & More Organized Life, published by Peter Pauper Press in 2011. Lisa serves as Webinar Host for the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) and is a passionate member of its Diversity & Inclusion Committee. She is also the facilitator of the Retro COLAGE group for adult children of LGBTQ parents. Her blog and newsletter, Prosecco & Prose, are where she shares author updates, writerly musings, book recommendations, and virtual bubbly! Visit www.LisaMontanaroWrites.com

Social Media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisa.montanaro

Twitter: https://www.instagram.com/lisa.montanaro

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LisaMontanaroAuthor/

Book Blurbs:

“Lisa Montanaro’s powerful first novel sweeps effortlessly across decades, pulling the reader along with exquisite precision. As we bear witness to the family’s hidden secrets, peeled back a layer at a time, we are reminded of how hard truths from decades earlier continue to haunt us, no matter how much we’d like to think we’ve moved on. Everything We Thought Was True, evocative and unblinking, is both a coming-of-age classic and masterfully timely and topical. ~ Alan Winnikoff, author of Not Sleeping and The Weekend

“A masterfully written ‘love is love’ story told during a time when freedom came with rules. Everything We Thought Was True is a love story but also a story of fear and disbelief. Everyone pays a price in this family that loses almost everything before they find not only themselves, but each other. A story of secrets, lies, triumph, and joy by a debut author who bears watching.”~ Barbara Conrey, USA Today bestselling author of Nowhere Near Goodbye and My Secret to Keep

“Introspective and emotional, bringing you deep into the characters’ feelings, Lisa Montanaro gifts us an important and engrossing novel for all, no matter your sexual orientation. Brava, Ms. Montanaro.” ~ Linda Rosen, award-winning author of The Emerald Necklace, Sisters of the Vine, and The Disharmony of Silence

“Mining her own family history, Lisa Montanaro has crafted a heart-warming and emotionally complex debut that masterfully explores themes of guilt, rage, forgiveness and ultimately redemption, as an Italian American family struggles with a secret that threatens to tear them apart. Written with compassion and grace, this is a story that will resonate with anyone who has struggled to come to terms with the complexities of the people they love the most.” – Maggie Smith, author of the award-winning Truth and Other Lies

“Lisa Montanaro brings together the emotional elements of truth, family, and tradition in a story that uses love as the baseline. Everything We Thought Was True is an ode to the often-painful journey people take to be who they truly are.” ~ Sierra Godfrey, author of A Very Typical Family

Bloggers On Tour:

Jan. 26th – Rozier Reads and Wine https://instagram.com/rozierreadsandwine

Jan. 26th- Plains Reading https://instagram.com/plains_reading

Jan. 27th – Tiffany Vt4 https://instagram.com/tiffanyvt4

Jan. 27th- Cassie’s Book Reviews https://instagram.com/cassies_books_reviews

Jan. 27th- Books and Coffee MX https://instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx

Jan. 28th- Lindas Book Obsession https://www.facebook.com/lindasbookobsession/

Jan. 30th- Sarahs Bookish Reviews https://instagram.com/sarahs.bookish.reviews

Jan. 30th- Shooks Books https://instagram.com/shook_sbooks

Jan. 31st- Jennifer Tar Heel Reader – https://instagram.com/tarheelreader

Feb. 3rd- Love My Books 2020 https://instagram.com/lovemybooks2020

Feb. 3rd- Books Love And Understanding https://instagram.com/booksloveandunderstanding