It Was Like This

The Sequel to I Love You Because

Domhan Books

Can be ordered from 

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ISBN: 1-58345-611-2

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In this sequel to I Love You Because, Tom and Vita McGlory's son Billy and their daughters Susan and Tessie are doing their best to make ends meet.

It's 1932 in New York City: Prohibition rages, the Depression ravages. Billy comes of age whether he wants to or not. Musical and adventurous, Billy dreams of having his own ritzy supper club and big band. So when the mysterious Rosario Ingovito offers Billy all that and more on the eve of his marriage to the pregnant Prudence, it seems an offer Billy can't possibly refuse. Fame, fortune, his own Broadway musical, are all his for the taking .Only when he gets in way over his head with the bootlegging racket does he stop to wonder how Rosario really makes his money, and by then it's far too late... 

REVIEWS: 

Five Stars

It is March 1932 when Billy McGlory’s girlfriend Pru tells him she is pregnant. Musician Billy owns, plays piano in and helps run a speakeasy, his dad is Tom McGlory, Chief of Police, Mom Vita cooks mean Italian, sister Susan provides strength when he needs it and younger sister Tess insists she must read his fortune whenever he comes around. Billy dreams of having his own swank supper club, marries artist Pru, becomes involved with the mob, loses a half filled truck to a hijacker and about gets his brains beat out, and this is just the beginning. Billy and another leading musician write the music for a broadway play based on the book written by old friend Greta Schliessmayer. He pushes aside the fact that it is the mob who has underwritten his hit musical. Underworld figures including Capone, artists and assorted others move in and out of McGlory’s life. Assassins sent to do Billy in manage to shoot Sid Cunningham, bad cop who was supposed to be keeping an eye on Billy and his family, but in reality hijacked the truck. More threats, Pru’s dependence on heroin and it is payback time for mobster boss Louie Q and his buddies.
It is abundantly clear that Writer Rubino has done her homework in this sequel to ‘I Love You Because." Her New York City during the height of the Depression and the Prohibition comes alive under the accomplished pen of this clever writer. The spectacle, noise, aroma of the city leap from the page as the reader moves from setting to setting in this commanding read.
It Was Like This is a gripping, fast paced account filled with ingeniously interwoven, suspenseful scenarios. The reader is drawn straight into the narrative from the opening lines of the prologue when we find Billy McGlory laying bleeding in the street and interest is held fast down to the last paragraph of the epilogue as we read McGlory’s final journal entry. Rubino’s obvious talent is evident on the pages of this intricate narrative, in which potent motivations, generously drawn characters, and gritty hard hitting dialogue abound. Strife is copious and fittingly resolved. Billy, his family, Pru, mobster Rosie all come across as real people suffering many of the same ups and downs as do we all. Billy’s determination to protect his family despite the facts of his life on more than the edges of the underworld is something we can admire.
Watch the red herrings. Writer Rubino just may catch you napping with her most fitting ending as she brings It Was Like This to a close.
Fine addition to the home library if you enjoy historical fiction filled with a touch of romance, and a whole lot of action.
Enjoyed the read, happy to recommend.
Molly Martin, The Author's Den
http://www.AuthorsDen.com/mjhollingsh

Four Stars

At 25, Billy McGlory's life is full of gin joints,
mobsters, music and women. Not only does he own and
play piano in a gin joint, but mobsters have also
financed his hit Broadway musical. Over-eager women
throw themselves at his feet, but he loves his wife,
Pru.
Billy has a hard time growing up in this morality
tale. Even though he and Pru live the Bohemian life
in New York’s artsy SoHo, deep down they are both
products of middle-class American values.
They marry, but spend their wedding night apart. Pru
isn’t pleased when she finds out that Billy’s new
business partner is mysterious mobster Rosario
Ingovito. Billy inevitably keeps getting sucked into
illegal activities by the luxuries the ill-gotten
gains buy. While a little wild herself, Pru is
totally against Billy’s involvement with the mob.
This conflict forces them to live separate lives,
but at the same time, they are unable to live
without each other.
Diana Rubino has blended the history of the
Depression and Prohibition, romance and the
realities of getting mixed up with the mob into one
compelling read. This may not be your typical
romance, but it is one magnificent story. (Apr., 261
pp., $14.95)
Deborah Brent, Romantic Times

Reader Reviews from Amazon.com

[5 out of 5 stars] Gripping historical romance!, June 28, 2003

This is a very unusual historical romance - set in the world of NYC's Prohibition and the theatrical world of the time. It's the story of Billy McGlory, who reminds me of a more innocent version of George M. Cohan, and how his quest for artistic success gets him involved in shady dealings. But at the heart of the book is the bittersweet love story between Billy and his wife, Pru. The ending is a terrific didn't-see-it-coming surprise, the plot is well-paced, and the characters won't leave you for weeks. Highly recommended.-- Linda Unger, Medford, NY

CONTEST WINNERS!!!

What 3 historical figures would you most have wanted to meet and why? The first five readers who Emailed me their answers received a free copy of IT WAS LIKE THIS.

Barbara Smith, Parker City, IN - "I would choose Jesus, George Washington, and Martin Luther King. Jesus because he was a charismatic person and it would have been interesting to watch him perform all those miracles. George Washington because he did so much to shape our nation. The time period would have been interesting to be in although I am sure I would miss my modern conveniences. Martin Luther King because he was a very charismatic man who seemed to have a genuine love for the human race. He also has done much to shape the way the world is today."

Joy Isley, Mesa, AZ - "Elizabeth I, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Queen Victoria. I would have liked to meet them because they were all strong women who ruled when women were not thought of as having intelligence and power. But these three made decisions and ruled for a long time. Some of the decisions they made had profound changes for the world." 

Susan Lathen, Lincoln, NE - "Thomas Jefferson because this man totally fascinates me, a family man, poet, inventor, architect, lawyer, founder of a university and politician (not only a president, but governor, secretary of state, foreign ambassador). Many a man would have been proud to have accomplished just one of these things but Jefferson succeeded that ALL he laid his land to. Benjamin Franklin I would have loved meeting because he never slowed with age and really seemed to be a character! This man went to work at age 10 as a printer and through self-teaching by 17 he owned his own paper! To pass on his thirst for knowledge he started the first library (and where would we be without them!) Most men start slowing in their 40s but this was when Franklin started hitting his stride with both politics & inventions. In his 80s instead of a crotchety old man becoming senile he was traveling the globe and romancing the ladies. I can imagine what a flirt he must have been! Madame Marie Curie is certainly a woman that should be put on a pedestal by ALL women. What she attained in fame & notoriety was well earned she had overcome the obstacles of being from a large family in a Russian-dominated country which denied education to GIRLS. She left the country to be able to continue her thirst for knowledge and met a husband who worked side by side with her on the study of radiation. It is difficult enough for a normal marriage but she managed this 'working' partnership. It is a relief to be able to point to a woman like this when women are relegated to be second class citizens."

Marie Gilmarten, Dunwoodie, GA - "I would love to have met Jesus, Moses, and Job. Jesus, to talk to him about his teachings and just to be in his presence. Moses because he was a deep spiritual person, and I'd like to ask him what it was really like receiving the Commandments from God. And Job because I always found his story fascinating. I'd just like to sit and have a conversation with him about philosophy and life in general."

Anne Seger, White Plains, NY - "George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt. Washington because he shaped our nation and was a brave leader who had the grace to turn down a kingship. I would talk to him about his visions for the future of the nation but I would like to bring him back to our times to see his reaction to how the nation turned out. Same with Lincoln. I'd like to hear exactly how he felt about the war and the issues that blighted the states. Teddy Roosevelt because he lived at a time when the nation was going through transition, and he lived in exciting times, my favorite time period of New York."