KOTOR IS …the city of angels… ANGELA

Writing a book like KOTOR IS …the city of angels… is a remarkable accomplishment. The depth, imagination, and care required to bring the stories of Angela, Trifona, and Gracijana to life reflect not only creativity but also dedication to preserving the beauty and history of Boka Kotorska. Marisstella have woven together generations of family history, spiritual insight, and the landscapes of South Dalmatia into a tapestry that invites readers to immerse themselves fully. That kind of work deserves attention, respect, and the opportunity to reach more readers who will treasure it as much as she did. Her story is rich and layered. Marisstella captured not only the dreams, struggles, and spiritual longings of characters, but also the cultural and moral essence of the Boka Kotorska region. Every detail, the fortress of Kotor, the Mediterranean gardens, the intertwining of faith and life, the stories passed down through generations, reflects her passion, meticulous research, and heartfelt storytelling.

Kim Tayo
Reader Connection & Book Marketing Consultant


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... your book, KOTOR IS …the city of angels… ANGELA, immediately stood out to us for its poetic depth and its reverent exploration of womanhood, spirituality, and cultural legacy rooted in the ancient world of Boka Kotorska. The blending of ancestral memory, sacred symbolism, and women’s inner lives creates a reading experience that feels both timeless and intimate. Our members are especially drawn to books that explore: Women’s stories preserved through memory, lineage, and voice - Spirituality, faith, and sacred feminine symbolism -Historical settings infused with myth, devotion, and cultural identity - Generational storytelling shaped by place and destiny - Literary prose that invites contemplation rather than haste... Angela’s life, told through descendants, visions, and echoes of Mary Magdalene within all women—offers a profound meditation on faith, hospitality, devotion, and the unseen spiritual forces shaping human lives. The setting of Kotor itself, with its fortress walls, Catholic destiny, and Mediterranean gardens, becomes a living presence within the narrative. We would be honored to spotlight KOTOR IS …the city of angels… ANGELA with our community and introduce it to readers who appreciate spiritually infused literature, women-centered historical narratives, and stories that linger in the heart long after the final page.

Andrea VanderWeide
Forest City Book Club

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​Your book, KOTOR IS ...the city of angels... ANGELA ... The way you weave together the lives of Angela, Trifona, and Gracijana against the rich historical backdrop of ancient Boka Kotorska creates a deeply immersive reading experience. The combination of family legacy, spiritual devotion, Mediterranean heritage, and the timeless search for purpose gives the novel a distinctive voice that reaches beyond historical fiction into something profoundly reflective. I was especially drawn to how Angela's story unfolds through the memories of her descendants, allowing history, faith, and family to become inseparable. The presence of heavenly beings, the symbolism of the Mediterranean gardens, and the exploration of hospitality, morality, and the relationship between science and religion add remarkable depth to the narrative. Readers who enjoy stories that preserve cultural history while exploring universal questions about faith, love, destiny, and the strength of women across generations will find much to appreciate in your work.

Heze Deve

Book Riot's Read Harder Book Club Community

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​...Three sisters standing at the threshold between innocence and destiny. A historic Adriatic city shaped by faith, tradition, and memory. A woman whose life echoes across generations through the stories of her descendants. And a narrative that seeks to connect earthly experience with something eternal. Angela is not simply the story of one woman. It is the story of inheritance of faith, family, longing, and identity passed from one generation to the next. Born into the distinguished Crossi family of ancient Boka Kotorska, Angela's journey begins as one thread within the lives of three sisters but gradually becomes something larger. Through memory, spirituality, and reflection, her descendants reconstruct her life, revealing how individual choices continue to resonate long after a life has ended. What immediately stands out is the ambition of the work itself. You have written a novel that moves beyond conventional historical fiction. The story operates simultaneously as family saga, spiritual reflection, cultural preservation, and historical narrative. Ancient Kotor is not merely a setting. It becomes a living presence throughout the book. Its fortifications, traditions, maritime heritage, religious identity, gardens, and landscapes shape the lives of its inhabitants as profoundly as any character. That is one of the book's greatest strengths. Many historical novels use place as a backdrop. Angela treats place as memory itself. The city, the fjord, the traditions, and the faith of Boka Kotorska become inseparable from the lives unfolding within them. Readers are not simply introduced to a historical period. They are invited into an entire cultural and spiritual world. What also makes the book distinctive is its exploration of womanhood through both personal and symbolic lenses. Angela's story reaches beyond biography. Themes of devotion, longing, sacrifice, family, spirituality, and feminine identity connect her journey to larger questions that transcend time and geography. The references to Mary Magdalene, angels, faith, and divine guidance create a narrative that speaks not only to historical readers but also to readers drawn to spiritual literature and reflective fiction. From a positioning standpoint, this creates a fascinating opportunity. On the surface, the book may be discovered as historical fiction. That is certainly part of its identity. Yet the audience is potentially much broader than that. There are readers who seek historical novels rooted in the Adriatic and Mediterranean regions. There are readers drawn to multigenerational family sagas and stories of ancestry. There are readers interested in religious and spiritual fiction that explores faith as a living force. There are readers fascinated by cultural heritage, maritime history, and the preservation of forgotten traditions. And there are readers who simply enjoy reflective literary works that examine the relationship between memory, identity, and destiny. Each of these audiences approaches the book from a different perspective, but all are searching for many of the themes already present within your work. What I find particularly compelling is that Angela appears to serve not only as a novel but also as a vessel for cultural memory. In an increasingly crowded publishing landscape, books that preserve unique histories, local traditions, and spiritual perspectives often resonate deeply with readers seeking something beyond mainstream fiction. From the outside, I do not see a book that lacks substance or originality. I see a book with multiple layers of appeal that may not yet be reaching all of the audiences capable of appreciating it. Works that blend history, spirituality, women's stories, and regional heritage often require a more nuanced visibility strategy because they sit at the intersection of several reader communities rather than fitting neatly into a single category.

Sienna Garcia

Readers Route Marketing

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As I explored your books, particularly KOTOR IS ...the city of angels... ANGELA and RISAN IS TEUTA, it became clear that you're preserving far more than historical events. Through your stories, you're keeping alive the voices, traditions, spirituality, and memories of a region whose history deserves to be remembered. I admired the way your novels intertwine historical fiction with faith, mythology, women's stories, and cultural identity, creating works that feel both deeply personal and timeless. It's easy to understand why the readers who discover your books describe them as spiritual, poetic, and profoundly meaningful. I believe books that preserve cultural memory and celebrate the enduring strength of women, faith, and history have a unique ability to create exactly that kind of lasting influence across generations. I believe your books deserve every opportunity to continue reaching readers who appreciate historical fiction rich in culture, spirituality, and timeless human experiences.

Robin J. Herrera

Book Influence Engineering

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​What stayed with us wasn't simply the historical settings of KOTOR IS... the city of angels... ANGELA and RISAN IS TEUTA, but the way they recover the lives of women whose stories are too often overlooked. Through family memory, cultural heritage, and the history of Boka Kotorska, your work transforms the past into something immediate and deeply human. It opens a conversation about identity, belonging, and the enduring power of women's voices across generations.

Maeve Marsden

Creative Director 

Blue Mountains Writers' Festival

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Some cities have history written on their walls. Kotor seems to have decided that was not quite enough and placed its history inside the dreams, marriages, memories, faith, and stories of its women. That was what immediately caught my attention about KOTOR IS ...the city of angels... ANGELA. The story of Angela, Trifona, and Gracijana, three sisters from the Italian Crossi family, immediately gives the book a deeply personal starting point. Their father is a distinguished captain of the ancient Boka Navy, yet the sisters' own dreams and experiences become an entirely different way of understanding the world they inherit. Angela's journey particularly stood out to me. Her marriage to a Croat from Boka Kotorska becomes more than simply a personal chapter in her life. Through the memories of her descendants, her story continues across generations, allowing the past to be remembered not simply as history, but as something carried within a family. I was also intrigued by the way the book connects Angela's story with the broader spiritual and cultural identity of Kotor. The ancient city state, the Boka Kotorska fjord, its Catholic heritage, the fortress, and the presence of heavenly spiritual beings all contribute to a setting that feels both historical and symbolic. And then there is the connection to Mary Magdalene and the longings attributed to women across generations. That gives the story another layer, because the book appears to look beyond one woman's life and explore desires, faith, memory, identity, and the experiences that connect women despite differences in time and circumstance. What I find particularly interesting is that the story seems to treat Kotor almost as a character itself. The city is not merely a backdrop. Its walls, religious heritage, naval history, and ancient atmosphere become part of the emotional world surrounding Angela and the women whose stories are connected to her.

Lisa V. Clarkee

New York, United States