About the Book

Book: VINNY

Author: MaryAnn Diorio

Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense

Release Date: April 15, 2026

VINNY by MaryAnn Diorio
Book 1 in The South Philly Italians Romantic Suspense Series

Vinny Morello is on track for a promising career in the fine arts. But when tragedy suddenly hurls him headlong into a life-altering crisis, he faces a frightening fork in the road. Which one will he take? The road that leads to life or the road that leads to death?

VINNY is an edge-of-your-seat, romantic suspense story where tragedy and triumph merge into transformation. Don’t miss it!

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About the Author

MaryAnn Diorio writes award-winning fiction from a quaint small town in New Jersey where neighbors still chat while walking their dogs, families and friends gather on wide, wrap-around porches, and the charming downtown finds kids licking lollipops and old married folks holding hands. A Jersey girl at heart, MaryAnn is a huge fan of Jersey diners, Jersey tomatoes, and the Jersey shore.

More from MaryAnn

All Things Italian

by MaryAnn Dorio

I grew up in a home where Italian was my mother tongue. My late mother, one of the first war brides of World War II, was an immigrant from the romantic city of Naples, Italy. When I was born, she knew no English. So, we communicated in Italian. Although my mother eventually learned English, she and I always spoke in Italian until she passed away.

When I went off to college, I majored in French and minored in Italian. After I graduated, I spent a year of study at the University of Florence in Italy, earning my Master’s degree in Italian Language and Literature. Afterward, I taught Italian at the university level here in the States.

From my earliest days, Italy was a big part of my culture and of my heart. And it still is. It is no wonder then that I gravitate to writing fiction with an Italian flair. This is the milieu I know and understand best. It is the milieu I love. And I want to share it with you through my stories.

But, my fiction is far more than Italian. It is universal. In other words, it deals with issues that pertain to all of us humans. Issues of pride, rebellion, lust, and greed. Issues of deception, betrayal, hatred, and fear. Issues that result from our failure to love.

When you read my stories, you will travel to the deepest places of the human heart. Places you might not want to go to because they are places of pain, of confrontation, of facing our past and our sin. But they are also places of truth where you will find the freedom from the past and from sin that only truth brings. For my stories not only explore the deepest issues of the human heart; they show you how to overcome them through Jesus Christ.

Won’t you join me on this entertaining journey of exploration and transformation? If you do, I have a feeling that at the end of my stories, you will discover that you have become a far better person than you were at the beginning.

Interview with the Author

What does success as an author look like to you?
Success to me is fulfilling God’s will for me as a writer. This includes writing only what He wants me to write when He wants me to write it. Success to me means reaching readers with the Gospel of salvation and the message of God’s love for them.

Which character did you connect to best in this book?
I connected best to my protagonist Vinny because I experienced some of his struggles in my own life.

Which part of the book was the most difficult to write?
I would say the part when Vinny had to identify his dead brother’s body at the morgue.

4, What inspired this book?
I am a first-generation daughter of an Italian immigrant and grew up immersed in the Italian-American culture. I was born and raised in an Italian community near Philadelphia. Currently, I live within 15 minutes of Little Italy in Philadelphia. Since I understand Italian-Americans inside and out, I wanted to portray their tenacity, their courage, their stubbornness, their selflessness, and their big hearts toward their families in a story of one character struggling with the powerful influence of tradition.

Which author influenced the you most?
No particular author influenced me for this story. Several authors of romantic suspense, however, have influenced me in the writing of this genre, including DiAnn Mills and Susan May Warren.

What is your favorite Bible verse or life verse?
John 8: 32: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

7. What is your vacation spot?
The Jersey Shore, especially Avalon.

What are you reading right now?
Girl Lost by Kate Angelo

Describe your view as you’re sitting in your writing chair.
I usually write at my desk which converts into a standup desk when I’m tired of sitting. In front of me is a large monitor, but I usually write on my laptop which I place in front of the large monitor.

If you could have one book or piece of art or music on a deserted island, what would it be and why.
Without doubt, I’d take my Bible, simply because I cannot survive without the Word of God.