The Madonna of Pisano. The Italian Chronicles Trilogy, #1

This riveting, page-turning series deals with the deepest issues of the human heart. Packed with intense emotion, it is inspiring readers throughout the world with its powerful message that forgiveness can free even the most wounded among us. Book 1: THE MADONNA OF PISANOA young woman, a priest, and a secret that keeps them bitterly bound to each other.. A young, 19th-century Sicilian woman, Maria Landro, has a bright future ahead of her.
Engaged to be married to her childhood sweetheart, Carlo Mancini, Maria is suddenly blindsided by her pastor and former teacher, Don Franco Malbone, a ruthless cleric bent on fulfilling his own selfish ambitions.  When he brutally turns her world upside down by raping her, resulting in the conception and birth of their illegitimate son Nico, Maria faces the cruel double standard of a village whose code of honor reviles her and her innocent child and forces them into seclusion while allowing Don Franco to continue in his hypocrisy.
In the depths of her profound suffering, Maria comes face to face with demons she never knew existed within her, demons she does not know how to handle. When, however, she meets Luca Tonetta, she discovers  the courage to face her demons by embracing the truth that demons must bow to the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.   Meanwhile, Don Franco secretly wrestles with demons of his own. An only son forced into the priesthood by a demanding father, Don Franco sees the priesthood as nothing more than a means to be the somebody he's always wanted to be.
When his sin nature emerges in full force, revealing his utter depravity and sending him reeling toward destruction, he must make the choice every human being must make: Will he choose his own way or God's way?