Finally Florida

Finally Florida is a fictionalized memoir, of Victoria Bench, a sun-worshipping, fearless, impulsive dreamer, whose devotion to happily- ever- after leads her on a literal journey from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Palm Harbor, Florida.

Victoria, a mid-aged woman living in Pittsburgh, PA, meets Peter through an online dating service. She is initially attracted to Peter because he shows a previous home in Florida and because of a photo he posted of himself with his four children. Victoria is a sucker for a family man and sunshine. After a year of dating and getting to know each other in Pittsburgh, Peter asks Victoria to relocate with him to Florida, to where his children live. The death of Peter's wife, four years prior, led to his children being scattered among various friends and family, separated from him and each other and Victoria knows he is desperate to reunite the family in Florida. Victoria gladly, and naively, goes all in, inserting herself into this mission, packs her sunscreen and moves to Florida with him.

The book, Finally Florida, is a compilation of two years of blogs where Victoria shares her triumphs, her love of Peter and his family, her love of Florida, but also her feelings of separation and loneliness. The topics addressed in the blogs connect with the reader on issues of maintaining and building a relationship, building connections with stepchildren, struggling with finding employment, a desire to be a writer, and living the happily ever after story book life. Often humorous, sometimes poignant, always entertaining.