Italy is a dream that keeps returning for the rest of your life – Anna Akhmatova
It’s been a while since my last Literary Travels (you can find links to my previous posts in the Archives). Since reading ‘By Any Other Name’ by Lauren Kate (see below), which features the beautiful cliffside village of Positano on southern Italy’s Amalfi Coast, I’ve been obsessed with going back to Italy.
So far, I’ve been lucky enough to travel to Milan, Turin (Fun Fact: I went to Turin to watch Manchester United play Juventus in the European Cup Semi-Final in 1999 although of course, the famous Turin Shroud was on tour here in Manchester at the time), Venice, Verona and Lake Garda but there are so many other places in Italy I still want to visit.
One of the things I discovered during lockdown was the next best thing to actually travelling is going there in your imagination so today I’m following my dreams to Italy and blogging about Love, Italian Style (aka My Favourite Italian Love Stories).
Until next time, sogni d’oro!
Ciao for Now by Kate Bromley (2023)
OK so technically ‘Ciao for Now’ hasn’t been released yet (it’s due to be published on 6 June 2023) but I’m so excited about it that I just had to include it in Love, Italian Style..
With her thirties rapidly approaching and a mountain of student debt looming over her, Violet Luciano’s dream of finishing design school and working in fashion has cost her everything. So when she lands an internship at an up-and-coming fashion brand in Rome, she brings her A game to Italy. With nothing left to lose, Violet plans to win the competition among the interns for the ultimate prize—a job at a New York label.
But when a coffee run goes wrong and Violet accidentally destroys a stranger’s laptop, all of the apology Americanos in the world won’t help her. Because it turns out that the man from the café is Matteo, her professor’s eternally grumpy son, who thinks she’s a clumsy American…and maybe a stalker. Their animosity (and undeniable chemistry) grows as together they’re forced to face a summer of chic parties, adventures through Rome and sharing a home…with the person they can’t stand the most.
The more time she spends with him, the more distracted she finds herself. With her chance to win the competition slipping out of her grasp, Violet has to decide whether to say ciao to Matteo—or ciao to her dreams.
Roman Crazy by Alice Clayton & Nina Bocci (2016)
Avery Bardot steps off the plane in Rome, looking for a fresh start. She’s left behind a soon-to-be ex-husband in Boston and plans to spend the summer with her best friend Daisy, licking her wounds—and perhaps a gelato or two. But when her American-expat friend throws her a welcome party on her first night, Avery’s thrown for a loop when she sees a man she never thought she’d see again: Italian architect Marcello Bianchi.
Marcello was the man—the one who got away. And now her past is colliding with her present, a present where she should be mourning the loss of her marriage and—hey, that fettuccine is delicious! And so is Marcello…
Slipping easily into the good life of summertime in Rome, Avery spends her days exploring a city that makes art historians swoon, and her nights swooning over her unexpected what was old is new again romance. It’s heady, it’s fevered, it’s wanton, and it’s crazy. But could this really be her new life? Or is it just a temporary reprieve before returning to the land of twin-set cardigans and crustless sandwiches?
The Heavenly Italian Ice Cream Shop (Heavenly Ice Cream Shop #2) by Abby Clements (2015)
Series: Vivien’s Heavenly Ice Cream Shop (#1)
Anna and her husband Matteo are ready to embark on a delicious Italian adventure. After a year and a half running their ice cream shop on Brighton beach and raising their baby Isabella, Matteo is starting to miss Italy. A shared passion for ices means it’s easy to settle on a new business idea – they’ll open a shop in Sorrento’s cobbled square, a short walk from the sparkling blue sea. For a while, life is sweet; but then Matteo’s overbearing family get involved…
Anna’s younger sister Imogen feels like things are finally coming together – she’s living with boyfriend Finn in a beach house in Brighton, and her photography is taking off. Then her career stalls, and the lure of Capri – and a man from her past – prove difficult to resist.
An American Girl in Italy by Aubrie Dionne (2014)
An Italian paradise is the last thing she wants… but the one thing she needs!
Surely any girl would kill for the chance to tour Italy’s most famous cities for the summer? To experience the warmth of the Tuscan sun, the culinary delights of the pizzerias and cafés and to stroll along the cobbled streets of the City of Love itself…
Any girl apart from ambitious oboist Carly Davis that is! For her, the Easthampton Civic Symphony’s latest European tour is one massive inconvenience. She can’t even put her smartphone down long enough to snap a picture of the Coliseum.
Only, there’s one Italian attraction that Carly hadn’t quite expected to be a part of the tourist route…
Tour guide Michelangelo is as dark and delicious as Carly’s morning espresso. And when she needs a few lessons in the language of love to land her an important gig, he’s a more than capable tutor.
But with her promising career back in Boston, can Carly really afford to lose her heart in Italy?
Ache for You (Slow Burn #3) by J.T. Geissinger (My Favourite Books of 2021) (2018)
Series: Burn for You (#1) & Melt for You (#3)
As soon as I decided to blog about Love, Italian Style, I just knew I had to include ‘Ache for You’ because I adored Kimber and her not-so-wicked stepmother but OMG… Matteo Moretti (the arrogant Italian fashion tycoon) instantly skyrocketed to joint-top of my Swoonworthy Book Boyfriends List.
Boutique owner Kimber DiSanto has seen better days. She’s been dumped at the altar by Prince Charmless, her business went up in flames (literally), and now she’s stuck in Florence, Italy, with an ice-queen stepmother, to try to save her late father’s failing dress shop. Only one thing could make it worse: another man in her life. The arrogant Italian fashion tycoon offering to buy her father’s shop is as rich as he is sexy, and their attraction is off the charts. But Kimber’s not about to get burned again.
Women don’t say no to Matteo Moretti—and certainly not with Kimber’s stinging precision. With all the heat and fury sparking between them, Matteo can’t resist baiting the gorgeous American. His plan? Win her over one scorching kiss at a time.
Kimber tells herself it’s all just a game. That her broken heart isn’t in danger, and that Matteo’s touch does not make her Lady Land dance with joy. But sometimes it takes the fieriest of enemies to turn a fantasy into a real-life romance.
A Place in the Sun by R.S. Grey (2016)
When her mother’s incessant matchmaking hits an all-time high, Georgie Archibald does what any sensible woman would do: she flees the country.
Seeking refuge in the picturesque seaside village of Vernazza, Italy, Georgie’s only plan is to lie low, gorge herself on gelato, and let the wine and waves wash her troubles away… that is until she wakes up in a bed that belongs to the most romantic-looking man she’s ever seen.
Gianluca.
After going out of his way to rescue her, the former London financier turned mysterious recluse makes it clear that despite acting as her white knight, he has no plans to co-star in her fairytale.
But Georgie isn’t asking for his heart—she’s merely intrigued.
After all, Gianluca isn’t just gorgeous—tall and tan from days spent in the sun—his touch sets her world on fire. With him, Georgie experiences the most intoxicating passion she’s ever known, and it only takes a few steamy nights for her to realize that sometimes running away from trouble is the best way to find it.
Lake Como by Anita Hughes (2013)
Hallie Elliot has a perfect life. She is an up-and-coming interior designer in one of San Francisco’s most sought after firms, and has just recently become engaged to Peter, a brilliant young journalist. But when she stumbles upon Peter and her boss in what seems to be a compromising position, her trust in her perfect life is shaken.
So Hallie escapes to Lake Como, Italy to spend time with her half-sister, Portia Tesoro, an Italian blueblood dealing with the scandal of a public estrangement from her cheating husband. While staying in the Tesoro villa, Hallie falls in love with the splendour and beauty of Lake Como, and finds work designing the lakeside estate of a reclusive American tech mogul. The caretaker of this beautiful estate is a handsome man named Angus, and Hallie finds herself drawn to his charm and kindness, despite hints of a dark secret in his past.
But just as Hallie is beginning to find her footing on Italian soil, she uncovers a family secret that upends all the truths she’s believed about herself, and calls into question the new life she’s built in Lake Como.
I Love Capri (LoveTravel #2) by Belinda Jones (2002) (My Favourite Retro Chick Lit)
Series: Divas Las Vegas (#1), The California Club (#3), Cafe Tropicana (#4) (Costa Rica), The Paradise Room (#5) (Tahiti), The Love Academy (#6) (Venice), Out of the Blue (#7) (Crete), Living La Vida Loca (#8) (Buenos Aires, Seville & Havana), California Dreamers (#9), Winter Wonderland (#9) (Quebec) & The Travelling Tea Shop (#10) (New England)
‘I Love Capri’ will always be really special to me because it was one of the last books I lent to Nana before she passed away. Nana was an avid reader and always kept a list of the books she’d read about in the newspaper or heard on the radio. I really enjoyed going to the library with her and helping her choose which books to borrow. I’ve definitely got Nana and Mum to thank for my love of books and of course, book-lists.
Kim Rees became a translator for the glamorous jet-set lifestyle. So, five years later, how come she’s ended up in a basement flat in Cardiff translating German computer games in her dressing gown? Fortunately her mother has a plan to extract her from her marshmellowy rut: a trip to the magical isle of Capri.
At first Kim refuses to wake up and smell the bougainvillea, but as she starts to succumb to the irresistible delights of cocktails on the terrace and millionaire suitors, she’s surprised to realise she’s changing. And when she meets a man who’s tiramisu personified, she finds herself falling in love. But how far will she go to win her Romeo?
By Any Other Name by Lauren Kate (2022) (Five Star Reads – April 2023)
AKA The Book Which Reignited my Wanderlust for Italy.
What she doesn’t know about love could fill a book.
With a successful career as a romance editor, and an engagement to a man who checks off all ninety-nine boxes on her carefully curated list, Lanie’s more than good. She’s killing it. Then she’s given the opportunity of a lifetime: to work with world-renowned author and her biggest inspiration in love and life—the Noa Callaway. All Lanie has to do is cure Noa’s writer’s block and she’ll get the promotion she’s always dreamed of. Simple, right?
But there’s a reason no one has ever seen or spoken to the mysterious Noa Calloway. And that reason will rock Lanie’s world. It will call into question everything she thought she knew. When she finally tosses her ninety-nine expectations to the wind, Lanie may just discover that love By Any Other Name can still be as sweet.
Love, Lucy (Love, Lucy #1) by April Lindner (2015)
Series: Far from Over (#2)
April Linder is the Queen of Modern Retellings with Jane (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte), Catherine (Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte) & ‘Love, Lucy’ (A Room with a View by E.M. Forster). I’m ashamed to admit that I hadn’t read any of the above classics until I read April’s retellings so maybe it’s her fault (and Michael Fassbender’s, of course) that I’ve since become obsessed with Jane Eyre (It’s All About The Jane (Eyre)).
While backpacking through Florence, Italy, during the summer before she heads off to college, Lucy Sommersworth finds herself falling in love with the culture, the architecture, the food…and Jesse Palladino, a handsome street musician. After a whirlwind romance, Lucy returns home, determined to move on from her “vacation flirtation.” But just because summer is over doesn’t mean Lucy and Jesse have to be, does it?
Dolci di Love by Sarah-Kate Lynch (2011)
Corporate star Lily Turner abandons the boardrooms of Manhattan for the steep streets of Montevedova when she discovers her “perfect” husband, Daniel, has another family tucked away in the hills of Tuscany.
Once there, her plight attracts the attention of the Secret League of Widowed Darners, an all-but-invisible army pulling strings behind the scenes to create happy endings.
Soon founding members, Violetta and Luciana, are scheming to mend Lily’s broken heart-and to enlist her help for their struggling pasticceria.
Our Italian Summer (Meet Me in Italy #1) by Jennifer Probst (2021)
Series: The Secret Love Letters of Olivia Moretti (#2)
The bond between Sophia, Francesca & Allegra reminded me so much of Nana, Mum and I because just like Francesca & Allegra, Mum and I are both only children and before Nana passed away in 2002, we were all exceptionally close. I can just imagine how much fun we’d have had if we’d travelled through Italy together.
Workaholic, career-obsessed Francesca is fiercely independent and successful in all areas of her life except one: family. She struggles to make time for her relationship with her teenage daughter, Allegra, and the two have become practically strangers to each other.
When Allegra hangs out with a new crowd and is arrested for drug possession, Francesca gives in to her mother’s wish that they take one epic summer vacation to trace their family roots in Italy. She just never expected to face a choice that might change the course of her life. . .
Allegra wants to make her grandmother happy, but she hates the idea of forced time with her mother and vows to fight every step of the ridiculous tour, until a young man on the verge of priesthood begins to show her the power of acceptance, healing, and the heartbreaking complications of love.
Sophia knows her girls are in trouble. A summer filled with the possibility for change is what they all desperately need. Among the ruins of ancient Rome, the small churches of Assisi, and the rolling hills of Tuscany, Sophia hopes to show her girls that the bonds of family are everything, and to remind them that they can always lean on one another, before it’s too late.
Chasing the Italian Dream by Jo Thomas (2021) (Five Star Reads – August & September 2021)
A summer escape she’ll never forget . . .
Lucia has worked hard as a lawyer in Wales, aiming for a big promotion she hopes will shortly come her way. Finally taking a well-earned break at her grandparents’ house in southern Italy, the sunshine, lemon trees and her nonna’s mouth-watering cooking make her instantly feel at home.
But she’s shocked to learn that her grandfather is retiring from the beloved family pizzeria and will need to sell. Lucia can’t bear the thought of the place changing hands – especially when she discovers her not-quite-ex-husband Giacomo wants to take it over!
Then bad news from home forces Lucia to re-evaluate what she wants from life. Is this her chance to carry on the family tradition and finally follow her dreams?
Louise Hall 
8 thoughts on “Love, Italian Style”