Somewhere South of Tuscany


Diana G. Armstrong - 2011
    After only one brief visit, Diana Armstrong, a cookbook author and food and travel writer, buys an ancient stone house right in the middle of the historic center of a village sandwiched between Tuscany and Umbria. Somewhere South of Tuscany is fun and witty! Of course, with Diana's culinary background, food is never very far from the surface. Diana, her husband and her family are as much concerned with their meals as they are with fixing their house. Restoring a 400 year old house in the backwoods of Italy makes for a fertile breeding ground for disasters, scrapes and a few discoveries too. (Everyone considering buying and renovating a home in Italy should ready her book!) Her culinary adventures in this Umbrian region are never very far from center stage. Diana, ever the passionate cook, provides deliciously simple recipes for all the food she mentions in the book. She gives every American cook the tools to transport themselves and their guests right into this green heart of rural Italy.

The Apartment in Rome


Penny Feeny - 2013
     Sun-drenched, touching and inspirational, this is your ultimate summer read for 2018, perfect for fans of Rosanna Ley and Victoria Hislop. Gina's life is good. She loves her adopted home in Italy, and she is passionate about her work as a photographer. She's all wrapped up in her latest artistic project, shots of the young men who arrive in Italy as refugees, destitute and vulnerable. One day Sasha, a lonely British teenager at summer school, crosses Gina's path. Sasha's innocent romance creates complications neither of them could have imagined, leading Gina to wonder, can she come to terms with her past? This summer, get lost in the streets, sights and sounds of Rome under the blazing Italian sun.

The Life & Legend Of Lucrezia Borgia


M.G. Scarsbrook - 2011
    This book gathers together all the crucial information needed for a study into the life of Lucrezia, including a detailed timeline, a biographical profile, an extensive description of her life in Rome, and a discussion of the Borgia family's legendary connection to poison. Optimized for navigation as an eBook, with a table of contents linked to every section, this book also features a broad collection of texts regarding Lucrezia and her notorious family. INCLUDED INSIDE: - Lucretia Borgia: According To Original Documents and Correspondence of Her Day by Ferdinand Gregorovius - The Borgias by Alexander Dumas (from 'Celebrated Crimes') - The Life of Cesare Borgia by Rafael Sabatini - Lucrezia Borgia, libretto by Felice Romani for the Opera by Gaetano Donizetti (in Italian) - Encyclopedia Britannica articles (11th edition) on Lucrezia Borgia and Cesare Borgia - Love Letter From Pietro Bembo to Lucrezia Borgia BONUS FEATURE: - An exclusive excerpt of M. G. Scarsbrook's novel POISON IN THE BLOOD: THE MEMOIRS OF LUCREZIA BORGIA, an historical thriller featuring Lucrezia Borgia fighting to save her husband from assassination by her powerful family.

A Cornish Revenge


Rena George - 2013
    Does the killing have some bizarre link to Cornwall’s past?A Cornish Revenge is the first in the Loveday Ross Mystery Series.These others, also currently available as eBooks on Amazon are A Cornish Kidnapping and A Cornish Vengeance.Book Description:A bleak Cornish clifftop strewn with the derelict remains of old tin mines.It seems to magazine editor, Loveday Ross, an odd place for an art class, but then her artist friend, Lawrence Kemp, had been acting strangely recently.As her camera clicks, taking pictures for the article she’s planning, a grim sight emerges from the receding tide far below.It’s the body of a man!He’s been tied hand and foot into the shingle cove - deliberately left to drown!But why has the discovery made Lawrence so edgy?And why are his students, Kit Armitage and Abbie Grainger, so affected by the killing?Detective Inspector Sam Kitto doesn’t appreciate finding a journalist at the murder scene, and Loveday isn't happy being a suspect.

Stealing the Highland Bride


Kenna Kendrick - 2019
    When the noble Laird Iain Cameron is brutally killed by the sinister Murdoch Mackintosh, Rhona and her clan find themselves at his mercy. Filled with desire for her, Murdoch makes her his wife and claims her child as his own.Stewart Mackintosh was forbidden to fall in love with his brother's wife. All he ever wanted, was for his clan to thrive and peace to be restored. Now he is losing himself to a woman he shouldn't desire. But to be with her, Stewart must make the ultimate sacrifice to save Rhona and the bloodline of Clan Cameron.

My Love Affair With Italy: Memoir of a single woman's travels to Italy spanning 45 years from a teenager to retirement


Debbie Mancuso - 2017
    Friendships form with another American student, and with Cesare, an Italian medical student living in the same "hotel." But what transpires is something no one ever expected, especially her mom. Over the next 45 years, Debbie returns 11 more times, mostly alone. Other trips include her two best friends, another with her father, and horseback riding adventures in the Chianti Region of Tuscany with cousins. Some of the places visited include Rome, Tuscany, the Almalfi Coast, Sicily, Capri, and a 2,500 year-old village in Umbria where the only mode of transportation allowed is a moped or donkey. One hundred years after her great grandmother migrated to America, Debbie locates her family in the most unusual way, culminating with a heartwarming reception. Rarely staying in hotels, My Love Affair With Italy describes each of the trips, all the types of accommodations such as the agriturismi (farmhouses), the apartments, vineyards, the medieval villages, monastery, villas, and horseback riding centers she stayed in addition to the romances and friends met along the way. At the age of 50, Debbie learns how to horseback ride English style and takes a 100-mile tour cantering through Tuscany, something she was not nearly qualified to do. Within a year, she becomes an exchange student and enrolls in school in Siena, one of Tuscany's most magnificent cities, to learn Italian and moves in with a local family, she not knowing Italian and they not knowing English. While in school, she befriends a German woman who invites her to stay at her home in the beautiful Bavarian Alps during her next visit to Europe, and Debbie accepts in an attempt to practice Italian with her former classmate, but the trip becomes a shocking revelation. The book also details the "jewels" of Rome not mentioned in brochures such as The Scala Sancta, the Holy Stairs, holy because they are said to be the stairs that Jesus climbed on his way to his trial before Pontius Pilate, and the Aventine Keyhole, a nondescript-looking door on the Aventine Hill, neatly placing the dome of St. Peter’s right in the center. Each trip also details why she returns each time, the struggles endured at home after becoming a caregiver, the 50-year friendships that get her through it all, and the shocking way her father shows his presence in Piazza Navona. Lastly, four decades after it all began, there are very surprising reunions and the most unusual romance.

Boss Bitch Swag


Cynthia White - 2011
    Falling in love with Boss, though, is the easy part; staying in love will prove to be a much harder task. When Meesha discovers that her heart's desire is not only a well-connected gangster, but is also next in line to head the mob that controls the entire city of St. Louis, she must make the most difficult decision of her entire young life. When she decides to stand by her man, it becomes painfully clear that, even though she's the only woman in his heart, she's not the only woman in his bed...Malcolm "Boss" Clark knows better than to fall for a girl almost ten years younger than him. He's a man, and Meesha is just a girl, but there's something about her that won't let Boss walk away. Their relationship moves fast and burns hot, much like the city they call home. In the blink of an eye, they find themselves dangerously in love with two small daughters and their first son on the way. The love soon turns to hate, though, when Meesha's doctor breaks the news to her that she's HIV-positive. Certain that Boss contracted the virus from one of his numerous affairs, an emotionally distraught Meesha locks herself in a bathroom with her husband, then proceeds to point his own gun in his face and demand answers - but will the truth set her free, or just keep her bound...?

My Sinful Valentine


Anna Snow - 2015
    Deserts, jungles, even held captive by the enemy, and never lost her cool, but when town loud-mouth, Celia Arceneaux, confronts her about her lack of domestic ability in front of her main squeeze Deputy Carter LeBlanc, Fortune let’s her mouth write a check she knows she can’t cash. Now, with Valentine’s Day only a day away, and no idea how to cook a meal fit for a king, or a hunky deputy to be exact, she needs help… and a lot of it. With her partners in crime, Ida Bell and Gertie, and their friend, culinary genius Ally by her side, they’ll help her either create a night Carter will never forget, or one they all wish they could.

Diary of a Dancing Drama Queen


Louise Lintvelt - 2013
    In diary of a dancing drama queen Harriet has to face the embarrassment of a dance class after her mother enrols her and her sister at Madam Zangara’s School of Dance. She is not exactly the best dancer in the world and when the most popular girl in school, Melanie joins the dance class, it marks the start of a fun filled adventure that includes a birthday party, a talent show and a school dance. Will she get asked to the dance by her biggest crush, Oliver Russell? This funny book is sure to be a hit with 8-12 year old girls.

Bayou Backup


Mary Hiker - 2015
    and Madison's overly exuberant cousin to Texas. Unfortunately, the R.V. breaks down on the edge of Sinful, Louisanna - on a Sunday.

To Venice with Love: A Midlife Adventure


Philip Gwynne Jones - 2019
    Until they received some advice from a complete stranger in a pub.Their response was to sell everything in order to move to Venice, in search of a better, simpler life. They were wrong about the 'simpler' bit...To Venice with Love recounts how they arrived in Venice with ten pieces of luggage, no job, no friends and no long-term place to stay. From struggling with the language to battling bureaucracy; the terror of teaching English to Italian teenagers, the company of a modestly friendly cat... and finally, from debugging financial systems on an Edinburgh industrial estate, to building an ordinary life in an extraordinary city, To Venice with Love is a love-letter to a city that changed their lives. It's a story told through the history, music, art, architecture (and, of course, the food) of La Serenissima.

The Road Less Graveled (Kindle Single)


Wendy Laird - 2013
    <br><br>Part Tuscan idyll and part cautionary tale, Wendy Laird’s latest Kindle Single tells the flip-side story of expat existence, what it takes to make it happen, and how a life on a well-mapped trajectory can veer off course in the process. Laird’s beautiful prose and acerbic wit keep the book, if not her own agenda, on the right track.

Christmas Kringle: Silent Night


Michael Anderle - 2020
    The children will smile on Christmas morning at all costs. Even if Kris has to die to try to make it happen.Someone has set a trap for Kris Kringle. The problem is, Kris is willing to go anywhere to get those gifts to the children.Including to his dark place.This time, even Kris is surprised by who helps him.Be careful, world. You don’t want to piss off Saint Nick.

Trustworthy (On My Honor Series Book 1)


D.W. Boyce - 2014
    They go everywhere and do everything together including Scouts. Noah’s twin, who died at birth, is now telling him his best friend has been seriously injured. Wait… what? How can that be?Noah soon learns his twin’s story is true and he begins spending lots of time at the hospital with Titus. Over the next few months Noah will work hard to bolster Titus’s strength and resolve. Take the journey along with Noah as he struggles with loss, guilt, and all the questions about life. Watch and listen as he determines the true meaning of friendship and loyalty. Book 1, Trustworthy is a heartwarming story for all ages.

A Lone Palm Stands


H.A. Olsen - 2009
    With the help of an eccentric aunt, Angela begins a new life, and embarks on a remarkable journey of self-discovery that takes her from the rural South to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. But her promising future as a pop star is threatened by the jealously and betrayal of her friends-and the shocking secret that is about to be revealed by the ghost of a mysterious little girl. Haunting and thought-provoking, A Lone Palm Stands is more than just the story of one life: it's a unique commentary on love, family, and our spiritual nature It's also a testimony to the resiliency of the people of South Carolina and their proven ability to survive 'come hell or highwater.'