Italy

Making a home, however, in the ravishing, haunted landscape of Italy's Riviera coast, turns out to be lonelier than Rose had anticipated. And it is only when she is asked to write a profile of one of her reclusive neighbours, the once-glamorous film star Elvira Vitale, that Rose feels her new life is really beginning.

1576. Five years after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Lepanto, a ship steals unnoticed into Venice bearing a deadly cargo. A man more dead than alive disembarks and staggers into Piazza San Marco. He brings a gift to Venice from Constantinople. Within days the city is infected with bubonic plague—and the Turkish Sultan has his revenge. But the ship also holds a secret stowaway—Feyra, a young and beautiful harem doctor fleeing a future as the Sultan's concubine. Only her wits and medical knowledge keep her alive as the plague ravages Venice. In despair the Doge commissions the architect Andrea Palladio to build the greatest church of his career—an offering to God so magnificent that Venice will be saved. But Palladio's own life is in danger too, and it will require all skills of medico Annibale Cason, the city's finest plague doctor, to keep him alive. But what Annibale had not counted on was meeting Feyra, who is now under Palladio's protection, a woman who can not only match his medical skills but can also teach him how to care.

Amid the intrigue and danger of 18th-century Italy, a young woman becomes embroiled in romance and treachery with a rider in the Palio, the breathtaking horse race set in Siena.... It's 1729, and the Palio, a white-knuckle horse race, is soon to be held in the heart of the peerless Tuscan city of Siena. But the beauty and pageantry masks the deadly rivalry that exists among the city's districts. Each ward, represented by an animal symbol, puts forth a rider to claim the winner's banner, but the contest turns citizens into tribes and men into beasts—and beautiful, headstrong, young Pia Tolomei is in love with a rider of an opposing ward, an outsider who threatens the shaky balance of intrigue and influence that rules the land.

Young widow Simonetta tries to rebuild her family in 16th century Saronno, Lombardy. In pursuit of a means to keep her estate together, she stumbles upon a new drink made by infusing almonds into alcohol. At the same time, she encounters the talented Bernardino, the protege of Leonardo da Vinci.

When Tess Angel receives a solicitor's letter inviting her to claim her inheritance - the Villa Sirena, perched on a clifftop in Sicily - she is stunned. Her only link to the island is through her mother, Flavia, who left Sicily during World War II and cut all contact with her family. Initially resistant to Tess going back to her roots, Flavia realises the secrets from her past are about to be revealed and decides to try to explain her actions. Meanwhile, Tess' teenage daughter Ginny is stressed by college, by her blooming sexuality and filled with questions that she longs to ask her father, if only she knew where he was.

In this exhilarating cross between The Da Vinci Code and The Birth of Venus, an irrepressible young woman in 15th-century Italy must flee for her life after stumbling upon a deadly secret when she serves as a model for Botticelli... When part-time model and full-time prostitute Luciana Vetra is asked by one of her most exalted clients to pose for a painter friend, she doesn't mind serving as the model for the central figure of Flora in Sandro Botticelli's masterpiece "Primavera." But when the artist dismisses her without payment, Luciana impulsively steals an unfinished version of the painting—only to find that somone is ready to kill her to get it back. What could possibly be so valuable about the picture? As friends and clients are slaughtered around her, Luciana turns to the one man who has never desired her beauty, novice librarian Brother Guido. Fleeing Venice together, Luciana and Guido race through the nine cities of Renaissance Italy, pursued by ruthless foes who are determined to keep them from decoding the painting's secrets. Gloriously fresh and vivid, with a deliciously irreverent heroine, The Botticelli Secret is an irresistible blend of history, wit, and suspense.

From New York Times bestselling author Rhys Bowen comes a haunting novel about a woman who braves her father’s hidden past to discover his secrets… In 1944, British bomber pilot Hugo Langley parachuted from his stricken plane into the verdant fields of German-occupied Tuscany. Badly wounded, he found refuge in a ruined monastery and in the arms of Sofia Bartoli. But the love that kindled between them was shaken by an irreversible betrayal. Nearly thirty years later, Hugo’s estranged daughter, Joanna, has returned home to the English countryside to arrange her father’s funeral. Among his personal effects is an unopened letter addressed to Sofia. In it is a startling revelation. Still dealing with the emotional wounds of her own personal trauma, Joanna embarks on a healing journey to Tuscany to understand her father’s history—and maybe come to understand herself as well. Joanna soon discovers that some would prefer the past be left undisturbed, but she has come too far to let go of her father’s secrets now…

A HOT ITALIAN SUMMER. TWO COUPLES. ONE DARK SECRET THAT COULD RUIN EVERYTHING. . . 'The best book I have read this year. Atmospheric, thrilling and completely unputdownable' 5\\\\\* Reader Review 'Sultry, sexy, immersive' HARRIET TYCE 'A compelling and unsettling read with summer written all over it' WOMAN & HOME 'The only book you need this summer. Gripping, well-paced and full of thrills' 5\\\\\* Reader Review 'Tense and atmospheric. A dark, sultry, summer read' JANE FALLON THE ADDICTIVE NEW NOVEL FROM THE AUTHOR OF RICHARD & JUDY PICK THE HEATWAVE 'A sexy summer read with a twist. If you're looking for a summer read to devour by the pool or on the beach, look no further' EVENING STANDARD \\\\\\\\\_ Nick and Laura are the hosts: pretending their marriage isn't on the rocks. Madison and Bastian are the guests: neither is remotely who they claim to be. Under the scorching Mediterranean sun, no secret is safe. No betrayal goes unnoticed. Two couples. But will either survive the summer . . . \\\\\\\\\_ 'Addictive. I devoured this gripping read' 5\\\\\* Reader Review 'Sexy and atmospheric - incredibly smart escapism' DAISY BUCHANAN 'Intimate, intense and utterly addictive' EMMA STONEX 'A sizzler of a story! A great holiday read' 5\\\\\* Reader Review 'Immaculately written, deeply unsettling. Stunning' 5\\\\\* Reader Review 'A summer sizzler' 5\\\\\* Reader Review Praise for Kate Riordan: 'Sultry, atmospheric and unsettling - a book to lose yourself in' ERIN KELLY 'The best book I have read this year. Atmospheric, thrilling and completely unputdownable' 5\\\\\* Reader Review 'Had me absolutely gripped' LOUISE CANDLISH 'The only book you need this summer. Gripping, well-paced and full of thrills' 5\\\\\* Reader Review