When the lives of four very different women become entangled in a boutique Venice hotel, dark secrets unravel and not everyone who checked into the hotel will check out again. Signora Loretta Bianchi, the world famous cook at Venice’s Hotel Il Cuore, is forced to choose between once-in-a-lifetime passion and her devoted husband. Sophie, on assignment in Venice as a food writer, finds a lot more than Signora Bianchi’s secret recipes to love, but what is the charming Rocco hiding? Law graduate Elena is sinking just like the endangered city she’s returned home to, and she’ll stop at nothing to be free from her marriage. Grandmother Gayle’s dream Venetian holiday turns sinister as she finds herself embroiled in a life or death escape. Set against a backdrop of the romance and tragedy of magical Venice, The Venice Hotel explores the powerful bonds that develop between women in times of crisis, and the healing power of female connection.