The Italian Job is now out, both in paperback and ebook. If you’ve not taken a look yet, briefly it follows the story of Jake and Anna who, for different reasons, decide to pretend to be a couple in order to manage a castle on the shores of Lake Como. Or, as my publisher would say: Dream job. Dream house. Fake fiancé.
I loved writing this book – okay, okay, I’ve loved writing all my books! But this one was special because I was able to revisit a fabulous holiday I had in, yes, you’ve guessed it, Italy. More specifically, the Italian Lakes; Lake Garda, Lake Maggiore and Lake Como. All three were stunning, but when it came to the best romantic setting for a book, there was no contest. If you’ve read my books before, you’ll know that the setting doesn’t usually play a big part, but for this couple I felt it was really important. The pull of it had to be inspiring enough, beautiful enough, that both Anna and Jake were prepared to put up with each for a year so they could live there. And of course then it had to be romantic enough for them to realise that maybe they didn’t dislike each other after all…
There is something special about Lake Como, an elegance, a stillness….a magic that seeps from the surrounding mountains, their reflections in the water of the lake, the pastel colours of the buildings in the villages. Here are a few photos from my holiday to give you an idea of what I mean. The swimmer is me, the town behind me is Varena, the other town Bellagio which features in the book. Oh and the guy with me is my hubby. Usually when we’re photographed together one or both of us is pulling a face. Somehow, on a boat heading to Bellagio, even we managed to look effortlessly cool.
My only disappointment with the holiday? I didn’t bump into George Clooney.