Why Is 'From An Umbrian Farmhouse To Como'S Quiet Shores' A Good Read?

One heartbreak. Too much wine. And a one-night stand with one of the most dangerous men in Sicily. Ada’s anniversary vacation was supposed to be a romantic dream. Instead, it’s a living nightmare. When her boyfriend’s "best friend" crashes their trip, Ada trades her heartbreak for a lot of wine and a messy, public breakup. She’s ready to be the "psycho ex." She isn’t ready to stumble into the arms of a man who looks like a god and kisses like a sinner. Dario is dark, tattooed, and—unbeknownst to Ada—part of the Italian Mafia empire. He’s also been drugged, sent into a predatory haze that only Ada’s fiery spirit and curvy silhouette can soothe. Their night is a blur of desperate heat and hungover promises, but by morning, Ada is gone, leaving only a "walk of shame" and a very confused heart behind. But in the Mafia, you don’t just walk away from a Made Man. Dario woke up with a clearer head and a singular obsession: finding the woman who "serviced" him while he was at his most vulnerable. He thinks she was part of the setup. He thinks she’s a spy. But the more he tracks her, the more he realizes she’s just a heartbroken woman drowning her sorrows in the Mediterranean. Now, the "trouble in paradise" is just beginning. Dario doesn't care about her ex-boyfriend, her flight home, or her plans for the future. He’s decided she belongs to him, and in his world, what the Mafia claims, the Mafia keeps. Ada wanted a vacation to remember. Now, she’ll be lucky if he ever lets her leave.

"You have 2 months to get a girl to fall in love you, then break up with her and you'll get your money." What started out to be a bet with his friends in Italy turned out to be something more. Gabriella Rosa never thought that she would end up falling for such a try hard jerk but here she was, what will happen when she finds out his true intentions? 10/10 book!

The urge to protect begins with desire... A widowed researcher, Caitlyn Maddox, opts to take her second honeymoon trip with a hired escort, a mysterious man paired with her through an exhaustive agency matching process. Unbeknownst to her, the handsome stranger, Duke Carter, who her meets her at the airport isn’t the man she hired. Along the twisting channels of romantic Venice and the intimate eateries of sophisticated Florence, sparks fly between the duo. But the agency isn’t the only group looking for the spellbound scholar and her charming companion. Amid the narrow cobblestone streets, spectacular gardens and vitrine art galleries, dangerous secrets from both her late husband’s past and Duke’s present are swiftly encroaching on Caitlyn’s blissful fantasy. Against a firestorm of half-truths and flying bullets, Duke struggles to bring Caitlyn through safely. Not merely because it’s his job to protect her, but because no one is going to hurt what’s his.

“What happens if I don’t give you what you want” “Then we’ll make you worship us on your knees, piccola.” Rafael muttered with certainty. Leone’s lips brushed my ear. “You’ll fight, you’ll curse…but in the end, amore mio, you’ll beg.” “…And you’ll beg for all of us.” Enzo added, as he crouched between my legs. Aurelia Reed has spent her life trying to outrun her family’s shadow. Being the daughter of a traitor, and a rising model means she has to work twice as hard to make a name for herself outside the Outfit. She is stubborn, opinionated, and the last woman who would ever submit quietly to a mafia marriage. But when her cousin refuses to wed, Aurelia is forced into her place, and handed to the infamous Moretti twins, two brothers who despise each other but are now bound to her. Different in every way, neither brother is particularly eager for her presence, and Aurelia quickly learns that her marriage is less about love than it is about survival. And then there’s Enzo, the youngest. He was never supposed to be hers, yet every stolen moment with him crosses another forbidden line. Caught between two husbands locked in rivalry and the brother she was never meant to touch, Aurelia soon realizes that in the Morretti's world, nothing is safe—not her heart, not her body, and certainly not the line she’s about to cross.

I fought with my husband, Alessio, the Don of the Moretti family, over the mistress who'd given him twin sons. The next day, he stormed into my bedroom and put a gun to my head. "Did you take my sons?! You vicious bitch!" While I was still in shock, he ordered his men to lock my eight-year-old daughter, Lucia, in the icehouse for three whole days of "training." He gave me an ultimatum: Lucia would stay there until I brought him his sons. Lucia froze to death in that icehouse. I returned with her death certificate in my hand, my heart a hollow stone in my chest, only to find him moving his mistress and their sons into the home we once shared. He was cheerful, dismissing the whole thing as a misunderstanding. He even had the audacity to tell me to go get Lucia to meet her "new little brothers." I just stared, tears tracking paths down my face, the life inside me extinguished. It wasn't until that thin piece of paper—the death certificate—fluttered to the floor that the color drained from Alessio's face. He finally realized Lucia was gone. Killed by his own blind, cruel pride.

There's an unwritten rule in the Chicago Outfit. The Don never keeps a mistress for more than a hundred days. When the hundred days are up, the women he’s finished with always take the money and leave quietly. Once, someone asked him, unwilling to accept it: “Why?” Santino Falcone smiled softly.“Because I love my wife.” Everyone knew that his wife of seven years was his weak spot. But this new mistress wouldn’t behave.Emboldened by his favor, she sent me a taunting text message. “Arabella, isn’t your husband cute when he’s asleep in my arms?I’ve got plenty more photos. I can send them to you if you want.” “I’m his one true love. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll step down and give me your place as his wife.” I didn’t argue with her.Instead, I generously gave her my wedding ring. Because what she didn't know was that I had gotten my memory back. I was never the orphan Santino saved. I am the long-lost princess of New York’s most powerful family, missing for seven years. In three days, my brother Matteo’s armored motorcade will arrive in Chicago to take me home.