A Year at Hotel Gondola


Book Description

'Lyrical, heartrending and compelling' JOJO MOYES on Recipe for Life Kat is an adventurer, a food writer who travels the world visiting far-flung places and eating unusual things. Now she is about to embark on her biggest adventure yet - a relationship. She has fallen in love with an Italian man and is moving to live with him in Venice where she will help him run his small guesthouse, Hotel Gondola. Kat has lined up a book deal and will write about the first year of her new adventure, the food she eats, the recipes she collects, the people she meets, the man she doesn't really know all that well but is going to make a life with. But as Kat ought to know by now, the thing about adventures is that they never go exactly the way you expect them to... ****** 'Warm, engaging and truly delicious' Rosanna Ley, author of The Little Theatre by the Sea 'A delicious and sensual adventure' Fiona Gibson, author of The Woman Who Met Her Match 'Wonderfully evocative' Pamela Hartshorne, author of The Cursed Wife ****** Readers are loving Nicky Pellegrino! 'I could smell the fresh pasta, feel the sunshine, smell the sea breeze and feel my worries wash away.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Through Italy, through food, through heartbreak, through love, through family. Add in a pinch of karmic justice and you have the perfect read with a joyful ending!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Once again Nicky Pellegrino had me captivated with this amazing story. It made me laugh, made me cry. I read it in one afternoon' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Such a great escapism read, full of emotions and family drama with love' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐




The Gondola Maker


Book Description

Award-winning historical fiction set in 16th-century Venice -Benjamin Franklin Digital Award -IPPY Award for Best Adult Fiction E-book -National Indie Excellence Award Finalist -Eric Hoffer Award Finalist -Shortlisted for the da Vinci Eye Prize From the author of Made in Italy comes a tale of artisanal tradition and family bonds set in one of the world's most magnificent settings: Renaissance Venice. Venetian gondola-maker Luca Vianello considers his whole life arranged. His father charted a course for his eldest son from the day he was born, and Luca is positioned to inherit one of the city’s most esteemed boatyards. Soon he will marry the daughter of an artisan prow-maker, securing a key business alliance for the family. But when Luca experiences an unexpected tragedy in the boatyard, he believes that his destiny lies elsewhere. Soon he finds himself drawn to restore an antique gondola with the dream of taking a girl for a ride. The Gondola Maker brings the centuries-old art of gondola-making to life in the tale of a young man's complicated relationship with his master-craftsman father. Lovers of historical fiction will appreciate the authentic details of gondola craftsmanship, along with an intimate first-person narrative set against the richly textured backdrop of 16th-century Venice. "I'm a big fan of Venice, so I appreciate Laura Morelli's special knowledge of the city, the period, and the process of gondola-making. An especially compelling story." --Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun "Laura Morelli has done her research, or perhaps she was an Italian carpenter in another life. One can literally smell and feel the grain of finely turned wood in her hands." --Pamela Sheldon Johns, author of Italian Food Artisans "Romance, intrigue, family loyalty, pride, and redemption set against the backdrop of Renaissance Italy." --Library of Clean Reads "Beautiful, powerful evocation of the characters, the place, and the time. An elegant and thoroughly engaging narrative voice." --Mark Spencer, author of Fiction Club: A Concise Guide to Writing Good Fiction




Recipe for Life


Book Description

A recipe for life should be a simple thing: love and happiness, family, friends and a little food. But life is rarely straightforward. Alice wants to make the most of life and she never feels more alive than when she's cooking. Babetta has spent a lifetime tending the garden of her house on the Italian coast. One summer these two women are brought together in a crumbling Mediterranean villa. There, under the heat of the Italian sun and in the shade of the pomegranate tree, secrets are spoken and fears shared - but life's lessons are not easily learnt...




The Italian Wedding


Book Description

Two feuding families, two love stories - and a lot of delicious Italian food. Pieta Martinelli's sister is getting married. Since she is a bridal designer it falls to her to make the wedding gown. But Pieta is distracted by a series of unanswered questions. Why is her father feuding with another Italian in the neighbourhood? Why is her mother so faded and sad? And could the man she's always held a torch for really be getting married to someone else? As Pieta stitches and beads her sister's wedding gown she uncovers the secrets that have made her family what it is and that stand between her and happiness. THE ITALIAN WEDDING is a feast of food and love. It's about discovering who your parents really are. And who you really want to be.




The Food of Love Cookery School


Book Description

In the sun-drenched Sicilian hills, four women learn the lessons of a lifetime at the Food of Love Cookery School. In a remote Sicilian mountain town, four women arrive at a cookery school, each at a turning point in their lives. Moll is a foodie and an exhausted working mum on the holiday of a lifetime. Tricia, a top London lawyer is taking a break from the demands of her job and her family. Valerie, consumed by grief following the death of her partner, is trying to figure out how to live a life without him. And recently divorced Poppy has come to Sicily to learn about the place that her grandfather was born before emigrating to Australia. Luca Amore runs the school, using the recipes passed down to him by generations of Amore women. He expects this course to be much like all the others - but as sparks fly, friendships are made and secrets are shared. And for each of them nothing will ever be the same. Readers are loving Nicky Pellegrino! 'I could smell the fresh pasta, feel the sunshine, smell the sea breeze and feel my worries wash away. It was lovely to stumble down the cobbled paths and stroll along the beautiful scenery' 'Through Italy, through food, through heartbreak, through love, through family. Add in a pinch of karmic justice and you have the perfect read with a joyful ending!' 'Once again Nicky Pellegrino had me captivated with this amazing story. It made me laugh, made me cry. I read it in one afternoon' 'I will say that if you are a woman on the cusp of discovering who you are and what your heart desires...then you will devour this book as I did' 'Such a great escapism read, full of emotions and family drama with love'




Seductive Venice


Book Description

Seductive Venice takes readers on seven walking tours of Venice to over 90 locations Giacomo Casanova visited--churches, bridges, statues, alleys, and canals, all with helpful maps. Discover where this famous lover gambled, drank, cajoled, loved, spied, and seduced. Historical sidebars and Casanova's own words punctuate this entertaining romp through the life of Venice's most famous lover.




The Last Chairlift


Book Description

John Irving’s fifteenth novel is “powerfully cinematic” (The Washington Post) and “eminently readable” (The Boston Globe). The Last Chairlift is part ghost story, part love story, spanning eight decades of sexual politics. In Aspen, Colorado, in 1941, Rachel Brewster is a slalom skier at the National Downhill and Slalom Championships. Little Ray, as she is called, finishes nowhere near the podium, but she manages to get pregnant. Back home, in New England, Little Ray becomes a ski instructor. Her son, Adam, grows up in a family that defies conventions and evades questions concerning the eventful past. Years later, looking for answers, he will go to Aspen. In the Hotel Jerome, where he was conceived, Adam will meet some ghosts; in The Last Chairlift, they aren’t the first or last ghosts he sees. John Irving has written some of the most acclaimed books of our time—among them, The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules. A visionary voice on the subject of sexual tolerance, Irving is a bard of alternative families. In the “generously intertextual” (The New York Times) The Last Chairlift, readers will once more be in his thrall.




Tiny Pieces of Us


Book Description

'Heartrending and compelling' JOJO MOYES on Recipe for Life My heart is less than 1% of my body, it weighs hardly anything; it is only a tiny piece of me, yet it is the part everyone finds most interesting. Vivi Palmer knows what it's like to live life carefully. Born with a heart defect, she was given a second chance after a transplant, but has never quite dared to make the most of it. Until she comes face-to-face with her donor's mother, Grace, who wants something in return for Vivi's second-hand heart: her help to find all the other people who have tiny pieces of her son. Reluctantly drawn into Grace's mission, Vivi's journalist training takes over as one by one she tracks down a small group of strangers. As their lives intertwine Vivi finds herself with a new kind of family, and by finding out more about all the pieces that make up the many parts of her, Vivi might just discover a whole new world waiting for her... Readers are loving Tiny Pieces of Us: 'Warning! You will need tissues. Absolutely beautiful' 'Emotional and thought-provoking' 'Couldn't put it down!' 'Made me laugh, made me cry' 'Full of sensitivity, warmth and love'




P.S. Come to Italy


Book Description

'The ultimate escapist read!' VERONICA HENRY on To Italy, with Love 'Deliciously romantic' ERICA JAMES on P.S. Come to Italy Wish you were here? When Belle's quiet, idyllic life on the coast starts to crumble, it's a stranger - thousands of miles away in Italy - who provides a shoulder to cry on. And so, when Enrico sends her a beautiful gift with a note signed off 'P.S. Come to Italy!' she decides to follow her heart. Arriving at Enrico's palazzo in beautiful Puglia, it's clear that his life couldn't be more different than the one Belle's left behind. Yet despite his flashy cars and his glamorous, warring family, she starts to realise that perhaps Enrico needs her just as much as she needed him. Belle's holiday of a lifetime was never about falling in love - but under the sun-kissed olive trees, anything can happen...




A Dream of Italy


Book Description

Live your dream of Italy... Here is your chance to buy your own home in southern Italy for less than the price of a cup of coffee. The picturesque mountain town of Montenello is selling off some of its historic buildings for just ONE EURO each. The only conditions are that purchasers must renovate their new home within the next three years and that they plan to contribute in a meaningful way to this small community. To be considered as a future resident of Montenello contact the town's mayor, Augusto Rossi. Live your dream of Italy for just one euro. When the Mayor of a picturesque Italian town launches a new scheme to rejuvenate the community, his advertisement is read with interest and excitement by many. Zara is in her thirties and desperate to get on the property ladder. Tim and Lynda are retiring and need a project. Some are looking for a peaceful bolthole. Others hope to make a profit, start a business, escape a dull life or an unhappy relationship. And there is someone who just might be hiding their true motivation... Their lives are about to change forever - but can they make their dream of Italy into a reality? A deliciously escapist summer read. ****** Your favourite authors love Nicky Pellegrino... 'Heartrending and compelling' JOJO MOYES 'The ultimate escapist read!' VERONICA HENRY 'Deliciously romantic' ERICA JAMES 'Knowing, compassionate and moving' CATHERINE ROBERTSON 'Warm, engaging and truly delicious' ROSANNA LEY 'A delicious and sensual adventure' FIONA GIBSON Readers can't get enough of Nicky Pellegrino: 'I could smell the fresh pasta, feel the sunshine, smell the sea breeze and feel my worries wash away.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Through Italy, through food, through heartbreak, through love, through family. Add in a pinch of karmic justice and you have the perfect read with a joyful ending!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Once again Nicky Pellegrino had me captivated with this amazing story. It made me laugh, made me cry. I read it in one afternoon' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Such a great escapism read, full of emotions and family drama with love' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐