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A Sicilian Romance by Mrs. Radcliffe -- Free PDF copy

Introduction

Historical Romances Set in Italy

Free Historical Romance Set in Italy

Contemporary Romances Set in Italy

Introduction

The two most sold genre of books all over the world are:

• children's books, and
• romance novels.

Romance novels are usually mass-printed as pocket-book paperbacks.  This means that most of the books I list here are available second-hand from Amazon.com for as little as $.01 (one cent!).  In effect, you pay only for the shipping.

I link, through a click on the book covers, to Amazon.com's page for the book, so you can see what they cost new and used, but ignore the "reader reviews" which have been largely co-opted by shills for the writer and publisher.

Despite the books' popularity, readers of romance novels tend to deny, except under torture, that they read them.  For this reason, I've found it very difficult to locate these books for you.

But I've scoured around, in the underworld where romance readers congregate, and found some popular romance novels set in Italy, for the romantic Italophiles among you.  There are three types:

• historical romances set in Italy
• free historical romances in Italy
• contemporary romances set in Italy.

These links go to Amazon.com's pages for Kindle books. 

 Kindle Italy Romance Novels

  Kindle Historical Italy Romances

Kindle book:

Young widow Simonetta tries to rebuild her family in 16th century Saronno, tuscany, following the death of her husband in one of the battles ravaging the land. In pursuit of a means to keep her estate together, she stumbles upon a new drink made by inffusing almonds with alcohol.

At the same time, she encounters Bernadino, the protege of Leonardo da Vinci. What follows is a glorious story of passion, betrayal, warfare and bravery.

Kindle available:

Luciana Vetra, revered prostitute of Florence, earns the chance to pose for Botticelli as Flora in Primavera, but the session goes awry when her innocent words anger the artist. Not one to endure an insult, she retaliates by stealing a smaller version of the painting.

Her roommate and patron are killed when the artist sends agents to reclaim the painting, leaving Luciana with only one ally to turn to, the comely novice Brother Guido who has tried to convert her. They flee Florence for their lives and to solve the deadly secret hidden within the artwork.

Kindle book:

Tuscany, 1477: Impoverished and lacking a dowry, Sabina's father forces her to marry Tommaso, a rich Florentine merchant several years her senior. Her secret lover, Marco, is jealous and angry...

Three generations of Rossi women: Sabina, her daughter, Anne, and her granddaughter, Stefania, span the most incredible period of Florentine history. From the lavish lifestyle of the Renaissance, to the fanatical rule of Savonarola, and finally the strategic restoration of Medici power via Grand Duke Cosimo I, this fascinating and carefully researched novel will leave you breathless and wanting more.

The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato

From a Reader Review:  "Marina Fiorato's 'The Glassblower of Murano' is a story told on two interwoven levels - it the story of late seventeenth century Venetian master glassblower Corradino Manin and the story of his modern day descendant Leonora Manin who flees a broken marriage in London and tries to establish a glassblowing career in Venice.

The story is at once a romance, a history, and a mystery. Leonora's story becomes the romance when she meets a handsome Venetian, . . . "

You can already pre-order her newest book The Botticelli Secret which comes out in March of 2010.  At Amazon.uk you can find another historical romance by the same author, again set in Italy, which won't be out in the U.S. until 2010:  The Madonna of the Almonds.

Wings of the Falcon by Barbara Michaels

From Amazon.com:  "The death of her English father left Francesca alone and unprotected, with nowhere to turn but to the noble Italian family of her late mother.

'Adrift in a strange land, surrounded by cold and suspicious relatives who had disowned her mother on her wedding day, Francesca is determined to make the best of a bad situation.

'But nothing could have prepared her for the nest of dark secrets and oppressive cruelty she has been cast into. And her fate now rests in the hands of a mysterious horseman known as the Falcon, whose appearance will speed her salvation ... or hasten her doom."

 The Scarletti Curse by Christine Feehan

Here's an excerpt from a review:  "Nicolette is a free spirit with a secret. She was born with the gift of healing and knowing when somebody needed her. The villagers depend on her healing skills and rally around her to keep her hid from outsiders. They know Nicolette could be burned as a witch, otherwise. Don Giovanni, the dark brooding aristocrat, wants Nicolette the first time he sees her. Though his family lives under a curse that all of their women will die, he is determined to make Nicolette his bride."

 The Italian by Elaine Coffman

From the Product Description:  "Italian patriot Angelo Bartolini is a man of many faces: a devoted son and brother, a noble friend and a stalwart nationalist. As a member of the Carbonari, a secret society dedicated to freeing Italy from Austrian rule, Angelo is a wanted man. But as with all great men, Angelo has a tender side, and his spirit awakens the passion of the brilliant but shy English painter, Beatrice Fairweather, who now makes her home in the Tuscan countryside."  This book is actually the second of a two-book Italian story.  The lead characters are introduced in the book The Fifth Daughter that plays partly in Italy.  Both books are also available in Italian from the publishers Mondadori.

 The Wind Dancer by Iris Johansen

From Publisher's Weekly:  "...romance and adventure set in early-16th-century Italy. A small gold statue of the winged horse Pegasus that, as legend has it, was given to Lionello Andreas's family at the fall of Troy has been stolen by Lion's enemy, Francisco Damari. The rightful owner intends to steal it back. A contact alerts him to an accomplished pickpocket whose loyalty and skills can be bought: 16-year-old Sanchia, a slave owned by a local printer. Lion acquires the girl, intending to exploit her talents...but Lion has already begun to wonder if his real treasure might in fact be a light-fingered young woman."  Followed by two more:   Storm Winds, and Reap the Wind

 Night of Fire by Barbara Samuel

From the Product Description:  "Lady Cassandra St. Ives had sworn off marriage ever since becoming a happy widow, but lately her affections have been engaged by a mysterious, long distance correspondent. Cassandra has shared her soul with her far-off admirer, and when he invites her to visit his home she accepts the invitation gladly. Expecting a kindly old gentleman, Cassandra is stunned to find that Count Basilio Montevarchi is a virile man in his prime who knows her heart's most intimate desires--and is only too willing to fulfill every one..."

 Shadow Heart by Laura Kinsale

From the Product Description:  "Readers were first introduced to Allegreto, the elegant assassin, in For My Lady's Heart. Now, he is a charismatic, dangerous man who will stop at nothing to regain his rightful place in the rich Italian principality of Monteverde. And the perfect tool has just fallen into his hands, in the lovely form of Lady Elena--the long-lost Monteverde princess. Only she can solidify his claim...but the dark passion that grows between them is more dangerous than any treachery mortal men could devise."  See also her book For My Lady's Heart.

 Scandal in Venice by Amanda McCabe

From the Product Description:  "Lady Elizabeth Everdean fled from England to Italy in wake of a terrifying accident. Now, Sir Nicholas Holligsworth has been enlisted by Elizabeth's brother to track her down. But will the unrepentant rake or the rebellious runaway win the day?"  

Free Historical Romances Set in Italy

These romance novels are freely available via the internet because they are in the public domain. 

The books are by the prolific and entertaining writer F. Marion Crawford, a polyglot American author who was born in and later lived in Italy. 

He traveled the world, learned over 20 languages, settled in Rome and Sorrento, and brought up his children in Italy. 

He wrote books that entertain and enthrall, and were especially appreciated by young women readers for their romanticism.  They hold up to today's books just fine! 

Click through to the Project Gutenberg's page for that title, then download the version you desire.

You can also read the books online, if you wish.  Project Gutenberg is a wonderful source for free classic books.  Please consider sending them a donation.

There are people who are using the free Project Gutenberg files to produce and sell trade paperback versions via Amazon.com.

Casa Braccio Volumes 1 and 2

Cecilia:  A Story of Modern Rome (Set in 1900 Rome. A mysterious love story that has many elements that appear later in E. M. Forster's Room with a View.)

The Children of the King:  A Story of Southern Italy (The love story of a sailor for a lady.)

The Saracinesca Series of Four Novels:

Saracinesca (About the courtship of Giovanni and Corona.)

Sant-Ilario (About trouble in Giovanni and Corona's relationship.)

Don Orsino (About Giovanni and Corona's son, Orsino.)

Corleone:  A Tale of Sicily (Orsino and his brother, the priest Ippolito, go to Sicily and encounter the mafia.)  This link is to the Internet Archive (see below).

The Heart of Rome (A love story set in Rome.)

Marietta:  A Maid of Venice (Set in 1400s Venice and Murano, a love story between a glassmaker's daughter and a foreign glassmaker.  The era comes to life.)

Marzio's Crucifix (About a Roman metal worker and artist.)

A Roman Singer (A poor Italian boy with a wonderful singing voice rises to marry a lady.)

Stradella (A love story that starts in Venice and the book ends with the lovers in Rome.  Romanticized account of composer/musician/singer Alessandro Stradella's courtship of a Venetian senator's ward.)

Tarquisara (A love story set in Naples.)

Whoever Shall Offend (Love story set in Rome.)

These Crawford books are available via the Internet Archive.  You will need to create a free account there to download the books, but it is well worth it!

Pietro Ghisleri

To Leeward (An American wife of an Italian has an affair and suffers for it.)

Contemporary Romances Set in Italy

From Italy with Love

From a Reader Review:  "This is a book made up of four short stories (about 100 pages each).

'That's four different girls meet four different boys and four happy endings.

'Yes, there are Christian undertones, so if you don't want to read about faith and finding God than this is not a book for you."

From Amazon.com:  "Take a famous, but stressed, woman--abstract painter from Washington DC; an infatuated sculptor from NY with a beautiful, not so dumb, model.

'Add a stingy, but elegant professor; a gallery owner with an adolescent daughter and an alcoholic ex-wife and put all these Americans in a small town one summer in Sicily.

'Not forgetting either: a bureaucrat from Rome; a crack Sicilian photographer; an Italian sculptor, his workshop and his family; helpful neighbors and even an English racetrack driver and four Sicilian students on vacation with time on their hands---and there you have the cast of this amusing and intriguing story."

Lost Hearts in Italy

From Publisher's Weekly:  "Lee's elegantly structured novel about a love affair that destroys a young couple's marriage unfolds through the individual perspectives of the wife, the husband, and the interloper, shifting back in forth between the mid-1980s and two decades later."

From Amazon.com:  "After her husband leaves her for his high school sweetheart, freelance writer Fraser (Vogue, Glamour, Self, the San Francisco Examiner Magazine) takes off to Italy to gain a new perspective on her life. There she unexpectedly meets M...."

From a Reader Review:  "The Juliet Club is a wonderfully fun and breezy read perfect for summertime.

'The trip of a lifetime comes alive in this cleverly constructed and formatted book that will ensure that readers devour it quickly. Though the first chapter is slightly awkward, but the numerous characters and their backgrounds make this novel appealing to everyone, and keep the story moving quickly.

'Throw in a few fun twists, Shakespearean sonnets, and a masquerade ball, and you have a light, funny, and uplifting romantic novel that won't soon be forgotten."

From a Reader Review:  "No one does armchair traveling mixed with romantic suspense better than world-traveler and world-class writer Elizabeth Adler. If you're longing for a bit of respite from the everyday doldrums, you will find this fantasy trip more than satisfying.

'Daisy Keene has bottomed out on luck and love when a not-at-all-handsome stranger picks her up at a party and takes her to dinner. She spends the next five years as Bob Hardwick's trusted assistant and friend, only to be devastated when he is killed and aghast when she discovers it was murder.

Enter handsome investigator Harry Montana..."

From a Reader Review:  "If you're looking for a dreamy book to while away those lazy summer afternoons, I highly suggest this one.

'It's not classical literature by any means, but it's one of the better ways to escape reality for a few hours and fall in love with reading and Italy all over again."

From a Reader Review:  "Elizabeth Adler brings her perfect blend of romance between man and woman and romance between reader and locale to this charming tale set on the exquisite Italian coast.

'I doubt anyone will finish this book without thinking several times of calling a travel agent and booking the next flight to Italy."

That's Amore by Carol Grace

From the Product Description:  "In this delicious contemporary romance, Carol Grace whisks readers away to Italy's sunny Amalfi Coast, where whitewashed villas and fragrant lemon trees sit high atop craggy cliffs...and romance is always in the air."

 Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley

From a Reader's Review:  "The author weaves two stories in one. One is about a turn of the century actress, Celia Sands, who mysteriously disappeared, during a torrid affair with her wealthy, married Italian lover, who wrote a play for her. She never had an opportunity to perform the leading role in her lover's masterpiece, however, due to her untimely disappearance. The main story line is about a present day actress of the same name, though no relation, who is called upon to play the role the first Celia Sands was unable to play."

 The Venetian Playboy's Bride by Lucy Gordon

From a Reader's Review:  "Lucy Gordon's THE VENETIAN PLAYBOY'S BRIDE is an enticing romance set to the magical background of Venice. The dialogue is fun and all the characters are appealing. I especially liked the romantic hero, a unique, wealthy, yet down-to-earth man. I also loved the way the author paints a vivid picture of Venice and its history."  Check out her other Italy set books:   The Tuscan Tycoon's Wife, The Italian Millionaire's Marriage.

 Breathing Room by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

From Publisher's Weekly:  "...in this lively contemporary romance set in Tuscany. Lorenzo Gage is a devilishly handsome movie star, best known for his villainous roles onscreen and his playboy antics off. Isabel Favor is a tightly wound self-help guru and author of The Four Cornerstones of a Favorable Life whose own perfect life has recently come crashing down around her. Both have come to Italy to escape the endless rehashes of their latest misfortunes in the public eye, and the equally endless drone of self-criticism. Lorenzo and Isabel meet under what can only be described as unusual circumstances..."

 5% OFF at Tuccini.com, Use Coupon Code AFF54U at checkout.

Also see my pages:

Italian Bestselling Writers

Mysteries set in Italy

Mysteries set in Ancient Rome