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One hot summer
190 pages
A sun-drenched vintage romance where a stolen purse leads to a tangled web of masquerade and simmering Mediterranean tension.
What it feels like
Reading this vintage romance feels like stepping into a sun-drenched, mid-century Italian postcard laced with simmering tension. The narrative moves at a brisk, escapist clip, sweeping the reader from the bustling streets of Rome to an isolated, atmospheric island estate. It thrives on the classic friction of forced proximity and the delicious anxiety of a masquerade, wrapping its earnest, slightly breathless tone around a core of hidden identities and cultural clashes. The prose is straightforward but emotionally heightened, painting the Mediterranean backdrop with vivid, romantic strokes. It is a perfect, nostalgic indulgence for readers who crave old-school romantic suspense, arrogant but magnetic heroes, and the dramatic flair of a holiday gone unexpectedly, thrillingly wrong.
- Mood
- sun-drenched
- tense
- escapist
- mysterious
- Tone
- dramatic
- earnest
- breathless
- romantic
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- forced proximity · hidden identities · vulnerability and trust · holiday romance
- The writing
- Straightforward and emotionally heightened, leaning into the atmospheric descriptions of the Italian setting.
- The arc
- Moves from flustered vulnerability to simmering tension, culminating in a dramatic romantic resolution.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love vintage category romances with alpha heroes, Mediterranean backdrops, and a touch of masquerade.
Content notes
- power imbalance
- mild peril
About the book
"My trouble seems to annoy you."
Jan didn't need reminding of her carelessness by the handsome arrogant Italian who'd witnessed the theft of her purse. Bad enough that she was stranded in Rome.
However, Marco Cellini did offer a solution. Jan was to spend her remaining holiday on his island as companion to his mother during the absence of his sister, Bianca.
But where was his sister? And why did Jan have to masquerade in Bianca's clothes?
Description from Open Library.
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