The wedding will take place in Villa Amore, where family and friends will gather but there are so many secrets that will blow up around this union. Why has Carina's dad hired a bodyguard for her and how will she feel with Tom following her everywhere ? What secrets are Salvador keeping from his wife and Carina, and will their marriage crumble when she leaves. What has the groom been up to and why has he gone to America a week before the wedding? I came to tell you both the news,’ Salvatore announced. ‘I’ve signed a deal with Heritage Estates. They’ve agreed to be the exclusive distributor for Casa di Russo across the whole of North America, with an agreement to increase the supply year on year over the next decade. We’ll have to expand the vineyard and increase production, but this is what we’ve been working for, yes? It secures our future – for the whole family, but especially for you, number one daughter,’ he told Carina. Swept away by his enthusiasm, the wedding preparations temporarily abandoned, Carina hurriedly followed her father out of the room while her mother mused that this wasn’t the first time her husband had brushed his daughter’s wedding aside recently. Then he ran too, and kept on running, and didn’t stop until he was far away from that dreadful moment.

Whenever Philippa tried to talk to him about Carina and Giorgio, Salvatore shut her down immediately. He seemed determined that this wedding should go ahead, as did Rafaella, and Philippa couldn’t understand why it was so important to them or why she felt that everyone was in on something apart from her. In all the years she’d lived with the Russo family, she had never felt excluded once. Now, for the first time, she was starting to feel like an outsider. Glancing out of the kitchen window, she saw Salvatore and Carina stroll across the terrace, passing the fountain with its statue of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and festivity, on their way to the vineyards beyond. Sometimes, Philippa felt that she loved and hated those grapes in equal measure. Yes, they had given her a wonderful life, with two beautiful houses, holidays to the South of France and the Seychelles, as well as the opportunity to mingle with interesting and cultured people, but it felt as though she was forever coming second to a pile of fruit – at least in her husband’s eyes. It seemed to be a theme with the men in her life, she thought wryly.Can’t it wait until later?’ Philippa interjected, her voice taking on a firmer edge. ‘We were discussing the wedding.’ The dialogue is nice, but I didn’t like it. The conversations sound off in many places. It’s like the characters are acting their part in a play rather than being themselves on paper. Philippa was the epitome of British elegance combined with Italian style. She was in her early fifties, her long blond bob expertly cut and styled, the perfectly blended highlights given that little something extra from exposure to the Italian sun. She wore a shift dress in cream linen with a tan belt that emphasized her hourglass figure – less slender than it had been in her youth, but still adored by her husband. A simple gold wedding band encircled her ring finger, with classic pearls at her ears and throat. Lately, that sensation was stronger than ever. Salvatore seemed distant, his kisses perfunctory. She told herself that after the wedding it would be different – they would be less busy, and she’d be able to devote herself to him once again – but deep down she knew it was more than that. They’d been married for twenty-five years, having celebrated their silver wedding anniversary in the spring, but their relationship had never felt the way it did right now.

Carina is marrying her childhood sweetheart, Giorgio, who has secrets of his own and isn’t who he appears to be. Edie is Carina’s friend and bridesmaid. This emerging Hwood actress has secrets she cannot reveal. Phillipa, Carina’s mother, has a happy life but finds things drifting apart. Complications arise when her former lover enters the scene. The actual story is set in 2005. While books set in the past only recreate a similar setting, this one feels like it was written at the same time but dusted and edited for publishing in 2023. Not sure I can explain it right, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the book is an old manuscript.

Nonsense, that can wait.’ Salvatore waved away his wife’s words. ‘The wedding will take care of itself, everything is in hand.’

Jon said: "It is indeed, Carol. And Nina. We are going to be talking about - people might be reading books over the bank holiday... Read More Related Articles

Carina had lived here all her life – except for her university days studying business in London – and her existence had been a charmed one. She and Giorgio had grown up together and it seemed natural that their friendship would blossom into something more as they matured into adolescence, with the accompanying rush of hormones. It was a union strongly encouraged by their parents, and Carina felt the weight of expectation – that it was their destiny to unite the two wine dynasties. They would marry at her family’s palatial hillside property in Amalfi: the Villa Amore.