If you’re as fed up with the grey weather and the icy drizzle as I am, make sure you check out my latest book, because it’ll take you straight

away to Italy!

It’s a romance called A New Life. I’m not sure about you, but the idea of starting A New Life has sometimes sounded quite tempting to me, only to my heroine, it’s an ordeal. She has just been acquitted of murder and now needs to build up a new life in Italy, as a secretary in a hotel. Never mind that she doesn’t speak Italian. Never mind that she’s not a secretary but an experienced business-woman. Never mind that Italy comes in a totally different shape to what she expected . . .

I also need to take this opportunity to brag a bit about my husband. I’ve been wrecking my brain what cover to create for A New Life. In a first step, I inundated my husband (who has been appointed as my chief designer, poor guy, without having had much say in the matter), with photos and other material about Florence, telling him I wanted it just like that – or maybe like that – or better still, like that (a concise briefing is essential, I always say).

Besides all these fantastic (but maybe just a teeny bit unrealistic) design-ideas, I told him it could cost absolutely nothing, as the ROI (return on investment) would otherwise move to the year 2057 or so.

The man nodded, told me to buy him some black ink (which I did promptly;

I’m very cooperative), and drew a cover that took my breath away.

I also have to tell you what one of my best friends did when I gave her the manuscript to evaluate it for me. She read it every evening together with her husband – that is, he read it to her while she cooked dinner (does that sound like a good deal? It sounded lovely to me!).

When they had finished, they booked a trip to Florence straight away (!), asking me if they could stay at the Garibaldi Hotel. Unfortunately, the Garibaldi Hotel is a complete invention, from the mosaique in the entry hall to the roof garden, but I know a fantastic B&B in Florence that I recommended instead. So, if you feel like doing the same after having finished A New Life, check out this link:

http://www.lestanzedisantacroce.com/

Enough for today . . . I’ll leave you dreaming of Italy!

Best, Beate

www.happybooks.de