Romance Novels Set in Sicily

Sicily is an island full of myths, legends and romance and the town of Taormina on the eastern coast has been described as one of the most romantic towns in Europe.

We first visited Sicily fifteen years ago after I read about Taormina in a magazine article titled "Alternative Valentines Weekend Destinations". We booked a weekend away and fell in love at first sight with Sicily, its culture and its people and two years later we bought our Sicilian home.

Reading is a passion of mine and I have been a book worm since birth.

Over the past twelve years I have accumulated quite a few books about Sicily, in fact one of our friends who once stayed in our home messaged me on arrival to say "I cannot believe that so many books have been written about Sicily". He also wanted to know why I had cat food in my kitchen cupboard, but that is a story for another time.

I am a bit of a romantic therefore I do love a romance novel to read whilst I am relaxing on my roof terrace soaking up the Sicilian sun and with Sicily oozing such beauty and wonderful cuisine it is the perfect inspiration for authors to write about love and food. Some in fact choosing to stay on the island using it as a peaceful writing retreat to do so.

Romance novels enrapture countless millions of readers each year and are popular escapist entertainment, so with it being Valentines Day this week I thought I would share with you "8 Romantic Novels Set in Sicily" just to get you in the mood for your dream Sicilian getaway.

The Villa

by Rosanna Ley

When Tess receives a solicitor's letter inviting her to claim an inheritance, Villa Sirena which is a house perched on a cliff top in Sicily, she is stunned. Her only link to the island is through her mother Flavia, who left Sicily during World War II and cut all contact with her family. Initially resistant to encouraging Tess from going back to her roots, Flavia realises the secrets from her past are about to be revealed and decides to explain her action. In Sicily however Tess encounters a handsome but mysterious Sicilian man.

The Island Hideaway

by Louisa Candlish

Eleanor is distraught after breaking up with her fiancé Will and decides to follow him to the island hideaway where he is on holiday with the woman who has taken her place. But on the shimmering sun drenched Aeolian Island of Panarea distractions come in many forms, including a hotel guest with secrets of his own.

The Out of Office Girl

by Nicola Doherty

Alice is having a rubbish summer. She is terrified of her boss, her career is stalling and she has just been dumped by text message. When her boss is taken ill, Alice is sent on the work trip of a lifetime to a villa near Taormina in Sicily to edit the autobiography of a Hollywood bad boy. But it is not all yachts, nightclubs and Aperol spritz. Alice is out of office and gets into a whole lot of trouble.

La Cucina

by Lily Prior

A delicious novel set in the province of Palermo about a shy librarian with a broken heart whose passion for cooking leads to an unexpected love affair. This story is a celebration of all things sensual and creates intense images, colours and fragrances all reflecting the splendour of the Sicilian countryside in which it is set.

The Food of Love Cookery School

by Nicky Pellegrino

Luca Amore runs a cooking school in a baroque Sicilian mountain town. He has taught many people how to cook the dishes passed down to him by generations of Amore women, as he readies himself for yet another course he expects it to be much like all the others. They will cook, visit vineyards and olive groves, eat together, become friends and after a fortnight they will head home to whatever corner of the globe they came from. But there is a surprise in store for Luca. This time there are four women booked into The Food of Love Cookery School and each one is looking for something more than cooking skills from their time in Sicily.

Mills and Boons Latin Lovers;

Hot Blooded Sicilians / Irresistible Sicilians

"Raised under the scorching summer sun of Sicily, these dark and handsome hot blooded men are irresistible". These two books have three Sicilian inspired Mills and Boons short stories in each. Not quite 50 Shades of Grey but worth it for a romantic beach read.

Lady Chatterley's Lover

by D H Lawrence

The story of how the wife of Sir Clifford Chatterley responds when her husband returns from the war paralysed from the waist down and of the tender love which then develops between her and her husband's gamekeeper. Ok so it is not set in Sicily, but D H Lawrence did have a love affair with the island and wrote this novel whilst he lived in Taormina and he supposedly drew inspiration for the book from a local English woman who fell in love with her Sicilian gardener.

That Summer in Sicily - A Love Story

by Marlena de Blasi

"At Villa Donnafugata, long ago is never far away" writes author Merlena de Blasi of the magnificent castle of the mountains of Sicily that she finds, accidently, one summer while travelling with her husband. There she is befriended by Tosca, the patroness of the villa who recounts her lifelong love story with the last Prince of Sicily descended from the French nobiles of Anjou. This book recreates Tosca's life, from her impoverished childhood to her fairy tale adoption and initiation into the glittering lifestyle of the prince's palace, to the dawning and recognition of mutual love.

My Lemon Grove Summer

by Jo Thomas

In 2018 I received a lovely Email from best selling British romance author Jo Thomas. Jo was heading to Sicily with her family for a holiday and to do research for her Summer 2019 novel and asked for my recommendations for an agriturismo stay that offered cooking classes and she also wanted to visit a citrus grove. Of course it was an offer I could not refuse and thereafter My Lemon Grove Summer was born.

Could the lemon groves of Sicily be the perfect place to start over? When life gives you lemons make limoncello. Zelda's life isn't exactly what she expected it to be in her 30s. Single, without a home of her own, and at another underwhelming 40th birthday party, she wonders if there might be more to life. But her best friend Lennie has a plan and before she knows it they have answered an advertisement to go to Sicily to help rejuvenate a crumbling town and they head to the beautiful island as a couple. A new life with her favourite person could be the chance to start over. But what if a summer in Sicily is about to change her life in more ways than she could have ever imagined?

Secrets in Sicily

by Penny Feeny

Sicily 1977: Ten year old Lily and family arrive for their annual summer holiday in Sicily. Adopted as a toddler, Lily's childhood has been idyllic. But a chance encounter with a local woman on the beach changes everything.

Ten years later: ever since that fateful summer Lily's picture perfect life, and that of her family, has been in turmoil. The secrets of the baking hot shores of Sicily are calling her back, and Lily knows that the answers she has been so desperately seeking can only be found if she returns to her beloved island once more.

Her Sister's Secret - A Sicilian Summer

by Jan Baynham

It's the 1960's and Jennifer Howells is a young woman with the world at her feet, just on the cusp of leaving her Welsh village for an exciting life in the city. Then the contents of an inconspicuous brown envelope turn Jennifer's world upside down. But Jennifer's experience with the excesses of '60s culture leaves her no closer to her true identity. She soon realises she'll have to travel further, first to Cardiff, then across the ocean to Sicily, if she wants to find out who she really is.

Under a Sicilian Sky

by Lisa Hobman

Global box office sensation, Ruby Locke, is a long way from her Yorkshire roots. Together with her fiancé, movie heartthrob Tyler Harrison, they are Hollywood's new glitterati. Overnight, Ruby's life implodes when her social media accounts are hacked with a multitude of vile posts, turning her into a international pariah and Tyler breaks off their engagement. Confused and heartbroken, Ruby escapes to the beautiful island of Sicily to avoid the media scrutiny. With only a Yorkshire Terrier to comfort her, Ruby is befriended by a handsome, mysterious neighbour and slowly begins to heal. But are his intentions true? When her Sicilian hideaway is compromised, Ruby is once again forced to relocate, this time to the stunning Isle of Skye, off the West Coast of Scotland. Here Ruby is left to question who wants to destroy her career and also if the celebrity lifestyle is really for her.

From Scratch:

A Memoir of Love, Sicily and Finding Home

Tembi Locke

Not a novel but a true story, it was love at first sight when actress Tembi Locke met professional chef, Saro, on a street in Florence. There was just one problem, Saro's Sicilian family did not approve of him marrying a black Amercian woman. However, the couple, heartbroken but undeterred, forged on. They built a happy life in Los Angeles, with fulfilling careers, deep friendships and the love of their lives, a baby girl they adopted at birth. Eventually, they reconciled with Saro's family just as he is faced a formidable cancer that would consume all their dreams and change Tembi's life. From Scratch chronicles three summers Tembi spends in Sicily with her daughter as she begins to piece together a life without her husband in his tiny hometown hamlet full of farmers. Where once Tembi was estranged from Saro's family, now she finds solace and nourishment - literally and spiritually - at her mother in laws table. In the Sicilian countryside, she discovers the healing gifts of simple fresh food, the embrace of a close knit community, and timeless traditions and wisdom that light a path forward. All the way she reflects on her and Saro's romance, an incredible love story that leaps off the pages. In Sicily, it is said that every story begins with a marriage or a death, in Tembi's case it was both. Her story is also about love, finding home and chasing Sicilian flavours as an act of remembrance. From Scratch is for anyone who has dared to reach for big love, fought for what mattered most, and those who needed a powerful reminder with life is .... delicious. Keep a big box of tissues when reading this book. From Scratch was made into a series for Netflix starring Saldana and was filmed on the northern coastline of Sicily.

Sleepless in Sicily

by Emma Jackson

For most women, getting locked into a storeroom with a movie star and undeniable heartthrob Rowan during a pre-production shoot in London would be the stuff of dream. But for shy makeup artist Lila, it is more like a nightmare. It doesn't matter that Rowan is kind, easy to talk to and even more gorgeous up close. With her social anxiety, she cannot bear the idea of being embroiled in gossip and rumours about what exactly they were doing together. More scandal is also not an option for outspoken Rowan, whose agency is threatening to drop him if he does not toe the line. After the two make their escape, they promise to keep the incident a secret, and when they meet again on set in stunning Sicily, they pretend not to know each other. But between the blue skies and sizzling Sicilian heat, it becomes impossible to ignore the attraction simmering between them. Lila and Rowan couldn't be more different but can they find a way in Sicily to bring their worlds together?

An Italian Island Summer

by Sue Moorcroft

After her marriage falls apart, Ursula Quinn is offered the chance to spend the summer working at a hotel on Ortigia, a beautiful island off the the coast of Siracusa in Sicily. Excited by a new adventure she sets off at once. At Residenza deo Tringali, Ursula receives a warm welcome from everyone except Alfio, son of the Tringali family. He gave up his life in Barcelona to help his mother Agata with the ailing business and is frustrated with Ursula's interference and she in turn is less than impressed with his attitude. As they spend more time together, though, they begin to see each other in a different light. But what with Ursula's ex-husband on her tail, family secrets surfacing and an unexpected offer that makes Alfio question his whole life, there's plenty to distract them from one another. Can she face her past and he his future and together make the most of their Sicilian summer?

One Summer in Sicily

by Nancy Barone

When Gillian Dobson's husband of twenty years goes on a business trip to Sicily, she decides to surprise him by flying out to the idyllic Aeolian Island of Lipari. But in fact he has a surprise in store for her, as it turns out he has A.F.C.... Alternative Female Company. Devastated , she narrowly escapes a car accident, only to meet handsome local Mattia Spadaro, a cross between a Greek God and an Italian Ryan Gosling. If simply looking at him gives her an electric shock, surely anything more would give her a heart attack? What's worse, they share a wild passion for Sicilian desserts. Just what she needs - another man who is bad for her! Does this summer in Sicily spell the end of her marriage? Or is it the beginning of a new dolce vita?

The Secret Sister

by Jan Bayham

In 2022, I received a lovely Email from Jan Baynham author of Her Sister's Secret; A Sicilian Summer, which was inspired by Sicily. Jan was travelling to Sicily with her daughter for leisure and to do research for her fourth novel and asked me for recommendations for a World War Two tour. Jan's novels are always written with a dual time line and she was looking to set her next novel in Sicily during the sixties with her main character looking for clues about her Sicilian family who her father had not seen after becoming a prisoner of war in Wales. Jan based herself in Catania where she visited Taormina and Ortigia in Syracuse where she embarked on a World War Two tour with expert guide Roberto Piccione.

In Jan's fourth Sicily inspired novel, travel from wartime Wales to sixties Sicily in this breathtaking cross-generational saga about a daughter rocked by her family's secret. Wales 1943, Sara Lewis should be heartbroken when her husband doesn't return from war. But he was never the kind husband she hoped for. Maybe this could be the new beginning she's always wanted. She and her young son move from her husband's farm to live with her sister. Despite herself, she begins to notice a handsome Sicilian named Carlo. An Italian prisoner of war in Wales, he has volunteered to work in her brother in law's builders yard. Longing looks soon turn into love letters and connection neither of them can sever. But fraternization between prisoners and local women is strictly forbidden. As their love grows, so does danger all around them ...

Twenty five years later, their daughter holds her fathers hand as he takes his last breath and whispers a name: Giulietta. But who is Giuliette, and who are the young woman and baby in an old photograph? The secrets of the past collide as the family are shaken to their very core, forced to revisit memories in Sicily they would rather forget to uncover the truth.