‘A romance for everyone who owns an Italian cookbook’

Two damaged people from very different backgrounds are drawn together by a shared passion for food and wine. Ben is a feckless but fundamentally decent English academic on the run from his own mistakes. Alessandra is a talented but bitter Italian chef escaping her ex-partner’s stupidity. It’s definitely not love at first sight. Their two worlds collide in the ancient Principality of Seborga, whose claimed independence from Italy dates back to the Knights Templar.
Perched high above the azure sea of the Italian Riviera it is a community in sight of, but also in stark contrast to, its wealthier neighbour, Monaco. The forces of globalisation threaten Alessandra’s family Osteria and the community’s artisan food producers. If he is to win the woman and earn the respect of his new neighbours Ben needs a plan to help them survive.