Lawyer Matthew (Matteo) has just wed event manager Sarah – they don’t know one another but they have a legal agreement to stay married while he inherits the D’Adamo estate. Under an ancient clause, ownership of the luxury hotel chain falls to the youngest married male of the family.
Arriving in Italy, however, they discover there is another claimant born on the exact same day, Luca and his awful wife Silvia. So now each couple are in a competition to turn a ramshackle property into a hotel for six months.
Matteo and Sarah’s villa in Umbria was originally a convent, then a wartime hospital. She takes on the renovation with gusto, allowing its rustic charm to come to the fore. Will they win and will she want to walk away at the end?
A story about a couple having to fake a relationship is always a drawcard, with an overseas locale the icing on the cake. However, this story skipped some parts I would have liked to have seen more of – the nitty-gritty of the renovation and hotel management – so it seemed like everything ran all a bit too smoothly. And not enough was made of interactions with the evil family rivals. But if you’re looking for a sweet Italian-flavoured romance, it’s still worth a try.
