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Tom arrives at the location, hired as Carina’s temporary bodyguard. With strange gifts and odd threats, it’s clear something sinister is happing behind the scenes. But what? Traitors should be shot,’ he spat, his eyes glittering dangerously in the moonlight. He raised the gun and took aim. She teased: “All the guests gather, and their murder, jealousy, intrigue, betrayal and romance are all about to be revealed… and some secrets.”
Carina stiffened, knowing her mother would react like this. ‘Yes, and I’ve just had the same conversation with him, but there’s nothing he can do.’ During her chat with Tom, the mother of meteorology gave listeners an insight into why the weather has been a bit rubbish lately. “Basically, the jet stream for us in the summer months is normally to the north of us. And that allows high pressures to travel across us, and the high pressure brings settled weather for us, especially in the summer. Well, a family drama thrives on drama and interesting characters. You gotta have secret keepers, victims, collateral damage, heroes, villains, grey characters, et al. While the book has them all, none of them except that scum Giorgio makes an impact (at least for me). Carina had a sharp business brain too, and her father had rewarded her devotion to the company by making her brand director of Casa di Russo. She’d more than risen to the challenge, recently overseeing an international campaign with Brad Pitt to raise the company’s profile in the US. It had been a huge investment, but Carina had convinced her father it would pay off in terms of brand awareness and sales. Now it seemed she’d been proved right, and she was thrilled. The multiple third-person POV works to an extent in providing their thoughts, but the voice shifts repeatedly from one person to another. At the same time, it’s not omnipresent narration either. This makes it hard to connect with the characters.It was all Carina could do not to roll her eyes. ‘Whatever you think is best, Mamma. Your taste is always impeccable.’ The book is set around Carina's wedding to Giogio, her childhood sweetheart. Carina knows in her heart that something is not right but feels that the two families are expecting this union to bring their vineyards together.
Speaking about what her latest offering is about, Carol told Tom Allen, who has been covering for Chris over the past fortnight: “It's set on the beautiful Amalfi Coast, and the story follows two families who are wine producing families. One is more successful than the other, and their lives have been intertwined for generations. And it's expected that the siblings from each family will marry in what promises to be the wedding of the year. Philippa smiled as she replied to Bianca and ended the call. ‘Of course, every girl dreams of practicality on her wedding day,’ she teased, as Carina laughed. 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.
Summary
It’s Bianca,’ she explained, naming Carina’s wedding planner. ‘You need to decide about the stemware for the champagne reception. Flutes or coupes?’ What difference does two more weeks make? We’ve waited all this time, we can wait a little longer,’ he insisted. ‘I’ll see you in a few days.’
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