'This was where her dreams drifted to if she didn't blot her nights out with drink; this was where her thoughts settled if she didn't fill her days with chat. She remembered this tiny, remote foreign village on a molecular level and the sight of it soaked into her like water into sand, because this was where her old life had ended and her new one had begun.' Portobello -- home to the world-famous street market, Notting Hill Carnival and Clem Alderton. She's the queen of the scene, the girl everyone wants to be or be with. But beneath the morning-after makeup, Clem is keeping a secret, and when she goes too far one reckless night she endangers everything -- her home, her job and even her adored brother's love. Portofino -- a place of wild beauty and old-school glamour, and where a neglected villa has been bought by a handsome stranger. He wants Clem to restore it for him and it seems like the answer to all her problems -- except that Clem has been there once before and vowed, for her own protection, never to return ...
'This has makeovers, teasing twists, red herrings and episodic adventures in spades, making it a deliciously engrossing saga Easy Living
'Funny, clever and superbly spun, this is a cut above most contemporary romances. A hugely uplifting feel-good read' Candis
'Devour with a mince pie' ASOS magazine
'Full of glamour and the tantalising promise of love' My Weekly
'A heartwarming read' Irish Examiner Praise for The Perfect Present
'Our tears were welling before we'd even finished the prologue ... Hide indoors with a glass of mulled wine and lose yourself in this' Heat
'This fast-paced novel is perfect for snuggling down with on a winter afternoon' Bella
'Deliciously glamorous, irresistible romantic and, once started, impossible to put down' Hello
! '[A] charming, well-crafted tale of love, loss and reinvention Marie Claire
'A fab bit of escapism' Woman
Author
About Karen Swan
Karen Swan began her career in fashion journalism - working at Tatler, Vogue and YOU magazines, as well as consulting to companies like Thomas Pink - before giving it all up to raise her three children and ADHD puppy, and to pursue her ambition of becoming a writer. She moved out of London in 2006 and now lives in the forest in Sussex, writing her books in a treehouse overlooking the Downs.
