La Dolce Veto by Caitlin Alice Gilbert

From debut author Caitlin Alice Gilbert comes a bold and emotionally resonant romance that flips the script on scandal, and shows the power of self-discovery, redemption, and a summer of love in a small Italian town.

Rising star US Congresswoman Isabella Rhodes was supposed to be making history—not headlines.

But when a devastating betrayal shatters her political career overnight, she flees to La Musa, a sleepy village in the heart of Umbria where the days are slow, the pasta is handmade, and no one knows her name.

At Villa Farentino, Izzy hopes to start fresh, far from politics and the relentless eyes of the world. But her plans unravel when she learns she’ll be sharing the villa with Benito Farentino, the brooding, newly elected mayor who is just as determined to save his crumbling hometown as he is unwilling to trust outsiders.

As tensions grow over a controversial hotel development, Izzy is pulled into the fight for La Musa’s future… and further into Benito’s world. And soon, what began as a quiet escape becomes a chance to rebuild, to believe again, and maybe even to fall in love.

Izzy now has a choice. Will she risk her second chance at happiness for the life she left behind, or stay and fight for the one she’s only just begun to imagine?