Under An Italian Sky

Lisa Hobman

Description

From the top 20 bestselling author of Dreaming Under An Island Skye.

'An uplifting and adventurous romance which reminds us that all that glitters is definitely not gold!' Heidi Swain

'I loved the book. It’s a captivating story with a relatable heroine and beautifully vivid settings. A perfect holiday read!' Darcie Boleyn

Global box office sensation, Ruby Locke, is a long way from her Yorkshire roots. Together with her fiancé, movie heartthrob Tyler Harrison, they are Hollywood’s new glitterati.

Overnight, Ruby’s life implodes when her social media accounts are hacked with a multitude of vile posts, turning her into an international pariah. Even Tyler breaks off their engagement.

Confused and heartbroken, Ruby escapes to the beautiful island of Sicily to avoid the media scrutiny. With only a Yorkshire Terrier to comfort her, Ruby is befriended by a handsome, mysterious neighbour and slowly begins to heal. But are his inentions true?

When her Sicilian hideaway is compromised, Ruby is once again forced to relocate, this time to the stunning Isle of Skye, off the West Coast of Scotland. Here Ruby is left to question who wants to destroy her career, and also if the celebrity lifestyle is really for her...

What everyone's saying about Under a Sicilian Sky!'Involving and intriguing!' Sue Moorcroft
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
'Ruby’s dreams come true in this heart-warming and sometimes heart-wrenching journey of discovery' Heidi Swain
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
'Straight away I was hooked... Such a fabulous book' Reader review
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Praise for Lisa Hobman:

'I love it! - escape to the beautiful Isle of Skye with this feel-good, uplifting story of lost love and second chances...' Holly Martin

'Simply gorgeous. An uplifting story of two broken individuals trying to find the courage to take a chance on love again’ Jessica Redland

'A really uplifting, feel-good read about hope, love and second chances, that really did warm my heart.' Kim Nash

'A gorgeous, heart-warming romantic journey, reminds us to never give up on love...' Lucy Coleman

'You will fall in love with this story of fresh starts and mending broken hearts' Mandy Baggot

'A heart-breakingly beautiful story of love and loss set in the stunning village of Glentorrin. Be prepared to fall in love over and over again.' Nancy Barone

'What a beautiful read this was. I was rooting for Juliette from the first page. Lisa handled some tough subjects with a delicate and deft touch. I'm ready to escape to Skye!' Sarah Bennett

Sujets

• Sea Stories
• Mashups
• Billionaires
• Coming of Age
• Contemporary history
• SpongeBob SquarePants
• Billionaire
• Romantic Comedy
• General officer
• Sicily
• Italy
• My Last Duchess
• City Life
• General
• Holiday
• Contemporary
• Family Life
• Romance
• Fiction
• Sicile
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: Boldwood Books
• Date de parution: 08 juillet 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781800488892
• Langue: English

Extrait

UNDER AN ITALIAN SKY


LISA HOBMAN
To Mum and Dad. I don’t know how I got so lucky to have such amazing parents, but I’m grateful that I did. I love you.
CONTENTS




Prologue



Chapter 1



Chapter 2



Chapter 3



Chapter 4



Chapter 5



Chapter 6



Chapter 7



Chapter 8



Chapter 9



Chapter 10



Chapter 11



Chapter 12



Chapter 13



Chapter 14



Chapter 15



Chapter 16



Chapter 17



Chapter 18



Chapter 19



Chapter 20



Chapter 21



Chapter 22



Chapter 23



Chapter 24



Chapter 25



Chapter 26



Chapter 27



Chapter 28



Chapter 29



Chapter 30



Chapter 31



Chapter 32



Chapter 33



Chapter 34



Chapter 35



Epilogue




Acknowledgments



More from Lisa Hobman



About the Author



About Boldwood Books
PROLOGUE

After taking off from JFK, actress Ruby Locke sat in her business-class plane seat, with her head almost in her lap and her hands knotted in her otherwise perfectly styled, once titian coloured hair. She had always loved her natural, fiery colour and this was the first time in her thirty years on earth that she’d had to dye it for something other than a part. But this new chocolate brown was all part of the plan . Doubled over, she knew she must resemble the inflight emergency crash-landing diagrams, but, in reality, the only thing crash landing was her life. Oh, and her career… not to mention her reputation… and absolutely not considering her pride, self-esteem and dignity. She’d gone from being adored to being hated in a shorter time than you could say Jack Robinson . Never had she experienced such venom, such malevolence and animosity, from people she hadn’t even met. And how quickly, she had discovered, a porcelain, English rose could be knocked from its pedestal and shattered into a million pieces.
Perhaps if the plane did crash, she’d escape with the pity of some people, at least.
She sat upright and balled her hands in her lap, fighting the urge to slap herself for the ridiculous, macabre thoughts. She knew that none of this was her doing. She would never have thought those vile things, let alone posted them online for all to see. She clung onto her innocence like a life raft. Surely at some point in the next week or so this would all be over, the fact that she had been hacked would come out, and people would realise she was a victim in all this too?
At least the agency had splashed out on business class for the first leg of the journey. The space surrounding her had meant she didn’t have to smile at other people; or worse still, have other people berate her to her face . Although she hadn’t been separated completely from the other passengers, they had all seemed to be too busy sleeping or watching movies to bother her, so she had felt comfortable in her window-seat location, being brought delectable wine in proper glasses and served haute cuisine fit for royalty.
After a brief stopover at Leonardo da Vinci airport in Rome and a change of plane, Ruby sat in economy class for the second leg of her journey. Her skin was make-up-free and her hair was tucked up into an unflattering baseball cap with some American university logo on the front. She had slipped on an oversized hoodie and the largest sunglasses she could find that covered half her face. She got a few funny looks, but she put those down to the fact that she didn’t remove any of her disguise items for the whole hour-long flight, regardless of the heat in the cabin.
The pilot announced the plane’s descent into Falcone Borsellino Airport, Palermo, and her stomach flipped. She was about to step into her new normal. She was minutes away from the type of invisibility set aside for those in witness protection. Only, as a well-known, multi-award-winning actress, this would be the first time, since leaving performing arts school nine years earlier, that she’d be alone. All alone. And she had no idea how on earth she would cope.
1
NINE DAYS EARLIER – VALENTINE’S DAY

The colour drained from Ruby Locke’s cheeks. ‘Come on, Valerie, surely it’s clear I was hacked!’ She slumped into the plush leather armchair in the office of Montez and Spark, her New York agent. ‘I am not , nor have I ever been, a vile bigot! Surely my fans will see that?’ Exasperated, she waved her hands at Valerie’s laptop as her heart pounded at her insides. ‘Those posts were so obviously not things I would say!’
Valerie Montez sucked in air through her teeth. ‘It’s just not as simple as that, honey. Social Media can end the careers of stars that recommend the wrong toilet paper. But this… this is so much worse than that. The posts went viral in a matter of hours. People jumped right on it with their responses. It’s out there now and there’s nothing we can do but fight the consequences.’ Her Brooklyn accent was strongest when she wasn’t on the phone; at those times, she put on this pseudo-British inflection that made Ruby giggle uncontrollably. But she had a heart of gold and for a born-and-bred East Coaster, boy did she know the movie business and Hollywood.
Ruby stood and paced the floor, hands on hips, with a renewed determination firing in her belly. ‘No, I won’t accept this. I’ll go on TV and do a press conference. I’ll explain that I was hacked. Surely that will solve everything.’
Valerie gazed at her with a piteous expression, her eyes crinkling at the corners. ‘I’m sorry, Ruby, but I already tried to arrange that. No one will touch you at the moment. It’s only a matter of hours since this happened so let’s just give it a while, huh? Let’s allow the dust to settle and take it from there.’
Ruby flopped down once again. ‘I just want it to be over with. It’s like… like a bloody nightmare come true. There must be a way to find out who did this? There must be a way to clear my name. To… to trace the IP address or… or something!’ Her voice increased in both volume and pitch.
‘There is, and we will. Just go back to your apartment and wait it out. I’ll arrange for some security to—’
‘Wait, what ?’ Ruby gripped the arms of the chair, her fingers leaving indentations in the chocolate brown leather. ‘Security? Why do I need security?’
Valerie sighed and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her glass desk and clasping her fingers. ‘People take these things very seriously. You only have to remember when Jack Matthias said those things about gun laws, his home was spray-painted, his maid sold her story. All hell broke loose. And now he’s back to minor commercials and it’s been three years .’
Ruby’s eyes widened and she covered her mouth with one shaking hand. ‘Oh. My. God. Are you telling me my career is over? Is that what you’re saying? My career is over for something I never even said? Jack Matthias was filmed saying those things. He couldn’t deny them! My social media accounts were hacked . I didn’t make those comments. You know that!’
‘I do, honey, I do. And we will resolve this. We just need time. Look, I’ve been your agent for ten years, sweetie, I took you on when you were still a young dance student, you were still a kid, remember? Like my kid. I would never steer you wrong.’ She wagged her finger. ‘Don’t forget you could’ve located yourself over in LA but you chose to live here in New York so I could look after you. And I will. Please, leave it with me and let me do my job, okay?’
What she said was true. Ruby tended to look to the woman in her mid-fifties, with her dyed, perfectly coiffed hair, as a mother figure. Valerie had been in the entertainment business since her late teens, first as an actress, in a couple of cult favourites, before realising, in her thirties, that she had a knack for spotting talent in others. She was well respected in the business. Surely she could deal with this kind of thing?
Ruby’s eyes stung and her throat constricted. ‘I’ve worked so hard, I’ve sacrificed everything. I can’t lose it all now. What the hell would I do? Apart from dancing, acting is literally all I know. But I can’t even fall back on dancing. Even the Broadway theatre casting people will know about this.’ She lifted her chin and stared at her agent through a fog of tears.
Valerie stood and walked round her desk to crouch before her. ‘Hey, hey now, come on, Ruby. There’s talk of an Oscar nomination, don’t forget, that’s huge for a Brit. Huge! You’re a BAFTA winner, for Pete’s sake. You don’t get this far by having a crappy agent who doesn’t care. You know I’m behind you. The whole agency is here for you. We know this business and we will get through this. I promise. No one’s acting career is over, okay?’
Ruby managed a nod.
Valerie stood and her knees creaked as she did. She smoothed down her dark green velvet skirt. ‘Good. Now I’ve buzzed Philippe. He’ll drive you home.’
Ruby scrunched her brow. ‘You’ve called Philippe? Where’s Shelby?’ Valerie’s new assistant had been absent more than present in the six months she had worked at the agency.
Valerie frowned. ‘Oh, she had to go home and deal with a family emergency. So, go open a nice bottle of wine and take a bath. Call Tyler and have him come over to cheer you up. I know he’s in town because he was in the news this morning.’
Ruby nodded again, dabbed at her eyes and considered calling her fiancé as Valerie had suggested. ‘Yes, yes, that sounds like a good plan. He texted to say he had landed at JFK last night but was too tired to come over.’
Unlike Ruby, Tyler Harrison favoured the bright lights of Los Angeles and although in the past he had tried to convince her to relocate, she had yet to take the jump, so he had given up. Somehow being on the East Coast was comforting for Ruby; it was a little closer to the UK. Their relationship was predominantly long distance but seeing as they were both so busy it didn’t seem to matter. They made it work.
When t