Set against the sun-drenched Italian countryside, You Had Me at Buongiorno is a shimmering debut romance novel of escape, desire, and the courage to begin again.

After a devastating loss shatters her world, Charlie Miller leaves behind her toxic family and old life for Florence, Italy. Determined to make a fresh start, she accepts a position as an au pair for the impossibly wealthy Montefiori family, trading her grief for glamorous villas and a chance to earn her residency permit.

But working for the Montefioris presents challenges Charlie never imagined. While the head of staff is imperious and the children are a handful, it’s their uncle, Lorenzo Montefiori—the family’s elusive, dangerously magnetic heir—who consumes Charlie’s thoughts. A notorious playboy, Lorenzo is the last man Charlie should trust, but the tension between them is impossible to resist. Then she meets Diego De Luca, the palatial estate’s charming handyman, whose easy warmth and undeniable attraction offer Charlie a simpler kind of escape.

As Charlie settles into life at the villa, she finds unexpected friendships that begin to heal old wounds and make Italy feel like home. But as the summer heat intensifies, Charlie must confront her feelings for both men, her lingering grief, and her fragile place in the Montefiori family—or risk losing her future, her visa, and her chance at love.