Amelia Tate has it all. Beautiful, a starring role in a remake of Audrey Hepburns' ROMAN HOLIDAY, two months in Rome for filming it that includes a suite in the Hassler Hotel - five stars, but who is counting? And a rich, handsome fiance, Whit, who smells of Hugo Boss cologne. Oh, did I forget to mention she was portraying her idol and this was the "chance of a lifetime" dream come true? Oh, and I forgot to tell you Whit wanted her to give up her dreams of acting and settle with him in San Francisco and go to Medical School. Would you? Could you?

Philip is an American journalist who has wanted to write since he was 12 when he wrote an investigative report on the rigging of his school's spelling bee. A graduate of Columbia, his first job was at the NY Post, where he got fired and traveled to Rome. His wealthy parents want him to return to America and become a stockbroker in his father's Manhattan Wall Street office. Phillip is unwilling to leave Rome and follow their wishes. He is waiting for a taxi cab when he sees Amelia also waiting. They decide to share the cab. She is dressed in the maid's uniform she found in the hotel's kitchen as she fled wanting some freedom. She is exhausted from jet lag and drunk from too much champagne consumed at the Press Conference she has just escaped from. She falls asleep and Philip, being a perfect gentlemen, puts her to sleep in his bed while he camps out on the couch. When he cooks her bacon and eggs for breakfast, she decides not to confess who she really is and continues to pretend to be a Hassler Hotel maid.

The sub-story of this delicious book concerns Amelia finding a packet of Audrey Hepburn's private letters to a friend that turn up taped to the desk in her hotel suite from when she originally starred in ROMAN HOLIDAY. To me, the sweet stories about Gregory Peck and Audrey were wonderful and I have re-read many of them. I also enjoyed the cast of characters led by Princess Sophie, a modern-minded young lady who fell in love with a dashing young doctor, Theo, and plans to rule her small country, Lentz, with him as her forever love.

Portofino with Philip and that romantic location was mouth watering and it goes on my Bucket List: Places I Must Visit. It was sexy, filled with decadent food and its location close to the sea took my breath away.

ROME IN LOVE gets my vote as the sweetest, delightful love tale of this year. Hats off to Anita Hughes! I absolutely loved it!