Italy Is My Boyfriend

by Annette Joseph

Overview

Would wonderful beaches, great sunsets, wild friends, endless cocktails, and fabulous food be enough to keep this relationship together?

Annette Joseph’s years in Italy revealed this truth: Italy, in all its multifaceted, glorious history and culture has to be experienced in full. Over almost three decades, Italy has fed, entertained, confused, excited, lured, promised, lied, satisfied, occasionally disappointed, and utterly enchanted her. She’s left, but can't stay away—she’ll always return. Always. Just like a beloved partner...Italy Is My Boyfriend will take you through the journey of finding love, life, and a sense of home. While often times a lonely, challenging place, never once did the love for this special place waiver. See how one very determined lady finds her dream place in the Tuscan sun.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781642935097
Publisher:	Post Hill Press
Publication date:	05/26/2020
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	173,869
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Annette Joseph lives half of the year in Italy and is an expert on entertaining, cooking, and styling. She regularly appears on NBC’s Today and Martha Stewart Living Radio. Her recipes and party ideas have been featured in Better Homes and Gardens, Epicurious, MSN, The Huffington Post, Southern Living, and Woman’s World, among others.

Currently Annette conducts creative retreats and workshops at La Fortezza teaching styling, photography, painting, and food-centric workshops. La Fortezza is a medieval fortress in northern Tuscany she and her husband painstakingly renovated for three years. On twenty-seven acres, the property has a large kitchen garden, rose garden, and vineyard, as well as a newly-planted olive grove.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Getting to Know You 1

Chapter 2 Looking for The Right One 10

Chapter 3 Internet Dating 19

Chapter 4 Reunited, and It Feels So Good 26

Chapter 5 Good Boyfriend Versus Bad Boyfriend 30

Chapter 6 Say What Now? A Bad Breakup 36

Chapter 7 Considering a Monastery 43

Chapter 8 The Villa Fiske 48

Chapter 9 Love Is Supposed to Be a Many Splendored Thing 51

Chapter 10 The Honeymoon Stage 61

Chapter 11 Will You Stay Forever? 67

Chapter 12 The Users 85

Chapter 13 Lovers and Friends 90

Chapter 14 The Seven-Year Itch 96

Chapter 15 Adventures with Monica 104

Chapter 16 Parties in Penthouses 111

Chapter 17 Love Is a Six-Hour Drive Away 120

Chapter 18 Strange Bedfellows, or Screaming Italian-Style 129

Chapter 19 A Turning Point 141

Chapter 20 Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places 150

Chapter 21 Distinct Possibilities 179

Chapter 22 Love Is Hard Work 187

Chapter 23 The Real Deal 201

Chapter 24 Everything Worth Having Is Worth Waiting For 226

Chapter 25 Love Is Work, Part Due 239

Chapter 26 Redos and Rescues 248

Chapter 27 The Best Boyfriend 254

Chapter 28 Epilogue 257

Chapter 29 Acknowledgments 259

Chapter 30 About the Author 261

Editorial Reviews

"This memoir of memorable moments is a guide to making our own memories—a reminder to feel deeply, to love greatly, to dream big, and to notice the good, the bad, and everything in between along the way, whilst always holding onto the vision of finding the secret key to our own happiness. I so embrace Annette's generosity of spirit in sharing this guide to falling in love with and living in Italy. 'Fatene Tesoro!'"

Betty Soldi

"If you've ever fantasized about buying a European farmhouse in the middle of a vineyard (and who hasn't?) you'll enjoy house hunting with Annette through the Tuscan countryside. We've worked together producing magazines for more than a decade, so I have followed the search from afar and once even spent a magical week at her home in Alassio. The Josephs' wildly entertaining tales of the crazy and often unwritten rules of real estate investing in Italy have made me laugh out loud, and now she's sharing them with readers. The book has the ups and downs of all good love stories. There's even a magic castle."

Betsy Riley

"Annette Joseph has written a sparkling book—full of humor and insight—about the cultural road blocks to buying a house in Italy. Luckily, she prevailed, with her love for Italy intact, and has written a valentine of a book for all of us to savor. Brava!!"

Tricia Brock

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