Raye Morgan - Beauty and the Reclusive Prince / Executive - Expecting Tiny Twins - Beauty and the Reclusive Prince

Romance, rivalry and a family reunited.

Lisa Firenze and Luca Casali: for years their sibling rivalry has disturbed the quiet, sleepy Italian town of Monta Correnti, and their two feuding restaurants have divided the market square.

Now, as the keys to the restaurants are handed down to Lisa and Luca’s children, will history repeat itself? Can the next generation undo its parents’ mistakes, reunite the families and ultimately join the two restaurants?

Or are there more secrets to be revealed…?

The doors to the restaurants are open, so take your seats and look out for secrets, scandal and surprises on the menu!

Turn to page 5 for Diana Palmer’s secret recipe for the Bella Rosa sauce!

By

By

www.millsandboon.co.uk

By

Mills & Boon® Romance reader-favourite Diana Palmer would like to share her secret tomato sauce recipe with you. Diana grows her own herbs and tomatoes and she and her husband love to cook with them. Enjoy!

Begin with a nice basket of organically grown plum tomatoes (about 1.2 kg) or equivalent cans of organic plum tomatoes, and a nice big bunch of fresh black basil. Wash tomatoes and cut into quarters.

Put 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into a pan; add 3-4 cloves chopped garlic. When garlic softens throw in the tomatoes. Simmer until tomatoes begin to soften, add a big handful (about 12 large leaves) of torn basil leaves. Salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer sauce until tomatoes soften and slowly bring to the boil. Turn off heat and run sauce through a sieve or food mill for a smooth consistency. Or leave in the bits for a rough and ready pasta sauce.

When cool, add the Bella Rosa secret ingredient—1 teaspoon of orange-infused olive oil and 1 teaspoon grated orange zest.

The sauce can be used alone, or as a base.

Romance, rivalry and a family reunited.

This month Isabella Casali welcomes you to Monta Correnti in:

BEAUTY AND THE RECLUSIVE PRINCE by Raye Morgan

And follow Lizzie Green through the tears and triumph of motherhood in:

EXECUTIVE: EXPECTING TINY TWINS by Barbara Hannay

Rebel Valentino Casali returns this June:

MIRACLE FOR THE GIRL NEXT DOOR by Rebecca Winters

Join Jackie Patterson for the wedding of the year on a hot July day:

THE BRIDESMAID’S SECRET by Fiona Harper

Lassos at the ready for rugged rancher Alex Casali in August:

THE COWBOY’S ADOPTED DAUGHTER by Patricia Thayer

Autumn can’t dampen the sparks flying in the kitchen for Scarlett Gibson:

PASSIONATE CHEF, ICE QUEEN BOSS by Jennie Adams

October sees Angelo Casali escape from New York:

STAR-CROSSED SWEETHEARTS by Jackie Braun

And as Christmas approaches in November cosy up with Cristiano Casali in:

FIREFIGHTER’S DOORSTEP BABY by Barbara McMahon

“ENOUGH!”

Isabella Casali’s cry was snatched right out of her mouth by the gust of wind that tore at her thick dark hair and slapped it back against her face. What a night she’d picked to go sneaking onto royal property. The moon had been riding a crest of silky clouds when she’d started out from the village. Now the sky had turned black and the moon was playing hide and seek, taking away her light just when she’d stepped on forbidden territory. Where had this sudden storm come from, anyway?

“Bad luck,” she whispered to herself, squinting against another gust of wind. “I’ve got reams of it.”

She knew she ought to turn and head for home, but she couldn’t go back without finding what she’d come for—not after all she’d done to work up the nerve to come in the first place.

The grounds of the local prince’s palazzo were famously said to be the stomping grounds for all sorts of supernatural creatures. She’d discounted it before, thought it was nothing but old wives’ tales. But now that she’d come here and seen for herself, she was beginning to get the shivers just like everyone else. Every gust of wind, every snapping twig, every moan from the trees made her jump and turn to see what was behind her.

“You’d better hope the prince doesn’t catch you.”

Those words had made her smile when Susa, her restaurant’s vintage pastry chef, had uttered them like an aging Cassandra just before Isabella had left for this adventure. Susa often had wise advice, but this time Isabella was sure she was off the beam. What had Susa said again?

“They say he patrols the grounds himself, looking for young women who stray into his woods…”

“Oh, Susa, please,” she’d scoffed. “They’ve said the same thing about every prince who’s lived in that old moldy castle for the last hundred years. The royal Rossi family has never been a very friendly bunch, from what I’ve heard. When you don’t get out and mix with the citizens, you’re bound to get a bad reputation.”

She’d chuckled at the time, completely unconcerned, even though the royal grounds were the last place she wanted to venture onto anyway. Given a choice, she would have stayed home with a good book.

“But it’s mostly because they’re such a mystery,” she continued, thinking it over. “I’ll bet they’re very nice people once you get to know them.”

Susa raised her eyebrows and looked superior. “We’ll see how nice you think he is when he has you locked up in his dungeon.”

“Susa!” Isabella was reluctant enough to go on this mission without the older woman raising more reasons why she should just stay home.

“Besides, Papa has been sneaking in there to collect the Monta Rosa Basil we need for years and, as far as I know, he’s never seen a royal person there yet. I don’t believe a word of it.”

Her father, Luca Casali, had discovered the almost magical properties of this fine herb years before and it had transformed his cuisine from average Italian fare into something so special people came from miles around just to get a bowl of exquisitely cooked pasta topped with the steaming tomato-based sauce Luca had come up with.

The special recipe and the herb were a closely held family secret. Only a few knew that the delicious flavor came from a plant that could be found only on a hillside located on the estate of the royal Rossi family in Monta Correnti.

For years, her father had gone once a month to collect the herb. Now he was ill and could no longer make the trip. It was up to Isabella to take up the mantle as herb-gatherer, reluctant as she might be. She’d decided she might have less risk of being caught at it if she went at night. She was a little nervous, but fairly confident. After all, her father had never had a problem. She told herself calmly that she would do just fine.

But that was before the storm came up, and the moon disappeared, and the wind began to whip at her. Right now, every scary rumor seemed highly plausible and she was definitely looking over her shoulder for marauding royalty.

Earlier, when the sun was still shining, she’d thought it might be interesting to meet the prince.

“What’s he like, really?” she’d asked Susa. “When he’s not enticing young women into his bedroom, at any rate.”