Read Your Way Through Italy

While everyone else is jet-setting across Europe, I’m taking a different kind of vacation—one that doesn’t require a passport, packed suitcase, or PTO request. This summer, I’m traveling through Italy one page at a time, with a stack of novels that whisk me from the Amalfi Coast to the hills of Tuscany, the romance of Lake Como to the secrets of Sicily.

But of course, no literary journey is complete without the look to match. Each book on this list inspired a color-coordinated outfit that captures the mood, magic, and setting of the story. So whether you’re reading from your backyard or an actual beach in Positano, you are invited to read your way through Italy with me, and these “Booked Looks” are here to bring your fiction-fueled Italian summer to life. While these aren’t exactly Italian summer styles, they are absolutely options you can take inspiration from (and something I am going to be playing up on the blog all summer long)! Make sure to sign up for the email list so you are always in the know about additions to our fictional Italian adventure, and let’s get started on our tour!

My Outfit: Dress | Earrings (brand) | Similar Earring | Bracelets | Lip

The Booked Look: Read Your Way Through Italy for Your Fictional Vacay

An Outfit Based on One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle

City: Positano

Summary: After the unexpected loss of her mother, Katy takes the trip they had planned together to Positano. As she wanders the winding streets and cliffside views, she reconnects with herself, her memories, and—through a magical twist—her mother as a young woman. It’s part grief journey, part romance, and 100% summer escapism.

An Outfit Based on Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood

City: Tuscany

Summary: Maya Killgore is a 23-year-old physics graduate student trying to figure out her future. Conor Harkness is a 38-year-old European scientist … and her brother’s best friend and business partner. Maya and Conor have a complicated history and not to mention a a significant age gap. When Maya’s brother decides to get married in Taormina, she and Conor end up stuck together in a romantic Sicilian villa for over a week.

An Outfit for A Wedding in Lake Como by Jennifer Probst

City: Lake Como

Summary: Ava, Madison (Maddie), and Chelsea were inseparable in college—until life (and love) got messy. Years later, their paths cross again at a lavish wedding in Lake Como, where secrets, regrets, and old flames resurface faster than you can say “I do.” As the breathtaking Italian scenery works its magic, the three women are forced to confront the past, their friendship, and what it means to move forward.

An Outfit for The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner

City: Amalfi

Summary: In The Amalfi Curse, Sarah Penner (author of The Lost Apothecary) takes readers to the sun-drenched yet shadowed cliffs of the Amalfi Coast, where a centuries-old curse haunts a powerful Italian family. When a modern-day woman with mysterious ties to the past arrives, drawn by both blood and betrayal, secrets begin to unravel—along with her grip on what’s real. This novel weaves magic, history, and suspense into a darkly beautiful tale about legacy, love, and letting go.

An Outfit for The Sicilian Inheritance by Jo Piazza

City: Sicily

Summary: When Sara Marsala’s great-aunt Rosie dies, she leaves behind something far more intriguing than family recipes: an inheritance tied to a cold case in Sicily and a legacy of female resilience. Determined to uncover the truth about her ancestor’s unsolved murder, Sara heads to her ancestral homeland—and discovers a tangle of secrets, sisterhood, and strength stretching across generations.

An Outfit for The Rome Apartment by Kerry Fisher

City: Rome

Summary: When Beth loses both her job and her marriage, she takes a bold leap—accepting a house-sitting gig in a stranger’s apartment in Rome. What starts as an escape turns into a transformation, as she connects with a vibrant cast of local women, learns to live on her own terms, and rediscovers joy under the Roman sun.