Nicky Pellegrino was born in Liverpool and spent childhood holidays staying with her father's family in southern Italy. When she started writing fiction, it was the memories of those summers in Italy that came flooding back and flavoured her stories. Nicky now lives in Auckland, New Zealand with her husband, dogs and horses. A former magazine editor, she combines work as a freelance journalist with writing number one bestselling novels, including Under Italian Skies , A Dream Of Italy and A Year At Hotel Gondola . Her books sell around the world and have been translated into numerous languages.