As Long as It Takes

by Jill Francis

Genres: Women's Fiction

Synopsis

Set in a seaside town in Italy, As Long as It Takes is a charming summer romance about finding your roots and letting love blossom.

Love isn’t exactly a priority for Lora Brooks. After all, her last break-up made perfectly clear she can’t rely on anyone but herself. That’s why Lora’s number one focus is her research, where she’s hard at work debunking Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. But when she’s offered a prestigious post-doctoral position in Zurich—one whose funding hinges on her having European citizenship—everything changes.

Hoping to claim citizenship through her birth father, Lora and her best friend travel to the quaint Italian town where he was born. She knows little about her father (and intends to keep it that way) but nothing, not even the ghosts of her past, will stand between Lora and this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Except, perhaps, Italian bureaucracy. And an outdated filing system. And Andrea, the handsome—and slightly anxious—mayor.

In between trying to save the town from bankruptcy, wrangling quirky business-owners, and debating whether to run for a second term, Andrea somehow finds the time to show Lora what it really means to live, and perhaps love, like a local. Between Lora destined for a future hundreds of miles away, and Andrea’s parents pushing him to return to his fast-paced life in New York, is it possible the pair might discover that their most basic need is actually just…each other?

Release date: July 21, 2026

Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

Print pages: 336