juliana welling

On a hot summer day, Sam steps off a plane in Rome, Italy carrying just one bag and holding a secret. She doesn’t know a soul there and only her best friend back home knows where she is.

The gregarious Luigi and his warm-hearted wife Marina rent Sam the apartment above their wine and cheese shop and it’s not long before she’s sitting at their kitchen table, sharing in the simple but divine meals Marina prepares.

One day out shopping for ingredients to make her own Italian masterpiece, Sam literally runs into a handsome man who stills her heart, his fiery on-again, off-again girlfriend in tow. And to Sam’s astonishment she learns he is Marina’s cousin, and a regular set of helping hands at Marina and Luigi’s shop.

Their attraction is mutual but Sam has something to hide and it’s the reason she is in Rome. Giovanni senses her secrecy, but has secrets of his own. Is the relationship they embark upon to be one to stand the test of time? Or are each of them only looking for a summer fling?

From the bustling streets of Rome and the rolling vineyards of Tuscany to the dramatic coastline of Northern California, Winter’s End takes you on a gripping journey of love and loss, forgiveness and new beginnings.