The Villas of Lake Como

By Katherine Kingston

I recently had a chance to revisit one of my favorite places in the entire world, northern Italy and Lake Como. It’s no accident that I set my Naughty Escapes story, The Lake by Moonlight, there. It may well be one of the most beautiful places in the world. I’m certainly not alone in that belief. 

Plenty of tourists think so as well and flock to the area. Many denizens of southern Italy, those who can afford it, also retreat to this part of the country for cooler temperatures and water sports on the lake.

And many of the world’s rich and famous retreat here as well. The shores of the lake are lined with magnificent villas, fabulous hotels, and incredible resorts. Best known of the celebrities who have villas here at the moment are George and Amal Clooney. In fact they were in residence while we were there, though we didn’t happen to run into them.

Even for the not-so-rich and not-so-famous, Lake Como is a magical place. The lake is one of the deepest in Europe and rich in fish, which means good eating at the local restaurants. Other than the city of Como, most of the towns on its shores are small, charming, and geared for tourists. Since it’s surrounded by mountains, there are plenty of rugged hiking trails as well as easy walks for the less adventurous. In addition to the gorgeous villas, there are medieval towers and fortresses, fabulous gardens and parks, wonderful shops full of silks, glassware, and fine leather, and lots of old churches, monasteries, and villas full of art, all waiting for exploration.

We spent just a few days, but I could’ve happily stayed much longer.

Why I Set My Story at Lake Como

Many years ago, I spent some time in northern Italy, studying the language and culture. I had a wonderful few months exploring Milan and Como, checking out museums and medieval buildings and new shops full of the latest fashions and gorgeous silk accessories.

Photo CreditThis work has been released into the public domain by its author, Joyborg at the German Wikipedia project. This applies worldwide. Joyborg grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

One of most vivid memories is of Lake Como, driving around it and sailing on it. It has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. Nestled in the southern edge of the Alps, surrounded by hills and mountains, the lake has some of the bluest water I’ve ever seen.

Small towns and grand villas lines its coasts, often nestled into the sides of the hills. A variety of boats, from small fishing skiffs and motorboats, all the way up to steamers and ferries, ply its waters. During my stay I was fortunate to take an all-day cruise on the lake, stopping at a couple of the towns, where I walked up streets into fabulous, colorful markets.

The place is close to paradise on earth, which is undoubtedly why celebrities like George Clooney have chosen to acquire summer homes (or should I say summer mansions?) there.

And it’s why I gave my hero a villa there. When he asks a former student he’s never forgotten to check out some paintings for him, he meets her there. It was absolutely the most romantic setting I could imagine.

Keeping Sex Between the Covers by Regina Kammer

It's almost July 4th and in the United States we're celebrating Independence Day! I have a special promotion for July. See the end of this post!

I generally write historical erotic romance, although I have also written contemporary, mythological, and Steampunk. But my comfort zone is historicals because I’m a historian and, I suppose, I’ve internally fetishized history to a certain extent.

I’ve written stories that take place in ancient Roman and Victorian England. But my favorite book I've written takes place in New York state and is set in 1777 during the American Revolution.

The General's Wife: An American Revolutionary Tale is an eighteenth-century adventure that’s part erotica (sexual awakening of the heroine) and part romance (a happily-ever-after). Our heroine, Lady Clara Strathmore, encounters three heroes and one villain. Her lady's maid encounters two heroes and the same villain plus half a dozen Hessians. Let's just say there's a whole lot of sexy action along with politics, intrigue, and humor.

It's also an award-nominated novel.

However, the book had a problem. There was a naked lady on the cover of the 2013 edition and Amazon, the world’s foremost retailer of books and ebooks, does not like nudity on covers. So Amazon slapped an Adult Filter on the book making it very difficult for readers to find or “discover” (as the parlance goes).

I’ve discussed this at length on my blog, so won’t discuss it here. But the end result was: if I ever wanted readers to find the book, I had to change my cover. All the sexy bits had to be between the covers, not on the cover.

There was a bit of a risk involved. There is no guarantee that changing a cover will get that Adult Filter taken down. Amazon’s policies on the matter (actually all their policies on all matters) are mutable, vague, and somewhat random. I’ve heard all sorts of stories about how a glimpse of a woman’s bare back was a no-no for one author, but bound hands and a bit of butt is okay for another. And that sometimes it is the combination of the book blurb and the cover, so if your request for removal of the Adult Filter is denied, you won’t know if it is the cover or the blurb because Amazon won’t tell you.

I wanted to do this right, which meant paying for a new cover, with money I don’t have because no one is buying my book they can’t find! So I took the plunge and got a new cover.



[Isn’t it gorgeous?] I uploaded my new cover and wrote to Amazon asking them to please remove the Adult Filter. A day later I got this reply:

After further review, we have decided to remove the search restrictions so your book will now be found in our general product search results.

I squealed in glee! I was ecstatic! So much so, I’ve put the Kindle edition of The General's Wife on sale for only 99¢! I want everyone to read it! I’m keeping the sale going until the end of July.

If you enjoyed my American Revolution short story in Naughty List, you'll love The General's Wife! It's a fun, frolicking, Revolutionary read!

History has never been sexier.