A marble terrace above Lake Como at first light, white roses spilling from a stone urn, the water pale and still beyond the balustrade.

A dark romance

If You Let Me

Some trips don't let you leave.

A novel by Lucy

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I  ·  Como

She came here to work.
She stayed at her peril.

A work trip. A summer in Italy. A man she should forget. Claire thinks she knows exactly what she’s getting into. She doesn’t.

Neither do you…

Positano stacked above the sea, a majolica dome and bougainvillea in the foreground.
Villas and cypresses along the shore of Lake Como, white roses spilling from a stone urn.
A vintage-style postcard of Bellagio on Lake Como: pastel villas along the shore, a wooden motorboat on the water, geraniums and a café table on a terrace.

Letters from inside the book

Postcards
from Claire

Follow Claire through Italy, one postcard at a time. She writes from hotel rooms, café tables, terraces and places she probably should have left sooner — about what she sees, who she meets, and the things she definitely shouldn’t put in writing.

At first, they’re postcards from a very good summer. Later, you may read them differently.

Not quite a newsletter. More like correspondence from inside the book. Most emails will come from Claire. Occasionally, you’ll hear from me too, with something extra from behind the story.

The first postcard arrives from Como within the hour. The rest follow her south. Leave whenever you like — every card has a way out at the bottom.

The novel

If You Let Me

Cover of If You Let Me: an open silver travel case holding a passport, black lace, a gold Capri pendant, sunglasses and perfume, with a bloodied handprint across the lid. Below, the title and the line 'Some trips don't let you leave.'

Claire Whitfield is not looking for a love story. She came to Italy to work, clear her head and get back to New York with her life exactly where she left it.

He was never part of the plan. Younger. Too confident. Far too easy to want. The kind of man she should dismiss quickly and forget even faster.

Instead, one unexpected journey through Italy turns into stolen nights, blurred boundaries and a connection neither of them seems able to walk away from.

But the deeper Claire is pulled into his world, the harder it becomes to tell the difference between desire and danger. And by the time she realises this trip is no longer what she thought it was, leaving may not be entirely up to her.

  • Age gap
  • Younger man
  • Morally grey
  • Forced proximity
  • Italian summer
  • Desire and danger

Advance readers

Read it first.

Want in before everyone else? A small group of advance readers will get If You Let Me before release — early access to Claire, Italy, bad decisions, blurred lines and everything that follows.

You’ll get to form your theories, choose your favourites and find out where Claire’s trip actually takes her while everyone else is still guessing.

In return, I’m asking for one thing: an honest review during release week. No forced enthusiasm. No pretending you loved something you didn’t. I want readers who’ll actually read it, have opinions and tell me what they really thought.

If that sounds like you, apply below.

  1. Apply below. It takes a minute.
  2. If you are a fit, the book arrives by email as ePub or PDF.
  3. You post your review on release week, wherever you review.

Applications are read by hand. You will hear back either way before release.