If you have an appetite for a delicious rom-com, “The Wedding Menu” by Letizia Lorini will satisfy your hunger. The novel, out Jan. 21, is not Lorini’s debut, though it’s her first to be traditionally published.
At first, Lorini was happy to self-publish her books, which include “Desserts for Stressed People” and “Riding the Sugar High.” But as her career grew, so did her publishing dreams. She pivoted to traditional publishing by getting an agent and book deal with Gallery Books.
“It’s really important to understand what your goals are. In my case, my goal was just to write, and if other people read it, that would have been nicer,” the Italian author tells TODAY.com.
She says that giving up some control to her team is “hard but also very much freeing” because now she can solely focus on writing.
“The Wedding Menu” by Letizia Lorini
Told in dual timelines, “The Wedding Menu” introduces readers to Amelie Preston, a chef and hopeless romantic who keeps waiting for her high school sweetheart, Frank, to propose. That is, until she meets Ian at a wedding (not her own) and he makes her question everything about her meticulously planned life. Could Ian be the person that changes everything for Amelie?
“I really wanted to write a story of a character who is stuck in a relationship that she doesn’t like, a job that she’s not passionate about, family dynamics that she’s not happy with, and not knowing how to get out of this rut,” Lorini says.
Enter: Ian. “I figured she needed someone who, instead, was completely unapologetic about all of his many opinions and would always value hers,” she says.
The two eventually reconnect after one year when Amelie’s life looks a lot different than it once did. She’s lost her job, has fallen out of love with Frank and finds herself struggling to maintain the one meaningful friendship she has remaining. At a cooking expo in Ian’s hometown, Amelie starts to picture a new life for herself — but of course, the best laid plans. She learns that Ian comes from a rival family who may threaten to ruin her culinary career. It’s a will-they-won’t-they romance that will make food lovers swoon.
“What I actually learned writing each book is that I haven’t learned anything. Every single book has been completely different from the one before.”
Letizia Lorini
With three published books and more on the way, it would be easy to call Lorini a seasoned pro. She argues otherwise.
“What I actually learned writing each book is that I haven’t learned anything. Every single book has been completely different from the one before,” Lorini says.
While some manuscripts have come easily to her, otherwise have taken a little more work.
Lorini’s career has been a lesson in trusting the process. When she first started writing, she wrote “contemporary romances, but with, like, a heavy undercurrent,” she says.
Eventually, she realized that as the “clown” of her friend group, she should be writing rom-coms.
“That’s when it really clicked for me. I was like, ‘OK, this is what I like. This is my voice. This is what I want to do.’”
