title: When in Rome...: A Novel
author:  Gemma Townley 
description: Scattered with references to Roman Holiday, this would-be madcap romantic comedy by the sister of bestselling chick-lit writer Sophie Kinsella strives for love, laughs and intrigue but lacks the necessary charm and flair. Blithely irresponsible Georgie Beauchamps, a researcher at a legal publishing company in London, dates serious, dependable David Bradley, an accountant who investigates crooked financial dealings. But Georgie still holds a torch for her ex, the devilishly handsome Mike Marshall, and when Mike asks her to accompany him on a trip to Rome, Georgie jumps at the opportunity, thinking he has realized the error of his ways and is trying to win her back. But the suddenly wealthy Mike seems to be up to no good, and when David shows up in Rome on business, Georgie slowly starts delving into the puzzle. But Georgie unveils more than just a mystery-she discovers a source of strength in herself, uncovering a scandal at her own company and accusing long-suffering David of treating her like a child when he miraculously forgives her for her dalliances and betrayals. David may play along, but some readers will be rubbed the wrong way by Georgie. Though the plot zooms as fast (if sometimes as erratically) as a Vespa on the streets of Rome, the novel's selfish protagonist drains the fun from this jangly caper. <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  > Chapter 1
  
  Dawn had not yet broken when Gemma McKinley came within sight of the prison.
  It loomed ahead barely silhouetted against the dark sky, a hulking five-story
  quadrangle with no windows facing the street.
  
  The prison was hundreds of years old, built long before Meeus had been
  colonized by humans, and good ol’ Earth started its inexorable decline into
  the cesspit of the Universe.
  
  Back then, no taxpayer money had been spared on the prison’s construction.
  Copious amounts of reinforced concrete had been poured in a precise fashion to
  resemble a medieval castle, and the resulting structure had been celebrated as
  a symbol of firm control and a threat to those who dared to break the law.
  
  And so it remained, Gemma supposed, the symbol and the threat. For her, the
  prison was merely a job. Not the job she had dreamed about when she was a
  little girl, to be sure, but life was what life was, and sometimes survival
  meant having to adjust one’s expectations.
  
  Gemma haste