Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has acquired world English-language rights to duology The Barbarani Estate by debut author Emma Pignatiello, via Danielle Binks of Jacinta di Mase Management.

Last Shot and Last Breath are adult romantic suspense novels set in Western Australia, centred around the Barbarani family, an Italian-Australian wine dynasty. Binks—who met and signed Pignatiello via manuscript assessments at the CYA Conference—described the duology as ‘Downton Abbey by way of Dynasty, meets Lucy Score with sizzling chemistry’.

The books were the first acquisition for PRH publisher Christine Ebbs, who said: ‘I absolutely fell in love with the perfect balance of romance and mystery in Last Shot and Last Breath. I couldn’t have imagined better books for my first acquisition at PRH. I’m super excited to work with Emma, and can’t wait for readers to discover these books!’

Said Pignatiello: ‘Forget over the moon—I was leaping over the entire solar system when Christine from PRH said she wanted to publish not only Last Shot but Last Breath too! I’m so excited to share my murder mystery romances with readers and to have someone as enthusiastic and as in love with the story and characters as I am to help bring the Barbaranis to life!’

PRH plans to publish Last Shot in February 2025 and Last Breath by August 2025.