Italian noblewoman’s short stories having a certain appeal (8)
I believe the answer is:
contessa
'italian noblewoman's' is the definition.
(Italian countess)
'short stories having a certain appeal' is the wordplay.
'short stories' becomes 'contes' (conte is a type of short story).
'having' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'a certain appeal' becomes 'SA' (sex appeal).
'contes'+'sa'='CONTESSA'
(Other definitions for contessa that I've seen before include "Italian noblewoman" , "European noblewoman" , "foreign noblewoman" , "noble foreign lady" , "High-ranking female" .)