Title: Love & Gelato
Author: Jenna Evans Welch
Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Form: Paperback
Book Description: Love & Gelato
Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
A summer in Italy turns into a road trip across Tuscany in this sweeping debut novel filled with romance, mystery, and adventure.
Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home.
But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything Lina knew about her mother, her father—and even herself.
People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more.
Book Review ~ Love & Gelato
*Spoilers (a bit)*
You'll want to know more about Carolina's adventures in this book. Mixed feelings and more from this book. I am soooo happy to have read this! - Ara @ My Book and My Coffee
Stracciatella, please? 10 scoops. Too much?
Carolina just lost her mom and now, her grandma sends her to Florence, Italy to go live with her father (who lives in a cemetery). Real father or not? Is he a father because he loved her mother? Or is he the mysterious X? Find out for yourself.
Awkward, awkward, awkward situation, I know.
Carolina's character is easily relatable because her being a teenager, losing someone important in her life, and taking on new adventures are something most of us have or had experienced in our own personal lives. And to be with a stranger at a certain time like that, and in a different country would be too much to handle - teenager or adult. I think she's brave for even doing the things that she did.
Italy is a magical place, so I'm told. Haven't been but I've been to some parts of Europe already. The author made sure that we can also visualize what Carolina's seeing while she's there whether it's a Piazza or a secret bakery somewhere.
Lorenzo or Ren - maybe it's fate that brought him and Carolina together but all I can say is that it must have been sooooo nice to have someone that you can be comfortable with almost right away, given her situation.
The journal. Oh yes, there's a journal. Too many emotions. Sadness, joy, awe, anger, frustration, and more. Sometimes, the truth hurts (we all know this) but Carolina did what she had to do to find out more about where she came from. For me, it is better to know than to fantasize something that you don't have any idea about. To know is to fill the void, to answer questions that matter to you. To help you decide what will matter and what will not in the end. I understand this completely.
I like the ending very much. Well, I do like happy endings. Hint hint.
If you like romance with a little bit of mystery and adventure, don't hesitate to go and get this book.
Thanks for reading! Have you read this book yet? What did you think about it? Feel free to comment below or send a tweet!
