“I made the wrong choice.”
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 she 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 she 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.
Love & Gelato Review
I really enjoyed Love and Gelato! I bought the book on a total whim while searching for books on my Kobo. I’m always looking for cute and light reads, so I quickly picked up Love and Gelato!
Love and Gelato follows Lina, a teenager who spends her summer in Italy after the death of her mother. When she arrives in Italy, she receives a journal which happens to belong to her mother.
The journal chronicles her mother’s experiences while studying abroad for college in Italy. Because of the journal, Lina experiences an amazing journey in Italy! One that involves confusion, mystery, secrets, love, trust, happiness and obviously, gelato.
I really like this book! While the tone of her mother’s death is present throughout the book, Jenna Evans Welch lightens it up. I really love seeing her Lina’s mother’s thoughts through the journal, because it’s really upligting.
I have to say, one of my favourite parts of the novel is to read along with Lina as she discovers the most important moments of her mother’s life. It was entertaining and really enjoyable.
And can I just say … that love triangle? Love triangles can be a bit annoying to me. Mostly because they’re often repetitive or feel the same in each book. But I really enjoyed the suspense that came with Lina and Ren because of their seemingly platonic and complicated relationship.
With that, I found that the love triangle was fascinating and ultimately drew me deeper into the story. I ended up rooting for the underdog, but I’ll let you guess who that is!
The one issue I had with this novel is some confusion that comes with Lina’s character. The story is her about her experiences and learning about herself. But, she rarely follows through on suspicions or her feelings, which is frustrating.
Overall, Love and Gelato is a sweet and enjoyable contemporary book. It also happens to be a great debut novel, in my opinion!
Love and Gelato is an addicting read I couldn’t put down so I highly recommend you add it to your summer reading list!
Rating: ★★★★☆
Favourite Quote
You know, people come to Italy for all sorts of reasons, but when they stay, it’s for the same two things … love and gelato.
About the Author
Jenna Evans Welch was the kind of insatiable child reader who had no choice but to grow up to become a writer. She is the New York Times Bestselling author of Love & Gelato and the upcoming Love & Luck. When she isn’t writing girl abroad stories, Jenna can be found chasing her children or making elaborate messes in the kitchen. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her husband and two young children.
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