Love & Gelato

In the wake of her mother's death, Lina has been shipped to Italy for the summer to meet the father she didn't know existed. Lina is less than wild about the idea, but even with her consuming grief, Italy has its charms. And when an old acquaintance of her mom's gives Lina the journal her mom wrote while she was living in Italy, Lina becomes consumed by the mystery of how her mom and dad ended up where they did.

A charming YA romance that includes some heavy issues. The depictions of Lina's grief are well done and Welch also describes Italy beautifully, which is sure to ignite some wanderlust in its readers. While the mystery around her mom's time in Italy wasn't super mysterious for me, watching Lina come to the conclusions I had show more already reached was still great fun. Definitely an appealing read-alike for fans of [Anna and the French Kiss]. show less

Source: Barnes and Noble

I don’t often have the experience of completely losing myself in contemporary stories. That privilege is usually reserved for fantasy and sci-fi. Something about world building and magic and escape, I’m sure.

With that said, Jenna Evans Welch’ s Love & Gelato has changed that game. The bulk of the story takes place in one summer spent in Florence, through the eyes of high school studnet, Lina. She is making good on a promise she made to her mom (who recently passed due to pancreatic cancer) to visit her mom’s old friend and Lina’s biological dad who she has never met until stepping foot on Italian soil.

Though that set up seems significantly charged for emotion and drama as it is, Lina finds herself show more thrust a little deeper into the past when an old friend of her mom gives her a journal that her mom kept during her own time in the city.

Suddenly, everything Lina thought she knew turns inside out, bringing mystery, magic, and tears right along with her mother’s journal entries.

The story is so well done that I definitly found myself drifting off to the gorgeous Tuscan countryside, wrapped up in artists, green hills, vineyards, and galleries. The setting itself is magical but the humans involved in both the present and past timelines are so three dimensional and substantial that I kept having to remind myself it was fiction.

The cover doesn’t do the actual story justice as it looks like a fluffy little romance. It is truly deep in a soul-bearing way and filled with questions of identity, loyalty, and life purpose.

It’s the perfect summer read in that it is adorable but it also has an incredible amount of real emotion worked in.

I am off to find Welch’s second book, a spin-off about Ireland, which I’ve heard is also excellent. I highly recommend Love & Gelato if you haven’t already found yourself lost in its pages. show less

As a person who prefers staying at home to traveling, I felt like I could understand some of the stress Lina felt being sent to the "idyllic vacation spot" of Italy. This story was well-paced, balancing a new connection with Howard, a blossoming attraction to Ren, and a complicated history with her mom. I felt like the mystery portion of this book wrapped up well and left no loose ends. I loved the food experiences and I appreciated the validation given to legitimate grieving and the need for strong, dependable support systems. The reason this book gets three stars instead of four or five is because I felt like Lina didn't catch on to the particular nuances of the journal fast enough. It seriously took her forever. Plus, a little bit show more more communication on her part would have given her a lot more peace with a lot less angst. show less

"When we’re together, we make one whole Italian."

5/5 ⭐

This might be my new favorite romance book. I absolutely love it with my whole heart. It's the perfect amount of romance and written so well. I never caught myself cringing at any point.

Lina Emerson, the main character and the narrator, has to move to Italy because her mom dies (why's it that almost every tragedy in books is a parent dying). And once she's there she finds some secrets about her mom. And the book turns into this adventure of her unraveling the mysteries of her mom's past. I think that's one thing that made me love the book so much. The "mystery" aspect was so interesting to read. Anyway, she does all this with a boy she meets, Lorenzo Ferrara. And we basically see show more them find out everything together. And I loved every second of it.

I also loved her dad, Howard. I know he's biologically not her dad but still. I pictured him as one of those gentle giants. Maybe because he's such a sweetheart and lives in a cemetery. I loved watching Lina warm up to him and watching their relationship grow.
I loved that we could read her mom's journal. I think it added so much to the story to see another perspective. And we read not one, but two women falling in love in Italy which I loved.

5 stars. If someone asked for a romance recommendation, this would be the first thing I think of.
Reading this book made me remember why I love reading. show less

This book was so stinkin' cute! I admit for the longest time, I put off getting it because I really thought it would be terrible (because I really don't like contemporary mainly and it just didn't sound that interesting to me.)

*waits for the angry crowd to quiet down*

Horrible of me, I know. Happy to let y'all know, I was totally wrong about that. Lol. Everyone I know whether they were on goodreads, Instagram, Facebook, pretty much everyone who had the book long before me, absolutely loved this book. So I broke down and bought it. So. Freaking. Glad. I Did.

Love & Gelato was beautiful. It's this magical thing (for lack of a better word) that makes you feel like you are really there. You are Lina. Every up and down she goes through just show more rips at your heart and doesn't let go. There is no possible way you can actually put the book down because .. well... there is just no way. Lol You want to know what happens. You NEED to know.

Every character is unforgettable. I have never read a book before where I can remember every character big OR little because they made such a impact.

I only had one single issue with this book and that was the whole Ren and Lina bit at the end. I hated that people all knew he had a girlfriend and they still told Lina to "go for it!" to try to win him. Like he is a prize or something. That just bugs me. The whole "go for it" bit was almost enough to ruin this book for me because you are legit telling her it is okay to flirt/hit-on someone who is already in a relationship. Which made me see Lina as a homewreaker. It turned my stomach. I wanted to stop reading but I am glad it all worked out in the end. But it still doesn't change the fact that these grown-ups were telling her that it was totally okay to pursue him. I can see WHY they did but that still doesn't make it right.

That was literally the only problem I had with this book. Besides that, it was a gripping, heart tugging, unforgettable ride. I wish I could put my feelings into words about how the ending felt. It was bittersweet. Like seeing a friend off, who is about to start this amazing life. It gives you warm fuzzy feelings but is also kinda sad.

I loved this book. I would recommend it. show less

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but it is because her mom just died of cancer and she's going to live with? stay with? her mom's friend, Howard, who she's never met. Her grandmother tells her Howard is her father. She doesn't know what to think. When she arrives in Italy she finds that she'll be living in the caretakers house in a graveyard for American soldiers who died in World War II. Despite all the awkward uncertainty, she kind of bonds with Howard even though there are lots of secrets between them. When Sonia gives her the journal her mother sent of her time in Italy, Lina feels like she may be on the cusp of figuring out why her mom wanted her to come stay here and more insight into her mom's past. A sweet, satisfying show more story with a main character who is complex and likeable. A first love. This book left me wanted to get some gelato! show less

This was a great book to kick-off my summer reading! I loved the whole Italian experience that came with this book and it has me wanting to get a plane ticket and just spend the next few months in Italy! Heck, I felt like I was there - it was written beautifully!

I loved getting to know Lina's mom through her old journal. It was the perfect way to intertwine the present with the past and help Lina make sense of why her mom wanted her to go to Italy.

The story had its ups and downs, but overall it was a light read (which wasn't to be totally expected with the beginning of the story). I enjoyed the mystery of Lina's father and how that turned out. Another aspect I loved was the character growth and the budding romance between Lina and show more Ren.

Overall this book had me feeling giddy at the end and I highly recommend it! show less