A Touch of Southern Grace : Love & Gelato

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Love & Gelato

I usually have a stack of books by my bed that I have not have not read yet; I like to stock up on a few books. You just don’t know what might strike your fancy around eleven o’clock at night when you are in need of a new book to read and most bookstores are unfortunately closed around that time of night. So in my honest opinion it is always a good thing to have a few unread books on hand.

I bought Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch a few months ago at Target of all places. I am usually much more of a get lost in a really good bookstore type of person, but let’s face facts, Target is like a black hole you get sucked into and walk out of the store with way more than what was on your shopping list, that you promised yourself you were going to actually stick to this time. In full admission I bought the book, Love and Gelato, solely for the fact that has ice cream cones on the cover and ‘gelato’ in the title – when has ice cream ever steered anyone in the wrong direction?

Love and Gelato falls in the young adult category, but makes for the perfect escape when you need to get your mind of your personal life, work life or what ever else might be going on that you need a distraction from.

After an unfortunate turn of events Lina is on her way to spend her summer in Tuscany and maybe in stay there permanently. The only reason Lina agreed to the trip is because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. And of course the natural reaction to this is what kind of father around for sixteen years and what an undesirable situation to be in – which is exactly what Lina’s thought were.

Once Lina gets over the first week of awkwardness of meeting and living with someone who she has never met she starts to fall into a routine and even starts to like Tuscany. When Lina acquires a journal that belonged to her mother years ago when she was in photograph school in Italy Lina is suddenly uncovering the magical life of Tuscany and getting to know a different side of her mother she did not know existed and her life in Tuscany at the time.

Lina along with her newfound friend and possible love interest, Ren, began to follow in her mother’s footsteps and come across secrets and new discoveries that have been kept from Lina. Along her journey Lina discovers things about herself, her mother, father, and a secret that will change everything.

Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch is the perfect weekend read for a little escape to Italy and whatever happens to be on your mind. I honestly started reading this book Monday night and was finished with it by Wednesday {last night}; it is an endearing page-turner of a book.