Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch #Bookreview

Title: Love and Gelato
Author:  Jenna Evans Welch
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published Date: May 2nd, 2017 by
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, YA, Italy
Format: Audiobook
Audio Time: 8hr 17 min

My Rating: ★ ★ ★

Goodreads Summary: 
A summer in Italy turns into a road trip across Tuscany in this New York Times bestselling 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.

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------

 My Review:

Lina is not only dealing with the loss of her mother but now the surprise that she is being sent to live with her father who she knows next to nothing about. Even though she really doesn't want to go and the prospect of living where she will is not comforting she does it anyway in order to please her grandmother.

Things start to look up though as she makes friends with Ren and starts getting to explore the city. I was a little unsure about her friendship with Ren because of things that had happened before they met. After getting to know him though and seeing their friendship grow slowly over time I really did like it, and I'm glad that it changed it to what it did.

“Hey, I just thought of something."
"What?"
"When we're together, we make one whole Italian.”   

I also really liked the mystery part of why her mom had left Italy so abruptly and who exactly she was talking about in her journal. I honestly didn't figure it out until the characters did. As for her father and their relationship I liked how it took them both a while to get comfortable with one another and how they had things in common without having ever known each other. Plus the added in surprise that I was not expecting.

Overall I really did enjoy this book, and I'm glad I took a chance with this contemporary.
I don't know what happening to me, but I'm actually looking for contemporary reads and enjoying them. I want to read more books like this as well, that are fun books in different countries outside of America as I've noticed that I do enjoy those more.

If you have any suggestions for contemporary reads in different countries please tell me them in the comments!