Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch is an excellent and interesting romance novel. Lina just lost her mother to cancer and is sent to live with Howard, an American man who lives in an American cemetery in Italy, and Lina was just told recently that he is her dad. She gets off to a rocky start, both with Howard and with some people at the cemetery, but things take an interesting turn when she is given a journal that belonged to her late mother when she lived in Italy and was going to college. Lina meets a neighbor boy named Ren, and together they go on adventures, following in her mother’s footsteps and experiencing some of the things that she experienced, with their own added drama, of course! Lina grows a stronger connection with her mother and learns more about herself, her mother, and her relationships with others throughout this entertaining book. This book is also told from the perspective of Lina. I love this book, and it ranks towards the top of my top ten favorite books. I really like the romantic aspect of it, and combined with all the Italian sights and food (especially the gelato), it is a fantastic book. I also like all of the details, and of course all of the dynamic characters and the drama and background of each of them. Some of the experiences in this book are better than others, but all are equally interesting and intriguing.

The ending is definitely my favorite part of the book, but there are several other parts of the book that are just as good! This novel is full of many twists and turns, and there are several surprises that can catch you off guard! I also really like that the author incorporated actual Italian words and dialogue and added little fun facts throughout the entire novel. I do not think that there is really any part of this book that I do not like, just the occasional frustrating scene where there is miscommunication between the characters that just causes more drama! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes romance books or to anyone who has a dream to go live in Italy. I would also recommend this book to anyone who is looking to read about a sweet relationship between an unusual family and who is a fan of food and Italian lifestyles. I would absolutely recommend this novel to anyone who is looking for interesting places to visit while in Italy because there is a lot of historical information and accuracy in this novel. I actually researched some of the places that the characters visited and words they used just to see what they looked like so I could better imagine them, and they did not disappoint! I would also recommend this book to anyone who likes reading about teenage adventures and who also likes reading about both good female and male characters.

Overall, this book is a beautifully written, enchanting, and cute romantic novel that will have anyone who reads it swooning over at least one of the sweet characters that grace the pages of this book!

Check out Love and Gelato from the Newport Beach Public Library.