LOVE & GELATO (COLLECTOR'S EDITION)
by Jenna Evans Welch
Available now
YA romance novel Love & Gelato completely passed me by on release. It dropped in 2016, and has since gained a loyal readership and an apparently not-so-great film adaptation in 2022. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the original novel, and with the occasion comes a really lovely collector's edition release. As a complete newbie to the novel, this is where I'm starting. And you know, this is pretty darn good.
The novel starts heavy: teenager Lina has just discovered that her mother has cancer and doesn't have long to live. And she's going off to Florence to live with "Howard," an old friend her mother cares for very much. In other words, her father. The following summer, she's living with a man she's never met before in the cemetery he looks after, allegedly preparing to go to a new school and trying to get her life sorted. And as all that is happening, she receives a surprise: her mother's diary from her time attending college in Florence. In other words, the story of who Howard is and where Lina comes from.
As Lina picks through the diary bit by bit, retracing her mother's steps, she also gets to know Lorenzo (Ren for short). Ren is half-American, friendly, and cute. He's also dating another girl in Lina's potential school. Hot British boy Thomas turns her head as well, but Ren is the one who helps her dig into her mother's diary, wants to impress Howard, and teaches her about the beautiful spots and delicious food all over Italy. Together, they read about her mother's love for "X" and their ill-fated relationship. But she soon learns that things aren't as they seem at first glance, and the reason for her mother's silence is far more complicated than she imagined.
What makes Love & Gelato a stronger read than most YA rom-coms that find their way to me is the fact that it has multiple focuses, and Lina and Ren's romance isn't the be-all end-all. It's important, sure. But ultimately, this is a book about a girl connecting with her mother when she thought she had lost that chance. There's a real love for Italy baked into this story, with so much of it digging into hidden gems, folklore, and even an admission of the less pleasant sides of life there. It does have its fairly generic teen romance story arc, but everything surrounding it made this a better read than I was expecting.
This collector's edition also features a bonus short story taking place on the night of Lina and Ren's Act 3 falling out. It follows Thomas, the jilted lover, from his point of view as he recovers from the situation with Lina and discovers his own romance may be closer at hand than he thoughts. You can really see the evolution of Welch's writing here, and it's a lovely read at the end of everything.
TEA PAIRING: Letters of Lavender
For a story about two romances across the years connected by a single piece of correspondence, this lavender Earl Grey is a perfect match. The floral and bergamot blend is inspired by love letters, and perhaps that is what one could consider the diary at the center of this story. Use my code KARA15 for 15% off this and other literary-inspired teas from Chapters Tea & Co.!
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