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 go back home.
But then she 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 her, 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 she 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.
You ever feel transported to the place your books take you, whether that be some fantastical land that exists entirely in a collective imagination or a place that you can literally touch and feel? Well, Love & Gelato has swept me off my feet to land safely on the grounds of an American Cemetery outside of Florence, Italy. I never wanted to travel more than right now (not a great thing to feel in the midst of an ongoing pandemic and travel restrictions).
There are so many things in my head and heart with this novel. It can be summarized in 3 parts.
Setting and Travel
Italy is a gorgeous place, and I wish I had the chance to visit its Tuscany charm or walk the big cities at my own pace. While this book is solidly a cute romantic story (more on this later), it also does an amazing job taking you to a place you may not have ever gone to in your life. I most certainly googled a bunch of locations and famous sights mentioned throughout, almost feeling that tangible sense like I can close my eyes and pretend I’m tasting gelato on my tongue and hear the sights of a crowded piazza. It shines through that the author has spent time in this beautiful country and know it by more than mere research. There is a deep sense of love and respect for this place that shines through every word describing the next sight Lina takes in.
In the latest thrilling collaboration from #1 New York Times bestselling author and “Queen of Suspense” Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke, television producer Laurie Moran must solve the kidnapping of her fiancée’s nephew—just days before her wedding.
Television producer Laurie Moran and her fiancée, Alex Buckley, the former host of her investigative television show, are just days away from their mid-summer wedding, when things take a dark turn. Alex’s seven-year-old nephew, Johnny, vanishes from the beach. A search party begins and witnesses recall Johnny playing in the water and collecting shells behind the beach shack, but no one remembers seeing him after the morning. As the sun sets, Johnny’s skim board washes up to shore, and everyone realizes that he could be anywhere, even under water.
A ticking clock, a sinister stalker, and fresh romance combine in this exhilarating follow up to the bestselling You Don’t Own Me—another riveting page-turner from the “Queen of Suspense” Mary Higgins Clark and her dazzling partner-in-crime Alafair Burke.
“Queen of Suspense” is totally correct! While I haven’t read her works before, Mary Higgins Clark definitely does a great job of stretching out the tension and building upon it throughout an entire novel. At moments she lets the tension go a bit slack just to reel you in, before snapping it right back taut. Masterfully manipulated suspense was definitely one of my thoughts as I read through this thriller.
Piece of My Heart centres around a few parallel plotlines, multiple families, each experiencing some sort of tragic loss. The novel takes us through the journey of how these families recover from the tragedies of their past and move forward, all within the suspense of a kidnapping. Many questions are posed from the beginning, and the layers of suspense grows and grows from the beginning all the way to the climax and the denouement.
A new love, a secret sister, and a summer she’ll never forget.
From the beloved author of Tweet Cute comes Emma Lord’s You Have a Match, a hilarious and heartfelt novel of romance, sisterhood, and friendship…
When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it’s mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie…although ever since the B.E.I. (Big Embarrassing Incident) with Leo, things have been awkward on that front.
But she didn’t know she’s a younger sister.
When the DNA service reveals Abby has a secret sister, shimmery-haired Instagram star Savannah Tully, it’s hard to believe they’re from the same planet, never mind the same parents — especially considering Savannah, queen of green smoothies, is only a year and a half older than Abby herself.
The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp (obviously) and figure out why Abby’s parents gave Savvy up for adoption. But there are complications: Savvy is a rigid rule-follower and total narc. Leo is the camp’s co-chef, putting Abby’s growing feelings for him on blast. And her parents have a secret that threatens to unravel everything.
But part of life is showing up, leaning in, and learning to fit all your awkward pieces together. Because sometimes, the hardest things can also be the best ones.
“If you learn to capture a feeling, it’ll always be louder than words.”
A good dive into sisterly bonds and family secrets, it definitely leaned into those elements but took its sweet time building up to a point where we might fully care about the secrets it can unearth.
Abby is the kind of protagonist where I don’t fully understand so it can be hard to find sympathy for her in certain occasions. She has no plans for the future, demeans those who find work through sources she thinks isn’t the most fun (like, she asks, do influencers even love what they do?), and plays jokes that take it a step too far because someone told on her for breaking multiple camp rules.
That someone being her sister, the one she didn’t know she had. I fully love and understand Savvy a lot more, and this book may have been different if I got to see it through her lens instead. She was a rule follower but she also balanced compassion too, not just a cold, robotic figure who doesn’t care about anything else.
But let me backtrack a little and explain my thoughts on this book. I came in with super high expectations (yet again, this is a Reese’s book club choice so it must be halfway decent right? AND it’s Emma Lord). I don’t know why I thought this would be more focused on the romance, or at least half of the book would be about Savvy and half about Leo. It didn’t turn out that way.
I loved the bits of Leo’s characterization we got to see. He unfortunately was more off-page than I had hoped while Savvy took centre stage during most of the book. He kept the peace but still spoke his mind when he wanted to steer Abby away from another harebrained scheme that bordered on reckless. He was a brilliant budding chef (I’ve been watching MasterChef lately and I could just picture Leo in such a competition) and teased his friends good-naturedly.
So the romance is limited, and pretty cliched if you think about it. I like you but am too afraid to tell you. He likes me but just didn’t find the right time to tell me. Timing is always off, but will it ever be right? It almost felt pointless to have the romance aspect of it except to be the excuse for Abby’s perpetual anxiety. I don’t feel it had to be this way. There are plenty of other things she could and was worried about.
While the pacing was slow for a lot of it, I did eventually grow curious about Abby and Savvy’s history and how their separation came to be. It had good resolution, even if a little predictable, but it was nice to see how family can work things out together with better communication.
However, if its purpose was to give me the feels, it also fell short on that. The only aspect of this book that gave me any sort of tingle was Abby’s grandfather who had passed away prior to this story.
Usually I’m not sad when people bring up Poppy, because I’m already thinking about him most of the time. He’s in the weight of his old camera strapped to my shoulder, in the periphery of every photo I take, squinting at the same views and humming his approval.
Maybe I’m just sentimental, especially about grandparents due to my own upbringing, but having Poppy there was a good touch to a book that just fell short emotionally for me on every other level. I just couldn’t bring myself to care tremendously unless I put in a lot of effort to.
If you’re looking for a sweet romantic read, there are many out there (including Emma’s debut) that are by far more well-suited to that. This book is about family, and the secrets we keep and the issues we bury until they come exploding out. If you come into knowing that’s what you’ll get, it may be better for you.
But even then, don’t expect the waterworks to come exploding.
Overall Recommendation:
You Have a Match sounds like it has the makings of a good romance and heartfelt sister reunion, but the product just fell short from its description. The focus definitely was on Abby and Savvy’s family secrets (how did she become adopted?!), while the crush on Leo was just relegated to the anxious headspace Abby constantly carries around with her. A lot more thinking about him than actually talking to him here. While the family aspect could be entertaining, you have to invest pretty deep into the book to get the answers you’ve come for. This wasn’t the worst book by far, but it definitely didn’t meet my high expectations for being a Reese’s book club pick.
Down the Rabbit Hole 