Travel to beautiful Tuscany with Lina who, still grieving her mother’s death, is forced to spend time with a father she never knew. But Lina isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine or fairy-tale landscape. All Lina wants to do is go back home...until she’s given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy.
Suddenly, Lina is uncovering a world of magic and romance. It’s a world that inspires her, along with the ever so charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and uncover a secret that has been kept for far too long—a secret that will change everything Lina thought to be true.
In the green hills of Ireland, Lina’s best friend Addie is just trying to make it through her aunt’s over-the-top destination wedding, hoping that she can stop thinking about the one thing she did that left her miserable and heartbroken—and threatens her future. But her brother, Ian, isn’t about to let her forget.
But when Addie discovers an unusual guidebook, Ireland for the Heartbroken, their travel plans change. Soon, Addie finds herself on a whirlwind tour of the Emerald Isle with Ian and his Irish-accented friend, Rowan. And as the trio journeys through magical forests and past countless castles, Addie hopes her guidebook will heal not only her broken heart, but also her shattered relationship with her brother.
No matter where Lina and Addie’s travels take them, one thing is true: romance and adventure are on the horizon.
A book of two halves, almost literally; Gelato is just a little bit longer than Luck. I'll review them separately.
Gelato is a sweet, frothy book. The prologue is a little confusing, though; I didn't realise exactly what was happening until a bit later, but maybe it's designed that way. I liked Ren, and Thomas (or omas as my book insisted on calling him) was perfectly nice.
I was reading a proof book and I'm sure this won't be an issue in the finished book, but every time a word started with Th those letters were missing. Which meant my book was littered with is, ese, ose, omas - you get the idea. It kept me from getting fully absorbed in the story because I kept having to figure out what I was reading. It's a shame, because I think I would have been absorbed in it otherwise. The descriptions are amazing - the author clearly knows and loves the areas she's writing about.
That leads us on to Luck. As above, the descriptions are great. After really enjoying Gelato I thought this one would be great as well. But sadly, it just didn't hold up. My main problem is Rowan. He does not talk like an Irish person. He talks like an American. We don't have freeways. We don't say Mom. There's dozens of other examples. (You also can't get Sugar Puffs anymore...)
As a romance, it was sort of ok. Otherwise, no.
It's definitely worth reading Gelato. Luck is...eeeeh. Maybe if you're not Irish the discrepancies won't be as obvious to you.
Love & Other Detours publishes on the 1st of September, 2020.
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