If someone told me, “Hey, pack your bags, you’re going to live in Tuscany with a man you’ve never met, and oh yeah, your dead mom may have had a secret Italian love story,” I would respond with a nervous breakdown. However, when Lina has to go through exactly that, her life turns into a twisty adventure called “Love & Gelato.”
After her mother’s passing, Lina is shipped off to Italy to live with Howard, a man who may or may not be her father (surprise!). She’s not thrilled about it—understandably, because again: dead mom, mystery dad, foreign country. But everything shifts when she’s handed her mom’s old journal, which basically becomes her guidebook through Florence’s cobblestone streets as she follows in her mother’s footsteps and begins to uncover a whole side of her mom’s past she never knew about. It’s kind of like “Mamma Mia” but with less ABBA and more emotional scavenger hunts through Italian graveyards.
At first, I expected a fluffy summer romance with some pretty scenery thrown in. And while the book does have its swoony picturesque moments, what surprised me was how it hit emotionally. Welch doesn’t shy away from the messiness of grief. Lina is confused, angry, scared and deeply unsure of everything, and that vulnerability gives the story heart. The journal doesn’t just tell Lina where to go, it makes her look at who her mom really was: a girl who made mistakes but tried to do her best. And watching Lina process that truth adds layers to the story that I wasn’t really expecting.
Lina is a genuinely likable protagonist. She’s snarky, guarded and reacts like an actual teenager. She makes rash decisions, judges people too quickly and occasionally drowns her feelings in dessert (who hasn’t been there?). Her relationship with Howard is awkward and slow-growing in the best way. It’s not about instantly bonding but navigating their shared grief and uncertainty together, one weird museum visit at a time.
And then there’s Ren: our floppy-haired, sweet Italian boy. He’s charming without being annoying, funny without trying too hard and refreshingly nontoxic (a rare breed in most romances). Ren doesn’t exist just to support Lina; he has his own baggage and awkward family dynamic. Their relationship is sweet and slow and, of course, full of banter that doesn’t feel forced. Plus, their “dates” include sneaking into cemeteries and climbing rooftops, which is the new peak romance.
The setting is, of course, beautiful. I mean, it’s Italy. Welch’s description is like a postcard, with ancient buildings glowing in the sunset and secret gardens tucked away behind ivy-covered walls. I also like that Florence is more than just a backdrop too, since it’s a part of Lina’s healing journey as she wanders its streets. It helps capture the total escapism of the book that gives more weight than your average “girl meets boy abroad” plot.
And let’s not forget the mom’s journal. This thing is the emotional MVP of the entire book. It’s dramatic, heartfelt and full of revelations. Through it, we meet Lina’s mom not as a perfect memory-box parent, but as a flawed passionate teenager trying to figure her life out just like Lina. It adds a mystery element to the plot that keeps things moving, but it also gives Lina a sense of connection in this foreign place. It connects Lina to her mom in a way that’s both beautiful and bittersweet (and also wildly entertaining, because her mom had drama).
If you’re in the mood for a feel-good story that still manages to hit you in the emotions, “Love & Gelato” delivers. It’s part travel diary, part mystery, part coming-of-age story, and all-around summer fun. It doesn’t pretend that grief is easy or that love fixes everything, but it does show how messy and magical life can be when you start letting people in—and that sometimes healing looks a lot like riding a Vespa too fast down a narrow street. And if you are curious but don’t have the time to commit to the full book, it was recently adapted into a Netflic movie (though, spoiler alert: the book is always better than the movie). I rate it four out of five stars. Did it check off my bucket list of summer romances? Yes. Did it make me Google “cheap flights to Florence this summer” at 2 a.m.? Also yes.
