“Love & Gelato” by Jenna Evans Welch

Sixteen year old Lina is having a very rough year. Her mother just died after a short battle with cancer leaving her alone. During the four months she was sick, Hadley began to tell her daughter wild stories from her youth with a “friend” named Howard and now that she is gone Lina’s grandmother has just announced that Howard is actually Lina’s father. Her mother’s dying wish was for Lina to go and live with this stranger that she only just learned existed. One other plot twist in Lina’s already bad year was that she was going to have to leave her home and friends in Seattle because Howard lives in Florence, Italy. Where Hadley and Howard met. The year Lina was conceived. Upon arriving in Italy, Lina finds out that Howard is a caretaker for a World War II Memorial and lives inside a cemetery. Could this get any worse? Before she died Hadley had her journal from her time in Florence shipped to the cemetery and it found its way to Lina. She begins to discover the city along with her mother, entry by entry. In Hadley’s journal, the letter X is used to refer to the man Lina assumes is her father but when she presses Howard on some of the stories that Hadley shares he seems to know nothing about them. Is Howard really her father? Who is X and why did Hadley send her half way across the world to live with this man that may or may not be her father? Love & Gelato will have you reaching for your passport (or at least Google) to see for your self the gorgeous Italian landmarks that Lina visits on her journey. Jenna Evans Welch has written a sweet read for Young Adult readers and up. Her second book Love & Luck takes place in Ireland. I look forward to picking that one up! 

Pick up a copy of “Love & Gelato” here.