Review: One Hot Italian Summer

Ready for a hot summer read? Karina Halle has you covered with her latest book, One Hot Italian Summer. This is the read we all need during a pandemic when we can't travel yet want (need?) to escape. I had a wonderful time with Grace and Claudio in sunny Italy and I think many other readers will enjoy it as well.

Here's the synopsis:

After the death of her best friend and writing partner, Grace Harper is struggling both with grief, and with her next novel, the first one she’ll have to write alone.

Fortunately, her new powerhouse agent, the formidable Jana Lee, has a solution for her. She can stay at her villa in Tuscany for a month, soak in the sunshine, relax, and find her confidence again. After all, Jana has a lot riding on Grace’s next book, and the last thing she wants is for her reputation as a “super-agent” to be tarnished.

At first the villa is a dream come true for Grace – that is until Claudio Romano shows up one day with his ten-year old son, Vanni, in tow. Turns out, this is Claudio’s house, and Claudio happens to be her agent’s ex-husband from long ago. Thanks to their annual father and son bonding trip being cancelled, Claudio and Vanni are here to stay.

So is Grace.

With the three of them sharing the same house, Grace’s writing plans are thrown out the window. But even if she’s not pounding the keyboard, she’s still finding beauty and inspiration... in none other than Claudio. He's unlike any man Grace has met before. He’s smart, charming, and wickedly sexy, plus a great father to Vanni. He’d be the perfect summer fling – if only he wasn’t completely off-limits.

But as the hot Italian summer wears on, Grace and Claudio are destined to succumb to the heat, no matter how hard they try to resist each other. One steamy encounter with Claudio could affect Grace’s chances of starting her career over.

Or he could be exactly what she needs.

This is a slow burn romance. You know (and hope) Grace and Claudio will get together but it takes almost half the book before they give into the tension between them. Sometimes slow burns drive me nuts but Halle does this one so well. I wanted the pair to finally hop into bed but the teasing and flirting and figuring out what they really want and need in life? Ooh, it was a delight to read just as much as the start of the physical relationship.

The setting of this novel was as much a part of the story as the characters, I thought. Italy was a fresh start for Grace, who was finding Edinburgh hard to deal with after the death of her best friend and writing partner. I've never been to Italy but I know Halle has so I really trusted the picture she was painting...with her words (that's weird to write but you know what I mean, right?). Perhaps it helped that it was incredibly hot in my part of Canada as I was reading this but I felt like I was right there at Villa Rosa with Grace, Claudio, and Vanni. In fact, Halle's powers of persuasion were so great that I decided to pour a glass of wine (or three) instead of cracking open the beer I had fully planned on having. It just seemed wrong to enjoy a craft brew when Grace was drinking a cold glass of white wine.

Grace had a lot of issues she needed to work out before she could give into Claudio (which helped with the slow burn...I knew it would be so much better for the waiting). She was still dealing with an immense amount of grief and hadn't really been able (or willing) to release it. Not only that, but she was feeling a bit like a fraud when it came to her writing. Her confidence was pretty much non-existent, which Claudio helps with. She does accuse him of trying to "fix" her but I thought he responded well and rationally. She was in a spiral and couldn't see that he wasn't controlling her or making her into something she wasn't (not the kind of dudes Halle writes). He could see what was inside her and was helping that part of herself emerge - just like he would with his sculptures.

Like almost all of Halle's novels, there's a balance of sweet and (very) sexy as well as light and dark. There's humour but there's also a lot of heavy topics - death of a loved one and feelings of abandonment being the two most prevalent. I love how Halle is able to write so many of these scenes and feelings so well and it's part of why I keep reading her new titles.

One Hot Italian Summer is a must-read for anyone who likes books with a romance. I'd also recommend Karina Halle's latest novel to anyone who just likes a really good story. There's a depth to this novel I know many people won't expect and I encourage you all to give it a try. The time you "spend" in Italy will be thoroughly enjoyed. 

About Karina

Karina Halle is a former travel writer, music journalist & screenwriter, and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal & USA Today Bestselling author of over 55 bestselling novels, ranging from horror and suspense to contemporary romance. She lives on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband, and her adopted pitbull Bruce, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails and devours a lot of books.

Halle is represented by the Root Literary Agency and is both self-published and published by Simon & Schuster, Hachette & Montlake. Her work has been translated and published in 20 languages. 

Hit her up on Instagram at @authorHalle, on Twitter at @MetalBlonde and on Facebook. You can also visit www.authorkarinahalle.com and sign up for the newsletter for news, excerpts, previews, private book signing sales and more.

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*An egalley of this novel was provided by the author via Valentine PR in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*