One Hot Italian Summer by Karina Halle: A Much-Needed Escape for Summer 2020

One Hot Italian Summer by Karina Halle

Published: July 30th, 2020

Publisher: Self-published

Tropes: Forbidden romance, single dad, forced proximity, holiday romance

Heat level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥

# of pages: 382

My rating: 4 stars

Acquired this book: From Valentine PR in exchange for honest consideration

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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.

 

The books of Karina Halle’s I’ve read typically fall into one of two categories: romcoms or super angsty contemporary romance. One Hot Italian Summer was somewhere in between - it was emotional without being angsty or dramatic, and it had Halle’s signature super-hot sexytimes. Add in a beautiful Italian setting and you have the perfect summer escape while the world is still in lockdown from the coronavirus.

 

Seeking inspiration and a break from rainy Edinburgh with its painful memories, Grace accepts an offer from her agent to spend a month at her villa in Italy. Grace has a lot of inner obstacles to overcome; she lost her best friend and writing partner, Robyn, a few months before, and hasn’t fully allowed herself to grieve yet. She's also afraid her inspiration and success came from Robyn and that she’ll have neither without her. She expects a quiet, solitary month in a beautiful, sun-drenched setting, but her plans are quickly derailed when the actual owner of the villa - her agent’s sexy Italian ex-husband, along with their son - return home unexpectedly.

 

As a writer myself, I love books about writers. It’s always interesting to get an inside look at how people work and the different processes they have. I related a lot to Grace’s feelings of self-doubt, her procrastination and distractions, and her search for inspiration. I loved that Claudio was an artist too - a sculptor - and that he encouraged Grace to own her art and her talent.

 

The sexual chemistry - and sexual tension - between these two was scorching hot, and I appreciated that it was a slow-burn romance where the pair had a chance to get to know each other and start to develop feelings before falling into bed together. Claudio was so passionate and romantic, and I enjoyed watching him helping Grace with her grief and also her uncertainty surrounding her career. He saw her potential and wanted her to see what he saw - that she was amazing and capable and could have and do anything she wanted. Grace really needed someone like Claudio who wanted to bring out the best in her, and she was able to do the same for him, even if she didn’t realize it. I also really enjoyed Claudio’s son, Vanni. He was hilarious and precocious, and he helped Grace in his own way too.

 

Full of romance and passion with a gorgeous setting that will make you feel like you’re really there, One Hot Italian Summer is a must-read this summer. 

Have you read One Hot Italian Summer? Have you read any books this summer that provided a much-needed escape from our current reality?

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*Please note I'm an Amazon affiliate, and some of the links in this review are affiliate links. All income made through affiliate sales goes directly back into maintaining Ramblings of a Daydreamer. Thank you for your support!

  

 

The Younger Man by Karina Halle: Emotional, Sensual, and Unforgettable

The Younger Man by Karina Halle
Published: December 11th, 2019
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Contemporary romance
Tropes: Forbidden romance, age-gap romance, sports romance 
Heat level: Smokin' hot!
# of pages: 500
My rating: 5 stars
Acquired this book: Through the author's publicity team in exchange for honest consideration. All thoughts are my own
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Starting over was her only option.

Forty years old and still reeling from a public and painful divorce, Thalia Blackwood is looking for a fresh start, somewhere far away from her upside down life. When she’s offered a new job as the sports therapist for a football (soccer) team, she jumps at the chance. This is just what she needs to leave the heartbreak and shame of Manchester behind, trading it in for the warmth and hopeful vibrancy of Madrid.

He was her only desire.

Twenty-three-year-old Alejo Albarado is rising up the ranks in his career. As the charming forward for the Real Madrid team, Alejo’s life revolves around women, parties, and being a tabloid darling, that is until the new sports therapist joins the team.

Their passion could not be ignored.

What starts out as a strictly professional relationship between Thalia and the young Spanish player, slowly evolves into something more. Much more.

Their relationship was forbidden.

But their combustible chemistry and simmering sexual tension can only go so far—should Thalia give into Alejo’s advances, she’s at risk of not only losing her job, but succumbing to a much younger man will drag her through the spotlight again.

Alejo might be worth that risk.

Unless he breaks her heart in the process.

One of my favourite books of 2019 was Karina Halle’s My Life in Shambles, so I was thrilled when I managed to score an ARC of The Younger Man. It was My Life in Shambles that made me truly appreciate Halle’s ability to squeeze your heart to the point of breaking it, and then put it back together again. After seeing some of the things she was saying about The Younger Man on Instagram, I had a feeling I was in for another emotional rollercoaster, and whoo boy, was I right. The Younger Man was full of passion, romance, angst, sensuality, and so much more.

I’ve never read an age-gap romance, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I appreciated that the stereotypes and double standards were addressed head-on - why is it okay for men to date younger women, but it’s ‘gross’ or ‘inappropriate’ or whatever other bs for an older woman to date a younger man? Why is a woman immediately labelled - and dismissed as - a ‘cougar’? I also appreciated that Alejo acted his age; he was impulsive and often driven by his emotions. When I was his age, I was in a relationship with someone who was thirteen years older, and I made a lot of mistakes and was insecure because I didn’t know any better, didn’t have the experience in life or love that someone who was over a decade older had. It all felt very real and relatable.

It was easy to get invested in these characters and their story. Both Thalia and Alejo had issues from the past that haunted them and affected how they dealt with things in the present. My heart ached for both of them...and it also raced because Halle sure knows how to write hotter-than-hell sexytimes! The forbidden aspect was incredibly sexy, and then throw in the fact that as a young, super-fit football player, Alejo had more stamina than the Energizer Bunny, and it made for a lot of really steamy scenes. I loved watching Thalia and Alejo get to know each other, resist their feelings, and fall deeper and deeper for each other. I rooted for them from beginning to end and basically spent the last hour of the book tearing up or outright crying. These two overcame so much - separately and together - and they earned their happily ever after.

Two more things I want to note: sports romances aren’t typically my thing, but this book actually made me want to watch football (and made me want to visit Spain!). I felt like I was there while the guys were training and during their games - I was part of the game, feeling the excitement and the tension and the thrill of it all. The second thing is Thalia’s struggles with mental health. She talks honestly from the beginning about her depression, anxiety, and panic attacks, the fact she’s sought professional help and is on medication. As someone who has struggled with depression and anxiety for most of my life, I’m always grateful to see it on page, talked about openly and honestly.

There are now officially two of Karina Halle’s books on my Favourite Books of 2019 list: My Life in Shambles and The Younger Man. Thalia and Alejo truly came to life for me and felt like real people. I was completely immersed in their world. This book made me laugh and cry and feel ALL THE FEELS. I know it's one I'll be recommending often.

Have you read The Younger Man? Do you have a favourite sports romance? Or forbidden romance? Or age-gap romance?

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*Please note I'm an Amazon affiliate, and some of the links in this review are affiliate links. All income made through affiliate sales goes directly back into maintaining Ramblings of a Daydreamer. Thank you for your support!  

Review: After All by Karina Halle

After All by Karina Halle

Series: Standalone

Published: July 2nd, 2017

Publisher: Metal Blonde Books

310 pages (ebook)

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Acquired this book: Bought

Rating: 4 stars

Warning: May contain spoilers

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Emmett Hill is a perfect gentleman.

At least that's what his PR team wants the world to think.

Tall, handsome, and wickedly charming, Emmett is in the midst of a career comeback, having landed the role of a villain in a popular TV show. The only problem is, Emmett has come a long way from the "nice guy" characters he used to play and his old squeaky clean image is quickly being tarnished by bar fights, womanizing and bad boy behaviour. Considering he's two years shy of forty, it's an act he needs to drop. And fast.

Enter Alyssa Martin.

At twenty-eight, Alyssa is tired and ready for a change. Her job as office manager has grown stagnant and unfulfilling, while she's become continuously frustrated with Vancouver's lackluster dating scene, always searching for Mr. Right in a city of Mr. Wrongs.

When Emmett and Alyssa's paths cross at a mutual friend's wedding, their chemistry is off-the-charts hot, culminating in a steamy one-night stand.

What neither expected was for the media catch wind of their coupling - and run with it.

Now Emmett has to convince Alyssa to date him for the sake of his image. Her curvy, cute and "normal" persona is just the ticket to smoothing out his reputation, while Emmett provides Alyssa with the excitement and change her life has been lacking.

The only problem is, the two fight like cats and dogs outside of the bedroom.

And considering their arrangement is just for show, they shouldn't be in the bedroom with each other anyway.

Right?

Try telling them that.

After All is written by a Canadian, set in Canada, and features Canadian characters. Hallelujah! This is way too rare. Around Canada Day, I saw Karina Halle mention on Twitter that After All (and possibly her next few book?) was set in Canada, and honestly that’s what made me buy this one. I’d also just read and enjoyed Racing the Sun, which helped, but without even reading the synopsis, I bought After All the day it came out solely because I knew it was set in Canada.

After All features a sexy, dirty-talking TV star, Emmett Hill, and a sassy, prickly, independent ‘regular’ girl, Alyssa Martin. Both Emmett and Alyssa were well fleshed-out, and I appreciated that we got to learn about their backgrounds because it helped explain their motives for a lot of things. Their sexual chemistry was off the charts, and their banter was a lot of fun to read. Things were never easy for them, but because they were so obviously right for each other, it was easy to root for them. I also appreciated that while there was a bit of drama and some misunderstandings, the story was overall fairly low on the angst. These are the types of books I’m drawn to lately - light, funny, and sexy.

With several familiar and fun tropes at play, complex characters, and a great blend of humour, emotion, and romance, After All is a quick and enjoyable contemporary romance.

  

Have you read After All? What did you think? If you haven't read it, do you plan to? Have you read any of Halle's other books?

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