[REVIEW] Love & Gelato

title: Love Gelato (Love & Gelato #1)
author: Jenna Evans Welch
narrator: Rebekkah Ross
genre: young adult, romance
published: August 16, 2016 by Simon & Schuster Audio
my copy: audiobook, 8 hrs 17 mins
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Fully Booked
rating: 4 / 5 stars
goodreads

A summer in Italy turns into a road trip across Tuscany in this sweeping debut novel filled with romance, mystery, and adventure. 

Lina is spending the summer in Tuscany, but she isn’t in the mood for Italy’s famous sunshine and fairy-tale landscape. She’s only there because it was her mother’s dying wish that she get to know her father. But what kind of father isn’t around for sixteen years? All Lina wants to do is get back home. 

But then Lina is given a journal that her mom had kept when she lived in Italy. Suddenly Lina’s uncovering a magical world of secret romances, art, and hidden bakeries. A world that inspires Lina, along with the ever-so-charming Ren, to follow in her mother’s footsteps and unearth a secret that has been kept for far too long. It’s a secret that will change everything Lina knew about her mother, her father—and even herself. 

People come to Italy for love and gelato, someone tells her, but sometimes they discover much more. 

Kirkus Reviews called Love & Gelato “a sure bet for fans of romance fiction,” while VOYA said readers “will find it difficult to put this book down.” Readers are about to discover a new place, a new romance, and a new talent.

fun read but not enough Gelato

I read this because Scribd Free Reads had me picking up books I'm not entirely sure I'll love. But who says no to free YA chick-lit romance? I've been eyeing this one since it came out but I've never been one to read YA contemporaries because I think I already outgrew them. But I enjoyed it this one 😊

MARCH WRAPUP (aka the month of social distancing)

Hi,

It seems that 2020 just gets wilder and wilder as each month come.

I wouldn't say I'm bored at home because I've been reading A LOT as you can see in this wrap up but WHOA I miss the outside world! I miss sports! I miss hockey. I miss baseball. I miss going to the mall. I miss going to the bookstore. I miss walking outside. I miss buying snacks.

I just miss the normal everyday life I always complain about!

books read

The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa | UnBound by Neal Shusterman | The Night is Darkening Round Me by Emily Brontë | Red Rising: Sons of Ares (Sons of Ares #1-6) by Pierce Brown (author), Rik Hoskin (co-author), Eli Powell (illustrator) | Red Rising: Sons of Ares, Vol. 2: Wrath (Sons of Ares #7-12) by Pierce Brown (author), Rik Hoskin (co-author), Eli Powell (illustrator) | Love & Gelato (Love & Gelato #1) by Jenna Evans Welch | Be Not Far from Me by Mindy McGinnis | First & Then by Emma Mills | The Huntress by Kate Quinn | The Conspiracy of Us (The Conspiracy of Us #1) by Maggie Hall

[REVIEW] The Mist

title: The Mist
author: Stephen King
genre: adult, horror
published: June 5, 2018  by Scribner ( first published 1980)
my copy: Trade Paperback, 176 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4.5 / 5 stars
goodreads

In the wake of a summer storm, terror descends...David Drayton, his son Billy, and their neighbor Brent Norton join dozens of others and head to the local grocery store to replenish supplies following a freak storm. Once there, they become trapped by a strange mist that has enveloped the town. As the confinement takes its toll on their nerves, a religious zealot, Mrs. Carmody, begins to play on their fears to convince them that this is God’s vengeance for their sins. She insists a sacrifice must be made and two groups—those for and those against—are aligned. Clearly, staying in the store may prove fatal, and the Draytons, along with store employee Ollie Weeks, Amanda Dumfries, Irene Reppler, and Dan Miller, attempt to make their escape. But what’s out there may be worse than what they left behind. 

This exhilarating novella explores the horror in both the enemy you know—and the one you can only imagine.

great combination of scifi and horror

II saw the movie a few months back and I became extremely curious of the novel as I've also found out that they concluded differently. BUT either way, I will still be reading it because of my interest on how the characters fear are presented in the book. And I have to say that my expectations were well met.

FEBRUARY WRAPUP (aka my first impromptu #readathon month)

Hi,

February was short but I was so glad that I still managed to read 4 books! I read most of the 3 books in one day when I was able to have an entire day reading which helped me keep up with my goodreads reading challenge.

But anyway, February felt  bit long for me. It was the start of Spring Training for MLB which was a good plus but still not my thing. But at least that's something (it's already opening month though. I'm hyped!). I also started watching more Netflix which is weird for me. I watched a couple of Studio Ghibli movies and Stranger Things and I finally finished Hannibal. Also watched To All the Boys...: PS I Still Love You AND All the Bright Places adaptations! That feels a lot for me since I'm never the watching type of person. So that's new.

Also, I went to Stickercon Manila with my sister. I hoarded so much. Spent like $30-ish worth of stickers. idk. I shouldn't let this happen again to be honest. Because also in this same month, I bought couple of new books and also pre-ordered a couple of somewhat expensive books. The next few months will be about me saving my money for sure.

books read

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami | Divergent (Divergent, #1) by Veronica Roth | No Longer Human Junji Ito (manga), Osamu Dazai (story) | Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

BOOKS FROM THE BACKLOG #2

Hi,

Books from the Backlog is a weekly feature hosted by Carole @ Carole's Random Life in Books. I'm doing double features every other week: one physical book and one ebook. I'm picking my physical books through my TBR jar. For my ebooks, I'll just pick whichever catches my attention.

[REVIEW] Well Met

title: Well Met
author: Jen DeLuca
genre: adult, romance
published: September 3, 2019 by Berkley Books
my copy: Paperback, International Edition, 319 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4 / 5 stars
goodreads

All's faire in love and war for two sworn enemies who indulge in a harmless flirtation in a laugh-out-loud rom-com from debut author, Jen DeLuca.

Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?

The faire is Simon's family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn't have time for Emily's lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she's in her revealing wench's costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they're portraying?

This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can't seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon, or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.

cute and quick!

I read this because I had the sudden interest to read chick lit romance after loving One Day in December (although it's exactly a chick lit romance?).

Well Met follows Emily who arrives at the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland after a disastrous relationship. She's there to help out her sister, April, as she recovers from a car accident. While Emily helps out her sister, she was pushed to join the local renaissance fair as a guardian to her niece where she plays the role of a wench and meets the serious and somewhat rude head of the fair, Simon.

I did an impromptu 24hr #readathon

Hi,

Last Tuesday was a holiday in my country and because of how my Sunday reading went so well, I decided to make Tuesday an impromptu #readathon for me. I literally decided it minutes before 12MN, the time which I started. lol.

no work tomorrow. i wanna try and read as much as i can for the next 24hrs 💪

1st hr: at pg426 of Divergent pic.twitter.com/MB6lDIc0hr

— czai au bellona (@czai_) February 24, 2020