I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Love & Olives by Jenna Evans Welch
Series: Love & Gelato #3
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers on 11/10/20
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 509
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Liv Varanakis doesn’t have a lot of fond memories of her father, which makes sense—he fled to Greece when she was only eight. What Liv does remember, though, is their shared love for Greek myths and the lost city of Atlantis. So when Liv suddenly receives a postcard from her father explaining that National Geographic is funding a documentary about his theories on Atlantis—and will she fly out to Greece and help?—Liv jumps at the opportunity.

But when she arrives to gorgeous Santorini, things are a little…awkward. There are so many questions, so many emotions that flood to the surface after seeing her father for the first time in years. And yet Liv doesn’t want their past to get in the way of a possible reconciliation. She also definitely doesn’t want Theo—her father’s charismatic so-called “protégé”—to witness her struggle.

And that means diving into all that Santorini has to offer—the beautiful sunsets, the turquoise water, the hidden caves, and the delicious cuisine. But not everything on the Greek island is as perfect as it seems. Because as Liv slowly begins to discover, her father may not have invited her to Greece for Atlantis, but for something much more important.

Short and Sweet Review

Olive who prefers to be called Liv hasn’t seen her father in 9 years, when Liv was 8 he moved to Greece in pursuit of finding Atlantis. Now at 17 Liv is trying to figure out what she wants to do with her future and out of nowhere she gets a postcard from her father requesting her help with a project, her mother encourages her to go to Greece, and that’s how Liv ends up in Santorini meeting up with her father after 9 years and helping him make a documentary about Atlantis for National Geographic.

Love & Olives, is apart of the Love & Gelatos series but it’s more of a companion novel and honestly it’s my favorite book of the three. We see Liv arrive in Greece and she hasn’t seen her dad in 9 years so she’s apprehensive and standoffish. Liv thinks her dad has an obsession with finding Atlantis and it doesn’t help that when she gets to Greece she finds out he needs her help with a documentary about it. When Liv’s dad left she thought it was because he wanted to find Atlantis but later on in the book we learn what really happened and I did like the explanation it also shoes how Liv ended up coping with the loss of her father. We meet Theo, who is also helping Liv’s dad with the documentary, he’s the cameraman. There’s some sparks flying between Liv and Theo, but Liv has a boyfriend back home named Dax. Dax is a year older than Liv and I thought he was a dirtbag, he was one of those people only concerned about having things his way. He wanted Liv to go to the same college as him and when she seemed reluctant he got upset with her. I don’t know why she was pining over this guy but I;m glad some time away from him did her some good. Theo is one of those guys that tries to make you see the good in things and sometimes he overstepped but you could always tell he had good intentions. We follow the trio around Greece in their efforts to find evidence of Atlantis and although Liv doesn’t like it she does start to warm up and I liked that her relationship with her dad did flourish. The ending was full of emotions and I loved it. I will say this book was pretty long and I do think it could have been shortened just a bit.

Overall, this was a good book, it kept me reading and wishing that I could experience the beautifulness of Greece myself.

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Love & Luck by Jenna Evans Welch
Series: Love & Gelato #2
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers on 5/8/18
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 321
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Addie is visiting Ireland for her aunt’s over-the-top destination wedding and hoping she can stop thinking about the one thing she did that left her miserable and heartbroken—and threatens her future. But her brother, Ian, isn’t about to let her forget, and his constant needling leads to arguments and even a fistfight between the two once inseparable siblings. Miserable, Addie can’t wait to visit her friend in Italy and leave her brother—and her problems—behind.

So when Addie discovers an unusual guidebook, Ireland for the Heartbroken, hidden in the dusty shelves of the hotel library, she’s able to finally escape her anxious mind and Ian’s criticism.

And then their travel plans change. Suddenly Addie finds herself on a whirlwind tour of the Emerald Isle, trapped in the world’s smallest vehicle with Ian and his admittedly cute, Irish-accented friend Rowan. As the trio journeys over breathtaking green hills, past countless castles, and through a number of fairy-tale forests, Addie hopes her guidebook will heal not only her broken heart, but also her shattered relationship with her brother.

That is if they don’t get completely lost along the way.

Short and Sweet Review

Addie and her family are in Ireland for her aunts wedding. What should be a joyous occasion is ruined by Addie and her brother Ian fighting. Addie is supposed to go to Italy to visit Lina, and Ian is coming to, but their mom warns them if they step out of line they’re going to face punishment. We learn that Addie and Ian have been arguing about something that happened back home, which is why Addie is reading a guidebook, Ireland for the Heartbroken. On the day Addie and Ian are supposed to leave for Italy she finds him getting in a car with his friend Rowan to go to a music festival instead which leads to an exploration of Ireland and trying to fix broken hearts.

I wasn’t sure about this book when I started it, mainly because the arguing and tension between Ian and Addie was too much. It was like if someone breathed the wrong way one of them would explode, we don’t really get to the bottom of what happened until the end of the book but we do learn it’s about a boy Addie was seeing. Back home Ian is a jock so Addie is shocked to find out he’s a popular blogger and music is his main topic. Ian is determined to go to landmarks that are important to music and do a few interviews and make it to the festival to see his favorite band play one more time. The thing is their mom believes they’re in Italy so they really have to be careful because how big is Ireland really? I loved Ian’s friend Rowan, he was also dealing with a bit of heartbreak which is why he was willing to go to some of the places in the guidebook. It was a roadtrip where we learned a little more about each character and I loved that. I thought it was cool that Addie knew a lot about cars and was the reason the trio got so far. I was kind of bummed that she wasn’t able to go see Lina in Italy but I also understand that this was Addie’s adventure and it needed to take place in Ireland. I do think that the end was a little rushed and I felt like it was abrupt.

Overall, I did like this book. I will say the beginning wasn’t my favorite but when things got going and we saw the different places recommend by the guidebook I was all in. This was a quick and easy read and I’m looking forward to reading the next book!