This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Introduction
One Hot Italian Summer is a standalone and what a delicious one that this one turned out to be. I absolutely loved this one so much here! It was super in every way and wow did it have so much more heart than I was expecting. And its the perfect beach read. I read this for my "Summer" prompt for the romanceopoly challenge and one of my favorite reads from this challenge this year, although most of them have been wins. I really loved the way that this author developed this one, and it does have a PINING HERO (Need I say more? haha) But I guarantee that you will love all aspects to this story.

Summary
In One Hot Italian Summer, our story begins, with our heroine. Grace Harper, is a author who lives in Scotland and is struggling making her book work for her. She was once part of a duet of authors but when her partner died, she is going on her own writing and struggling making it work. Then her agent, Jana Lee, offers her a summer vacation in her home in Tuscany. What she doesn't tell her is that the home belong to her ex husband and son and they return early due to cancelled vacation plans and now they must learn to live together for the summer which causes some interesting dynamics and before Grace realizes it....she will have to fight her heart from falling for the Italian sun and her Italian boys who are slowly captivating her heart.

My Outlook
One Hot Italian Summer is a story that was everything I was looking for and more. I absolutely adored this one. Its a story that is the perfect summer read. It was just plain sexy and fun! I loved everything about this one, well the heroine was a struggle at times haha she is so resistent to love and the hero is like I would die for you type of love. But she does get there and I love how the story ends with her devotion to him. So the heroine definitely becomes redeemed in this one. The story is so well balanced with plenty of humor though. I loved the son, he is so precocious. Honestly, I want like 10 of him haha Karina Halle has always had the talent of portraying children just right into a romance. His character was just enough to add charm and innocent delight to the story without detracting from the romance. Our main couple definitely have plenty of intimate moments together and they do get creative and just fair warning there is some exhibitionism in this book, it was pretty hilarious how crafty our hero is when it comes to sexy times.

Overall View
One Hot Italian Summer is such a delicious read that combines the beauty of the italian country with the sensuality and charm of the setting and implements it in a beautifully crafter way to deliver a heart impacting read!

Rating Evaluation:
Plot: 5
World Building:5
Cover:5
Hero: 5
Heroine: 4
Steam: 5
Heart & Feels:5
Ending:5
Overall View: 4.5

Steam heat! Charming book with endearing characters set in an idyllic location. There is definitely some heat to this book and I’m not mad! Claudio’s love allowed Grace to bloom and it was beautiful to see/read. My only thought is that I wished Grace had believed in herself more but (understandably) sometimes we need others to shine a light on us to see clearly.

*4.5 ⭐️ After losing her writing partner in crime, Robin, Grace is left heartbroken and dealing with writer’s block. So when her agent suggests she borrows her Italian villa to write in for the summer, Grace takes the opportunity. However things get a bit complicated when her agent’s ex-husband and son show up. When I picked this up I wanted a fun romantic read that I could fly through. And while it was certainly that it ended up touching me more than I thought it would. I loved Grace so much. Not just because we share the same name! But I thought she was written so well. After losing her best friend and writing partner she’s very lost. She definitely has imposter syndrome and it was so nice to see her gain confidence in her work and herself. Claudio was such a charming hero. He’s very open and honest about how he feels which was so refreshing to see. Often it’s the man that is a bit more reserved in romance books but this was the other way around. Grace is reluctant to love after all she’s gone through and Claudio brings her out of her shell. Vanni, Claudio’s son, was a nice addition to the story. He’s a smart kid and very logical which is quite fun when compared with Claudio and Grace being very romantic people. I thought the conflict of the story was so well done. It felt very grounded and not at all over the top. I think it’s because Claudio and Grace actually talked about the conflict instead of skirting around it. That way it wasn’t about acknowledging the problem but about solving it. The Italian setting was also perfect. I felt transported. It was probably written in a stereotypical way but I really enjoyed it. There was also quite a bit discussed about being an artist as Claudio is a sculptor and Grace a writer. I loved how they were able to understand each other and talk about finding inspiration and how you put yourself into your work. The sex scenes were quite something. Incredibly steamy. I wouldn’t recommend if you don’t like reading about public sex as there’s quite a bit of it. Basically, this book is the best of both worlds in my opinion. It has that fun and summery atmosphere to it while also delving into some deeper topics like confidence in yourself and your work and how grief changes a person. I didn’t like Nordic King by the same author but this book makes me want to give her more of a chance.

I absolutely adored this book! 🤍🤍🤍

So disappointed by this...