This book is a two in one. Welch's first novel Love & Gelato focuses on Lina, whose mother just died from cancer, traveling to Italy to spend the summer or longer with her dad, who she never even knew existed. Lina is not thrilled to go to Italy, but she promised her mother she would. She is leaving her best friend, Addie, and all their summer plans. As she arrives in Italy, she discovers she will be living in a cemetery that is a memorial for WWII American soldiers killed there. Ugh. She also discovers one of her mother's journals and with the help of a neighbor, Ren, starts to research into how her mother lived in Italy and met her father and why she left.
The second book Love & Luck features Addie and her travels to Ireland to celebrate her Aunt's wedding. While there she is supposed to visit Lina in Italy for a few days, but her brother, Ian, makes a change in plans when he and Addie get into a fight at their aunt's wedding and their mother puts strict restrictions on them. Addie has a secret that Ian knows and thinks she should tell their mother about, but Addie just can't!! She hasn't even told Lina! As Addie misses her flight to Italy because of Ian and his friend, Rowan, Lina makes a plan to come to Ireland with Ren to see Addie. As Addie, Ian, and Rowan travel across Ireland together, she ends up learning about herself and that she is more than she thought she was.
The first book is fine for middle school. I would say the second is as well, but I would feel more comfortable with 7th or 8th and up because of the nature of sending some photos to boys.
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