Release Blitz + Review: One Hot Italian Summer by Karina Halle

A writer looking for inspiration in Tuscany.

One hot Italian single dad.

This summer is going to be a scorcher.

One Hot Italian Summer by New York Times, Wall Street Journal & USA Today Bestselling author, Karina Halle is now live!

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.

Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2X37Gpy

Amazon WW: http://mybook.to/OHIS

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/OHItalianSgr

**ARC provided in exchange for an honest review**

One Hot Italian Summer is a pretty straight-forward contemporary romance without unnecessary drama. I love that Karina Halle always takes the reader on a trip around the world with each of her book. This time around we find ourselves in Tuscany, Italy. I love her Italian heroes, they are just so passionate and not afraid to go after what they want. Claudio is definitely a swoon-worthy book boyfriend with a very smart and interesting son. Their father/son relationship felt real instead of picture perfect. They have their issues but Claudio is doing his best in raising Vanni as a single father. Claudio is a very talented artist/sculptor and I really loved how highlighted this aspect was in the book. He has many talents and I loved discovering those together with Grace our heroine in this book. Grace is a bit insecure and doesn't know how to continue her career as an author after losing her co-writer. She is trying to find herself and I think Claudio did a really good job in showing that she is talented and that she matters.

So why did I rate this book three stars then you may wonder. I just couldn't completely connect to the characters. I especially had a hard time in relating and empathizing with Grace. It was a bit easier with Claudio. I wasn't convinced by their love for each other. I obviously saw the strong attraction between them and the sex scenes were very steamy. But without my connection to the characters those didn't excite me as much. I still enjoyed the story and the beautiful setting, and the interaction between the main characters with Claudio's son Vanni was a great addition to the story. I think One Hot Italian Summer is a great summer read which will also help you escape and travel the beautiful Italy for a little bit. If you enjoy what you read in the blurb then I highly recommend you to pick this book up.

Meet Karina

Karina Halle is a former travel writer, music journalist & screenwriter, and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal & USA Today Bestselling author of over 55 bestselling novels, ranging from horror and suspense to contemporary romance. She lives on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband, and her adopted pitbull Bruce, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails and devours a lot of books.

Halle is represented by the Root Literary Agency and is both self-published and published by Simon & Schuster, Hachette & Montlake. Her work has been translated and published in 20 languages.

Hit her up on Instagram at @authorHalle, on Twitter at @MetalBlonde and on Facebook. You can also visit www.authorkarinahalle.com and sign up for the newsletter for news, excerpts, previews, private book signing sales and more.

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