Love & Gelato Books In Order

Publication Order of Love & Gelato Books

Love & Gelato (Series by Jenna Evans Welch)
The “Love & Gelato” series written by Jenna Evans Welch are romances set in the gorgeous countrysides of Greece, Italy, and Ireland and are about love, life, and the real meaning of family.

Teen girls find themselves, and possibly even true love, as they visit some faraway places in these swoon-worthy and charming books.

In 2022, the movie version was released on on Netflix. It was written and directed by Brandon Camp, and starred Susanna Skaggs as Lina Emerson, Owen McDonell as Howard, Anjelika Washington as Addie, and Valentina Lodovini as Francesca.

“Love & Gelato” is the first novel in the “Love & Gelato” series and was released in 2016. Lina is spending her summer in Tuscany, however she’s not in the mood for Italy’s fairy tale landscape and famous sunshine at all. She is just there because it was her mom’s dying wish that she start getting to know her dad a bit better. However what sort of dad is not around for sixteen years? All that Lina wants to do is go back home.

However she is then given this journal that her mother was keeping while she lived in Italy. All of a sudden Lina is uncovering this magical world filled with hidden bakeries, secret romances, and art. It is a world which inspires her, along with Ren, who is ever so charming, to follow in her mom’s footsteps and dig up a secret which has been kept for far too long now. This is a secret which is going to change everything she formerly knew about her dad, her mom, and her own self, even.

Fans of the novel loved Welch’s descriptions of Florence, and felt like they could see certain things she was describing while reading. She also writes about grief in such a very relatable way particularly for a teen. Lina grows in such a fantastic way while the book goes on, since she learns about her mom and the life she had before she had Lina.

“Love & Luck” is the second novel in the “Love & Gelato” series and was released in 2018. Addie is just visiting Ireland to attend her aunt’s over-the-top destination wedding and hoping that she will be able to stop thinking about that horrible thing which left her heartbroken and miserable, and threatens her own future. However Ian, her brother, is not about to just let her forget, and his constant needling leads to some arguments and a fistfight between these two formerly inseparable siblings.

However when Addie finds an odd guidebook, called “Ireland for the Heartbroken”, hidden within the dusty shelves of the hotel library, she is able to escape from her anxious mind. And Ian’s criticism.

And their travel plans up and change. Addie, all of a sudden, finds herself on this whirlwind tour of the Emerald Isle, trapped inside of the world’s smallest vehicle with Ian and his cute Irish-accented buddy Rowan. While the trio journeys through a number of fairy tale forests, over breathtaking green hills, and past countless castles. Addie hopes that her guidebook can heal not just her broken heart, yet also her ruined relationship with her brother. Assuming, of course, that they do not get completely and totally lost along the way.

Addie is a strong and passionate protagonist, as she tries her best as she deals with a rather heavy betrayal. Fans of the book loved watching her grow more and own all her mistakes while the road trip continues. She comes into her own and fans loved each second of her journey. And the relationship between her and Ian was well written, as they worked out their differences between one another and were able to move on. Rowan is also a likable character that made readers giggle with all of his wacky cat shirts, and while he had issues of his own, he still supported Addie and Ian all the way and they supported him back.

“Love & Olives” is the third novel in the “Love & Gelato” series and was released in 2020. Santorini felt like it was an island that was holding its breath. Almost like it was keeping a secret.

Liv Varanakis does not enjoy thinking about her dad too much, which makes a lot of sense, seeing as how he fled to Greece when she was just eight years old. It left her with only a few painful memories of their shared love of the lost city of Atlantis. When teenaged Liv all of a sudden gets a postcard from her dad, who tells her that National Geographic is supporting a documentary all about his theories on Atlantis, and asks her if she’ll fly out to Greece and help him. She’s less than thrilled about it.

When she shows up in beautiful Santorini, things are exactly as awkward as she was imagining it would be. There are so many emotions and so many questions which flood up to the surface after she sees her dad for the first time in years. Liv does not want to get sucked right back into his world. And she does not want Theo, her dad’s charismatic so-called protege, to witness the struggle she’s going through.

Still, she cannot help but be charmed by everything Santorini has got to offer, the turquoise water, the gorgeous sunsets, the sun-drenched villages, and the delicious cuisine. However not everything on this Greek island is as perfect as it appears. Because as Liv slowly starts to learn, her dad might not have invited her to Greece for Atlantis, however for something that is so much more important.

Liv and her father are written in such a beautiful way in this novel, and it’s fantastic how their relationship ties into the bigger overall theme of looking for Atlantis and how lost things can in fact become found. This is a meaningful idea which is developed in such a loving way. To readers, this was a one-way, magical ticket to Santorini, Greece, and were able to feel the chill of the waves and the heat from the sun.