With the hot days upon us, what better way to celebrate summer than with a summer romance book? This newest release by Ali Hazelwood was high up on my must-read list for the season. Even though the plot details were a little vague, all the tropes sounded like they'd make for a great time: a wedding, a trip to Italy, and an age-gap romance with the older brother's best friend..sign me up! Here's what I thought of Problematic Summer Romance.
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Synopsis
When all Maya can think about is her older brother's best friend Conor, she tries to forget about him. She knows it would be totally cliche, he's much older than she is, he's a successful biotech, she's a struggling grad student. He's made it clear he doesn't want a relationship with her, but sometimes plot twists happen, like a destination wedding for Maya's brother in a beautiful Sicilian villa, where Conor will also be attending. But Conor is hiding something from her, and although she wants to know what, she can't help but think a summer fling might be exactly what she needs.
Strengths
Let me begin by saying this was such a fun read, and the writing style was incredibly easy to get into. One of my favorite parts about this book was how atmospheric it was. As a reader, I felt fully immersed, as though I was right there in Italy, enjoying the finest wine and delicacies the villa offered. There also was vivid scenery featuring Mount Etna, and showcased everything else that the island of Sicily had to offer, from natural caves and beaches, to ancient ruins. I also enjoyed the unconventional sibling dynamic between Maya and her brother Eli. Early in the story we learn (as well as in Ali's other book, Not In Love) that Eli had to raise Maya following their parents deaths. This gave him more of a parental role with Maya, however in this story you get to also see the strong sibling bond they've developed from this. Last, but certainly not least, we got plenty of character cameos from other books, which is always a fun bonus.
Weaknesses
Although this was a romance book, I'm not sure if I was entirely buying the romance between Maya and Conor. Maya very clearly was into Conor, and continued to chase him regardless of him repeatedly shooting down her advances. His reasons for keeping her at bay, however, became highly repetitive, and fueled a huge miscommunication trope; instead of expressing his feelings for her, he just continued to list all the reasons of why they couldn't be together. Yes, we get it's a taboo age-gap, but give us something, because it made it seem like he didn't have any feelings for her until close to the end. In addition to this, I wasn't a big fan of the dual-timeline structure. I understand it's purpose of showing the "then versus now" of Maya and Conor's relationship, but this is personally a format I don't enjoy in books.
Would I recommend it?
Overall I did really enjoy this book, and it kept my attention all the way up until the last page. Although there were a few small aspects of the book I wasn't crazy about, I still would recommend this book due to the beautiful atmosphere that Ali Hazelwood was able to create of Italy, as well as interesting character dynamics such as the sibling relationship between Eli and Maya, which kept me invested in the story. Plus, it was a quick read, perfect for devouring over the course of a few sunny days.
Ratings
Overall rating: 3.9/5
Spice Rating: 2/5
Content Warnings
Parental death, discussions of pregnancy, age-gap, food poisoning, mention of minor drug use
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