Rosa Capoletti is a born and raised coastal New Englander, running a high-end Italian restaurant on the beach. Her childhood friend and first boyfriend, Alex Montgomery, is back in town to clean up his family’s summer home after his mother passes away. When Alex happens into Rosa’s restaurant for dinner, sparks fly! Will they rekindle the passion that has been simmering since Alex ghosted Rosa 10 years ago? Will Rosa’s father ever forgive Alex for breaking his daughter’s heart? How did Alex’s mother’s really die? Can these two kids from opposite sides of the tracks ever find true love? Read on, romance lovers, for answers to all these questions and a healthy dose of beach romance set on an actual beach!
This was a perfect summer read, and a highly enjoyable romance. There were no dramatic twists that you couldn’t see coming miles away, and the obstacles thrown in our heroes’ way were equally expected, but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable to watch these characters come together. I liked that Wiggs didn’t apologize for her cliches (the dark and buxom Italian immigrant’s daughter running an Italian restaurant; the blond and patrician banker returning to his rich family’s home for the summer)- I felt like she knew that I knew that these were cliches and stereotypes and she just didn’t care. I also liked the time and attention spent building up the childhood friendship/ burgeoning romance between the characters, meaning that the ghosting betrayal gave me the same feels it gave Rosa. Finally, Wiggs split the chapters up with Italian recipes and they looked legit good- I’m thinking about trying some of them before I pass this book on to its next summer reader.
CBR11 Bingo- Summer Read