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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\u2019ll have to write alone.<\/strong><\/p>\n 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\u2019s next book, and the last thing she wants is for her reputation as a \u201csuper-agent\u201d to be tarnished.<\/p>\n At first the villa is a dream come true for Grace \u2013 that is until Claudio Romano shows up one day with his ten-year old son, Vanni, in tow. Turns out, this is Claudio\u2019s house, and Claudio happens to be her agent\u2019s ex-husband from long ago. Thanks to their annual father and son bonding trip being cancelled, Claudio and Vanni are here to stay.<\/p>\n So is Grace.<\/strong><\/p>\n With the three of them sharing the same house, Grace\u2019s writing plans are thrown out the window. But even if she\u2019s not pounding the keyboard, she\u2019s still finding beauty and inspiration… in none other than Claudio. He’s unlike any man Grace has met before. He\u2019s smart, charming, and wickedly sexy, plus a great father to Vanni. He\u2019d be the perfect summer fling \u2013 if only he wasn\u2019t completely off-limits.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s chances of starting her career over.<\/p>\n Or he could be exactly what she needs.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0 <\/p>\n Add to Goodreads<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 4 stars!<\/b><\/p>\n This is a gorgeous summer read! A sexy, swoony romance with a whole lot of heart and very little angst and drama, it\u2019s a beautifully easy read with lots of feels, and a whole lot of chemistry, as a broken-hearted writer and a sexy Italian single father have the summer of their lives!<\/p>\n \u201cYou are in the midst of uncovering yourself. Right here, right now. You will discover who you are. You will flourish.\u201d \u2026 \u201cI see it happening before my eyes. And it\u2019s all you.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Grace is a writer who is struggling to overcome her grief following the death of her best friend and writing partner. She was the quiet one of the duo, and now she\u2019s forced to write all on her own and she\u2019s completely lost her confidence and with it, her writing mojo. So when her new agent offers up her holiday house in the Tuscan countryside for a month, Grace jumps at the chance for a change of scenery from dreary Scotland to sunny Italy. The house just outside of Lucca is everything she could have dreamed, and she\u2019s just settling in when she is interrupted by the home\u2019s actual owner, Claudio, and his 10-year-old son, Vianni.<\/p>\n It turns out Claudio is her agent\u2019s ex-husband who was supposed to be away for the summer, but a change of plans saw him and his son returning home to find Grace living in their house. It\u2019s awkward, but Claudio is surprisingly accommodating and allows Grace to stay. Claudio is a sculptor who is also struggling to find his muse, but as the two share meals, wine, and discussions of their art, all while basking in the glorious Italian countryside, their undeniable attraction sparks inspiration for them both.<\/p>\n This woman will make me fall so damn hard, that I won\u2019t be able to get to my feet again.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s a cute set-up that grows in anticipation and intensity the more time they spend together. Slowly, naturally and oh-so-beautifully, they start to develop feelings, and every little moment of it dripping with chemistry!<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m always thinking about you,\u201d I tell her. \u201cYou\u2019re the first thing I think about when I wake up, and the last thing I think about before I fall asleep. And you\u2019re in every single thought in-between.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n And, of course, it\u2019s insanely hot. Their passion for each other is sizzling, and the scenes in this book had me fanning myself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n But all of that sexy time is a reflection of their deepening connection, which is all kinds of intense as they fall and fall hard!<\/p>\n \u201c<\/i>Mia Musa,\u201d I whisper to her, kissing her again. I pull back, searching her eyes, feeling everything inside threatening to spill over. \u201cI want you. I want this. Always. Not just for now. I want so much from you that I\u2019m afraid to ask\u2026I don\u2019t even think I\u2019m worthy of asking.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Claudio is just amazing. He is such a good guy, with a huge heart, and it\u2019s all for Grace. He throws himself out there with pure abandon, and it\u2019s beautiful to see a hero so sweet, open, honest and supportive, but also a freaking god in the bedroom\u2026 studio, car\u2026 great outdoors\u2026 wherever the hell the mood strikes! But it\u2019s his incredibly swoony declarations that had me melting, and imagining them with an Italian accent just makes them so much hotter!<\/p>\n \u201cPlease. If you find yourself falling in love with me, don\u2019t stop it. Don\u2019t hold back. Don\u2019t deny yourself that. Let yourself love me.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n *dreamy sigh*<\/p>\n Grace is a woman who came to Italy a little bit lost, but who finds herself as she embraces her new world, and the man in it. She has some issues she needs to deal with, and there are things standing in the way of her and Claudio getting their HEA, but it\u2019s realistic and written in a way that doesn\u2019t make it angsty. I could empathise with her, but it\u2019s dealt with really well, and that little bit of drama does create the opportunity for more epic declaration from our smitten hero, and oh, Lord, he does it so well.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re mine, Grace. More than my muse, more than a lover. I\u2019ve never felt this way before about anything or anyone and I\u2026I know that if you just trust me, if you give me your heart, I will carry it with me. I will be kind and gentle with it. I will always keep it tucked in next to mine. So that whatever happens in the future, it doesn\u2019t matter. I\u2019ll have your heart and you\u2019ll have mine.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n I loved this book. I was completely swept up in the romance, and love Grace and Claudio\u2019s story. The fact that the book is set in Italy and we get to explore some of the country with the characters is an added bonus and give this book an edge of wonder and excitement that I absolutely loved.<\/p>\n Such a gorgeous read \u2013 4 stars!<\/p>\n An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Karina Halle is a former travel writer, music journalist and screenwriter, and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and 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.<\/p>\n Halle is represented by the Root Literary Agency and is both self-published and published by Simon & Schuster, Hachette and Montlake. Her work has\u00a0been translated and published in 20 languages.<\/p>\n Hit her up on Instagram at @authorHalle, on Twitter at @MetalBlonde and on Facebook. You can also visit\u00a0www.authorkarinahalle.com<\/a>\u00a0and sign up for the newsletter for news, excerpts, previews, private book signing sales and\u00a0more.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Connect with Karina:<\/p>\n Facebook\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0\u00a0Amazon\u00a0\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Join her Reader Group<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Stay up to date with Karina by signing up for her\u00a0newsletter<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One Hot Italian Summer by New York Times, Wall Street Journal & USA\u00a0Today Bestselling author, Karina Halle is now live! Amazon\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon Worldwide\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback Blurb After the death of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":4,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1036,29],"tags":[59,38,48,76],"class_list":["post-53836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-romance","category-single-parent","category-steamy","tag-arc","tag-karina-halle","tag-review","tag-standalone"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/One-Hot-Italian-Summer.jpg?fit=200%2C299&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-e0k","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/One-Hot-Italian-Summer-Teaser-2.jpg?resize=350%2C350&ssl=1\")
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\nReview<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\nMeet Karina<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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<\/p>\nCheck out our\u00a0Karina Halle Author Spotlight<\/a>\u00a0for more amazing reads!<\/strong><\/h4>\n