This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Introduction
One Hot Italian Summer is a standalone and what a delicious one that this one turned out to be. I absolutely loved this one so much here! It was super in every way and wow did it have so much more heart than I was expecting. And its the perfect beach read. I read this for my "Summer" prompt for the romanceopoly challenge and one of my favorite reads from this challenge this year, although most of them have been wins. I really loved the way that this author developed this one, and it does have a PINING HERO (Need I say more? haha) But I guarantee that you will love all aspects to this story.

Summary
In One Hot Italian Summer, our story begins, with our heroine. Grace Harper, is a author who lives in Scotland and is struggling making her book work for her. She was once part of a duet of authors but when her partner died, she is going on her own writing and struggling making it work. Then her agent, Jana Lee, offers her a summer vacation in her home in Tuscany. What she doesn't tell her is that the home belong to her ex husband and son and they return early due to cancelled vacation plans and now they must learn to live together for the summer which causes some interesting dynamics and before Grace realizes it....she will have to fight her heart from falling for the Italian sun and her Italian boys who are slowly captivating her heart.

My Outlook
One Hot Italian Summer is a story that was everything I was looking for and more. I absolutely adored this one. Its a story that is the perfect summer read. It was just plain sexy and fun! I loved everything about this one, well the heroine was a struggle at times haha she is so resistent to love and the hero is like I would die for you type of love. But she does get there and I love how the story ends with her devotion to him. So the heroine definitely becomes redeemed in this one. The story is so well balanced with plenty of humor though. I loved the son, he is so precocious. Honestly, I want like 10 of him haha Karina Halle has always had the talent of portraying children just right into a romance. His character was just enough to add charm and innocent delight to the story without detracting from the romance. Our main couple definitely have plenty of intimate moments together and they do get creative and just fair warning there is some exhibitionism in this book, it was pretty hilarious how crafty our hero is when it comes to sexy times.

Overall View
One Hot Italian Summer is such a delicious read that combines the beauty of the italian country with the sensuality and charm of the setting and implements it in a beautifully crafter way to deliver a heart impacting read!

Rating Evaluation:
Plot: 5
World Building:5
Cover:5
Hero: 5
Heroine: 4
Steam: 5
Heart & Feels:5
Ending:5
Overall View: 4.5 ( )

A slow start to this kind of slow burn romance. But once things started, it got hot and stayed hot. Grace is an author. And when her writing partner dies, she has to find a way to write on her own. Her new agent sends her to Italy for some inspiration. There, she ends up meeting a sculptor, Claudio, and his young son. Grace and Claudio end up being an inspiration to each other and romance follows.

Once Grace and Claudio give into their feelings, there’s no stopping them. Things get extra spicy. Grace struggles with her feelings a lot. But Claudio is pretty patient with her. He’s a good guy and loves her a lot.

Vanni was the star of the book in my opinion. Claudio’s precocious son was hilarious. ( )

4.2 stars

I enjoyed getting lost in this love story between two artists that needed a muse. Claud io was delicious and passionate and was just how I imagine Italian men to be. When I traveled abroad, Edinburgh and Tuscany were two of my favorite places so this felt like a kinship for my soul. Add in a wicked smart little boy and it was great. ( )

3.5 Stars! But in an "it's not you, it's me" kind of way.

I had heard excellent things about this book, and I did like this. I enjoyed the Italian setting, though there is a lot of drinking in this book. The characters are cute together, and I did like the interactions between Claudio and his son. There was actually less of that than I was expecting and I kind of wanted more. This book was also written in the first-person present, which is not a style I liked, and it affected my enjoyment. Ultimately the reason I only gave this a 3.5 was because this is a very low-tension romance with minimal plot. This lack of plot is not a bad thing at all, but it isn't something I like very much. Because the setup of this book is Grace going to Italy because she's dealing with the death of her co-writer, I was expecting a little less fluff. Grace does reckon with her grief, but it is a much smaller part of the plot than expected. I know many people love this story, and I would still recommend this for people looking for a fluffy romance with a great setting, but it just didn't quite do it for me. ( )

I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler-free way. Unfortunately, there is still always a risk of slight spoilers despite my best efforts. If you feel something in my review is a spoiler please let me know. Thank you.

Grace is an author out to write her first book alone, but she is struggling. Her agent has a great idea. She should stay at her place in Italy for a few weeks to get inspired. Only after she gets there. She gets caught by Claudio and Vanni, a very handsome Italian and his son Vanni, while hanging out around the pool, naked. Turns out her agent, Janna, sent her to her ex-husband's place. Now, Grace is staying with the two men for a while and while she enjoys their company, she can't deny the attraction she feels for Claudio.

Likes:
~Steamy hot romance
~Italy
~Italians
~All the amazing food dishes mentioned.
~The places the go. It's almost like a vacation reading this book.

Dislikes:
~More sexy times would have been ok with me.

What a great romance. So many things to love. I love the setting the most. Italy. The number one place to visit on my bucket list, and after reading this book, I want to be there all the more. The story was good too. The romance was sizzling. I couldn't ask for a better love story to enjoy. I'll be following this author from now on. ( )