Problematic Summer Romance
I was looking forward to this second book in the Not in Love series with Maya and Conor’s story but I didn’t love it as much as the first book. It has a beautiful Italian beach setting and it was fun to see characters from Not in Love return but I found the different timelines confusing and the discourse around their big age gap repetitive. It is lighter on spice than her last few books but has plenty of Hazelwood’s snarky banter.
Maya is Eli’s little sister from Not in Love. She is twenty-three now and has had a crush for the last three years on Conor, Eli’s best friend, who is thirty-eight. He is a successful finance guy for biotech companies. Maya was raised by Eli, after their parents died when she was eleven. She was a wild teen and had therapy for anger management and now she and Eli are very close. She went to Edinburgh for her undergrad degree but was heartbroken when her boyfriend of over a year broke up with her to date her roommate. She tried to call her brother at work but he was on his way to Australia so she ended up talking with Conor. When he heard her crying, he flew to help her and it was then that she fell in love with him. He thought she was beautiful and brilliant but held himself back from her because he feels their power dynamic is too unbalanced due to their fifteen-year age gap.
Now, they have both come to Italy for Eli’s wedding.
The twelve people in Eli and Rue’s wedding party arrive in beautiful Taormina, Italy. The setting is breathtaking at the villa where they all plan to stay for a week. The villa is on a beach with turquoise waters and beautiful sunsets. There is fabulous food, lemon trees, and a view of Mt. Etna. Then disasters start happening to the wedding party – first it was food poisoning, followed by more mishaps that have them wondering if there is a curse on the wedding!
The playful, teasing banter between their friend group was top tier. The conversations added so much humor to the story as they dined on delicious meals, played soccer, and went sightseeing. Maya and Conor can’t keep their eyes off each other. There are some spicy-ish scenes where they mess around a little but they don’t make love until the end so this book isn’t as spicy as her other recent books.
The timeline got confusing as it bounced around between Italy, Edinburgh and Austin (where Maya has been in grad school). Also, they discuss the age gap so much throughout the story that it got repetitive. The age gap didn’t bother me as much as them constantly talking about it. I found Conor frustrating at times. He suggests that she date younger guys but gets jealous when she does. He has dated two of the women from the wedding party and one of them wants him back so that gets awkward. As the story went on and I got to know Conor better, he grew on me and I liked him more by the end. Maya was loveable, flaws and all, for her loyalty to her friends and family (including their dogs). She is trying to decide what to do next as she considers offers from prestigious labs. We see mentions of some characters from Hazelwood’s other books which was fun.
I enjoyed this story–I loved the incredible Italian scenery, the stellar characters and the romance, even with the awkwardness of the fifteen year age gap. While it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, it could be a fun summer beach read, especially for readers like me, who enjoy Hazelwood’s hilarious banter and humor.
Recent Comments
As long as they’re both (single) adults, lol. That’s what matters most. My dad was 11 years older than my mom so it’s “normal” to me. I am the mother of an almost 25 year old and I admit as a mother it would give me pause lol.
I dislike age gaps, but gave it a try because it is Ali Hazelwood. I agree with you that the book was repetitive — a loop of the hero protesting he is tool old and she is too young and nothing really happens until after one too many scenes of the same, he decides the age gap is OK. Most of their relationship is also conducted by phone, which bothers me almost as much as the big age gap. The amount of time that they spent together before the wedding can be counted in days.
I remember the first time I read a phone based romance… and thought, nope, not for me. I don’t find phone sex sexy. This is a personal choice–it’s part of modern life and many authors do it well. It just doesn’t float my boat.
A fifteen year age gap is something else; since my luck with Hazelwood books has only panned out once, I might demote this to a library borrow.
Mt Etna is mentioned in the book and while I was reading this, I saw on the news that Mt Etna is currently erupting! It sounds scary for the people in the area. I was lucky to get my copy from the library so fast – our waiting list is pretty long.
I was in Sicily in April and my hotel room had a view of Mt. Etna. The room wasn’t all that special, but the view definitely was.
The age gap in the book breaks the rule – not sure who created it but it makes sense to me – that you take the older partner’s age, divide by 2, then add 7 to get the minimum age for the younger party. If Conor is 38, the math works out to 26, while Maya is only 23. I’m not a fan of big age gaps in romance, as I’ve mentioned before, because it mirrors Real Life where men ditch older women for younger models all the time. Let’s hear it for the older women (not that 26 is old) – they deserve love too!
I had not heard of the ‘age gap rule’ before! My parents were 12 years apart – they met after my dad came home after WWII. How lucky that you got to visit Sicily! I would love to go now after reading this book.
I am a big fan of the age gap rule in romances. I find stories with 20 year old women and 50 year old men unappealing. I just read a fabulous contemporary romance where the hero was eight years older. He was a little too old for her when she was 21 and he was 29, but eight years later, it works.
I’ve never heard of the age gap rule, but the actual age of the characters does not bother me so much as the way they behave.I dislike heroines who behave like giddy adolescents no matter how old they are, and I am uncomfortable with Georgette Heyer heroes who call the heroine “child.” I don’t care if the age gap is historically accurate. It’s the behavior that bothers me. In Julie Anne Long’s Beauty and the Spy, there has to be a gap of 15-18 years between the hero and heroine, but it doesn’t bother me because they act as if they’re on a level.
Agreed. I like age-gap romances (which I count as more than a decade apart). One of the best I’ve read has a 22 year age difference, but it works because of the way the characters behave, the maturity of the younger one and the way they just fit.
I know you read mostly m/m romances, and I must admit that age gaps in these bother me a little less. It’s the idea that women age out of attractiveness (as in the Amy Schumer skit “Last F*able Day”) while men get to keep rolling merrily along that is a big part of my discomfort with such gaps in m/f stories. There are some romances where the woman is older, but it’s rare that she’s allowed to be much older – usually it’s less than 5 years, while men, as in Problematic Summer Romance, are allowed to be 15 years older.
Yes, the one I mentioned is m/m (N.R. Walker’s Thomas Elkin) and I think large age gaps are easier to accept because there are fewer other power imbalances when it’s a romance between two guys. That said, the large gaps in HR never really bothered me. I always say – Mr Knightley is 16 years older than Emma, and if it’s good enough for Jane Austen, it’s good enough for me!
I think age gap romances play differently when you are, like me, old as dirt. There are lots of biological reasons I don’t love big age gap romances but one of the biggest is imagining being with an 80 year old in my 60s. Or having a kid with someone who, statistically, is likely to be dead by the time said kid is 30. These are MY issues and I certainly support others who love age gap. They’re just not for me.
I’m old as dirt too ;)
Well, like I said, my preferences are just that: mine. I’m fine if others like different things!
For me, if I wouldn’t want one of my kids to be dating a lead in a romance novel, that romance novel doesn’t work for me. It would bum me out–but I’d be cool about it!!!–if my daughter’s fiance was 45 to her 29 so, when I see that in a book, I pass. It also matters to me how old the leads are when they begin. I’m more chill with love stories where both couples are older AND have an age gap.