Week 23 Review: Problematic Summer Romance

From Goodreads:

What is wrong meets what feels right in this romance set in Italy by the New York Times bestselling author of Deep End.

Maya Killgore is twenty-three and still in the process of figuring out her life.

Conor Harkness is thirty-eight, and Maya cannot stop thinking about him.

It's such a cliché, it almost makes her heart implode: older man and younger woman; successful biotech guy and struggling grad student; brother's best friend and the girl he never even knew existed. As Conor loves to remind her, the power dynamic is too imbalanced. Any relationship between them would be problematic in too many ways to count, and Maya should just get over him. After all, he has made it clear that he wants her gone from his life.

But not everything is as it seems—and clichés sometimes become plot twists.

When Maya's brother decides to get married in Taormina, she and Conor end up stuck together in a romantic Sicilian villa for over a week. There, on the beautiful Ionian coast, between ancient ruins, delicious foods, and natural caves, Maya realizes that Conor might be hiding something from her. And as the destination wedding begins to erupt out of control, she decides that a summer fling might be just what she needs—even if it's a problematic one.

My Review:
I adored reading this book! I love Ali Hazelwood's writing, but this is the first full length series (I know Bride is getting a sequel, but this was published first) and I was excited to be back with these characters! I just breezed right through reading this book!

It has been a minute since I read Not in Love, so I don't remember much of what might've been mentioned about Maya and Conor. But I was really glad that we got their story, it meant more time with them, and the rest of the characters that we'd gotten to know. Plus there were the flashbacks that gave their history, how they got to this point, which were so good!  

I really enjoyed seeing the run up to Eli and Rue's wedding! It was such a delight, with everything going wrong, and the potential of a "curse," I loved it! As the days were ticking closer and things were going wrong, like food poisoning, that just kept happening, I felt bad for them, but it was so entertaining to read! 

The fact is the age gaps can be problematic. But given that's in the title, and it's something that Conor is using to keep this relationship to full go into romance, they know that. I really enjoyed Maya and how she dealt with his resistance. That there was a cameo from the Deep End characters-and how she uses Lukas to make Conor jealous...loved it! 

Loved reading this book and I can't wait to read more by Ali Hazelwood! 

Author: Ali Hazelwood 
Series: Not in Love #2
Read: June 6th, 2025 
Source: Bought  
Reason Why: Love her writing and this series, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2025 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: Berkley 
Published: May 27th 2025

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars