It Takes a Villa by Kilby Blades
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Love on the Amalfi coast – “tanto de amare” – so much to love! Having vacationed in Positano on the Amalfi coast, I just fell in love with this story and all the scenery references, the sexy romance, and the lemons! And they are HUGE lemons! Kilby Blades takes us on an Italian adventure through the eyes of one American dreamer and a hot Italian architect.
Natalie acquires a neglected villa in the small town of Zavona on the Amalfi coast. She arrives awestruck that she was able to gain said villa for $1, but then the enormous task of renovation on her own is overwhelming. The deal she signed on to was cheap, but the property had to be completely up to code within 18 months or it goes back to the city. She and several other “fixer uppers” in the city begin to realize that maybe the task is too steep, and they are doomed to fail.
Enter Pietro, a gorgeous architect with the know-how to restore properties to their original beauty. He is also the mayor’s son and on the city council in charge of making sure the “fixer uppers” renovations up to their building codes. Pietro has some “daddy issues” to overcome as well as butting up against the council for almost making it impossible to complete the homeowner’s renovations on a timely basis. His ultimate goal is to reinvigorate his hometown of Zavona, delivering commerce and charm that will attract tourists and businesses alike.
Pietro was somewhat blindsided by the lovely American, Natalia, on her own trying to meet the challenges set up by the council. He starts to help her with some of her projects, spending lots of time at her place, inadvertently getting to know her. One thing leads to another, and they are naked in his family’s famous lemon grove having some sexy times under the starry night. Swoon! While a side story, Natalie is also looking for the Italian gentleman that left her grandmother the inheritance money she is using for the renovation. Pietro assists her and that ends up being a super interesting epilogue to this sweet story.
It Takes a Villa is everything you could wish for in an American meets hot Italian love story. The few obstacles that they overcome makes sense, but you still are wanting more of their together story. This is my first read from Ms. Blades and I am certainly interested in her other stories for sure. This book is the perfect read for this summer’s beach season. Ciao and enjoy!
I was given this ARC from Entangled Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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