Back of Book: 

Does what happens under the mistletoe stay under the mistletoe? Reporting on Christmas festivals in Italy? Easy. Figuring out her love life? Not so much.

On a work trip to the Italian Piedmont region for her travel magazine, Melina is still reeling from a recent breakup with Henk, her longtime boyfriend back home in the Netherlands. Between reporting on the delicious holiday food, wine, and hoopla in culinary hotspots like Torino and Alba, she's supposed to be there to sort out her feelings and decide what to do next. Instead, she keeps crossing paths with Andre, a sexy, guitar-playing, traveling American. Andre's moonlit serenades aren't helping to make things any clearer. One holiday, a misunderstanding or two, and a lot of laughs later, Melina must is this holiday romance with Andre just the detour she needs or a sign she’s not quite over Henk?

Alba Home for Christmas is a charming, lighthearted tale of holiday hijinks, soulful connections, and the joy of embracing life’s surprises. 

Book Number: One 

Genre: Adult | Contemporary | Romance | Novella 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟

A short holiday read featuring a Dutch travel blogger exploring the Italian countryside who has an exciting adventure with an American guitarist. 

Melina is left reeling from a recent breakup with her longtime boyfriend, Henk. She's trying to bury herself in her work as a travel blogger and enjoy her time in the Italian Piedmont region, but she's having a hard time keeping Henk from her mind. That is, until she meets a charming American guitarist by the name of Andre who tugs at her heartstrings. Before the holiday season is over, Melina must decide if she wants something more from Andre or if she is willing to fight to win Henk back. When it comes to matters of the heart, things are never simple, and Melina begins to contemplate what is really important to her. 

I wish this one would have been a little longer, but it was pretty solid for a holiday novella. Melina is exploring Italy and she does so many cozy Christmas activities such as visit a Christmas marketplace and attend a live holiday music performance as well as miscellaneous Italian activities, such as handmaking pasta. I found it really fun to follow all the different activities that Melina gets to try due to her job as a travel blogger. 

I think the thing I enjoyed the most about this one is witnessing a European travel experience. While reading this book, I realized despite all the books I've read, I've read very few that star Europeans just existing in their day to day lives in Europe. This seems like something that I should have read more about, but alas, it is what it is. There were so many phrases, terminology, and idioms that I'd never heard before, so I found this book to be an interesting study in language. 

I had two major problems with this one. The first being the sudden ending and the fact that the book was super short. The second being that both Melina and Andre are pretty much still in relationships during this book. I'll talk about both issues in more detail below. 

I felt that the ending was super rushed. Melina has a ton of stuff that she is working through, and it would have been nice to get a bit more resolution to her conflicts. I get wanting to keep stories short, because it's really beneficial as an author to have freebies to giveaway to try to hook readers on their work. Still, I was expecting more of a resolution from this one. 

Melina said that Henk broke up with her, but it's kind of a weird situation. It's sort of left on a, "I love you, but I'm not sure I can commit to you forever" vibe. The situations surrounding Andre and his girlfriend are pretty similar, too. They had a vacation planned together, but then she was accepted into Harvard last minute and had to stay back in the States to attend classes. Andre then went on the vacation without her and said that they were pretty much over, even though it didn't really seem like they had broken up. Therefore, all of Melina and Andre's exploits seemed a little suspicious and my brain is still unsure how to view their entire relationship. On the one hand, they are all adults who can do whatever they want and it's not like any of them were married, but it still felt like they were all cheating on each other. 

Overall, "Alba Home for Christmas" was a solid holiday novella that had me admiring some of the lesser seen sides of Italy. I wasn't really sold on Melina and Andre's relationship, but I enjoyed the discussion that this book places on what is truly important and how we want to spend the precious time in our lives. I wouldn't be opposed to continuing the series, and I seriously hope that I get a chance to read more of Macy's work in the future. 

Back of Book: 

She's the girl with the plan. He's the detour she never saw coming.

Jacki Anderson has one goal for her visiting faculty position in Italy's Piedmont region: immerse herself in the truffle world and set herself up for a permanent faculty position at an Ivy League university. Armed with enough ambition for ten people, she's not in the market for distractions—especially the charming kind.

Daan is a laid-back Dutch veterinary student on a gap year, with a firm grasp of niksen (the Dutch art of doing nothing), a talent for mimicking accents, and a bad case of love at first sight. Jacki's relentless drive isn't discouraging him—it's only making him fall harder.

Between a memorable meet-cute involving a donkey race, truffle hunting adventures with dogs who clearly have their own agendas, and navigating the delicious collision of Jacki's type-A intensity and Daan's go-with-the-flow attitude, they discover that sometimes the best things in life are the ones you never planned for.

One year in Italy's truffle capital, a lot of laughs, and one very mischievous dog later, Jacki must decide: is sticking to the plan worth missing out on the adventure of a lifetime?

Book Number: Two

Genre: Adult | Contemporary | Romance | Novella 

Review: ? 

Back of Book: 

Two decades. One wedding. Zero warning that "the one that got away" would be there.

Amber Anderson has spent twenty years building the perfect life as a powerhouse attorney and raising her niece, Jacki. She's long since made peace with the choices she made—including the one that sent her college sweetheart, Andre, off on their planned round-the-world adventure without her. She wouldn't change a thing.

At least that's what she tells herself.

When Amber arrives in Italy's Langhe region for Jacki's destination wedding, the last person she expects to see is Andre—who's there for the groom. With a week of festivities ahead and their shared past a secret from the happy couple, Amber and Andre will have to keep their unresolved feelings under wraps and their undeniable chemistry hidden. Because the last thing either of them wants to do is ruin Jacki and Daan's wedding.

The problem? They both think the other one owes them an apology. And neither is backing down first.

If you love second-chance romance, witty banter, and settings so gorgeous you'll want to book a flight immediately, this sparkling return to Italy is for you.

Book Number: Three

Genre: Adult | Contemporary | Romance | Novella 

Review: ?