Love, Untangled by Alexa Padgett

 

Published on October 11^th, 2022

298 pages

Back Cover

When Penelope Davis inherits the farm next to grumpy widower Carlo di Laurentis’s farm, neither one of them expect the connection—or alpaca fur—to weave them so tightly together.

Carlo loved his job as team lead at a fire station in California, but when his wife dies in a fire, he can’t handle the memories…or how he failed her. Her family apple orchard in tiny Cinnamon Bay, all the way across the country, seems like the perfect place to grieve—and do his best to keep her hard apple cider dream alive.

Penelope lived for those weeks with her grandmother in Cinnamon Bay. Pen’s lived a nomadic life of touring the country from one fair or convention to another, selling her fiber art creations. Yet, now, she’s the proud owner of a house, complete with a hot-mess-of-an-almost studio and her very own loom! and a mischievous alpaca who loves to eat her grumpy neighbor’s prized apples.

First impressions aren’t always true, and as Carlo and Pen spend more time together, they come to realize they have much more in common than either expected. But can Pen’s optimism help Carlo heal from the shattering truths he uncovers? And will Alpaca Man destroy their first-ever cider press?

My review

This is the second book from this world that I read and my heart melt every time. It’s a short and sweet story that will make you forget about real life for a while. Penelope’s life is not perfect. Her mom caused her lots of troubles and because of that she had trouble to open her heart especially to Carlo who also closed after he lost his wife.

I recommend it if you like romance. You will notice tropes you normally see in this genre. Fortunately, it’s what I wanted to see when I started reading this book. I think the author did a great job. Carlo might be grumpy at the beginning, but he also made me laugh a few times. I like the fact he is a fireman, I did not see that often in the novels I read before and he truly care about Penelope. When he though he lost her, I almost cried, but I wish that part was a little longer. It’s perfect for people who like stories that get right through the point and there is enough details for the reader to fall in love with the characters and get into the story.

Might be a surprise, but I give my star to Serena, Penelope’s mom. She is the type of antagonist that I like to dislike. It’s made me help to understand why Penelope was acting a certain way with Carlo and why she said she did not go to school. It was so sad to learn that, but in the same time she was pretty mature for a twenty-years-old. I had the feeling she had the same age than Carlo. Serena was awful and mean to Penelope, but at the end, her girl was sweet and did her best to be a better person. For this reason, I think both of them deserve a star. Carlo is not far behind.

The best thing with this series, you don’t have to read all the books to understand one novel, each one of them is a stand alone, but I am planning to read a few more of them.

My interview with the author

My review of Rock the shores