I thought this was a super cute, light, rom com with Italy and castles, it’s basically a dream.
Although I'm not a huge lover of third person, I actually found the writing style and dialogue of this story quite nice. I also loved all the brit slang and it reminded me of my mum and my aunt(both have a ton of brit slang in their vocab)

By 11% I was already feeling quite attached to the characters, Anna in particular. I loved her personality and I adored every conversation she had with Jake. The tension between the two of them was simmering.
A character I did not enjoy as much(specifically in the first like 50%) was Jake. Especially in the beginning, I thought he was just a bit of a douche and was just irritating me every time he opened his mouth. He did get better with time though. By the end I'd grown to like him quite a bit, especially when he was defending and protecting daisy. Some people who DIDN'T get better with time were NIGEL and MILES. they both irritated the shit out of me. ALSO MILES WAS THE COMPLETE UTTER SCUM OF THE EARTH HE LITERALLY HAD ZERO REDEEMING QUALITIES.

My favourite piece of dialogue was:
‘Was that a real kiss?’
‘Yes, Jake tucker. That was a real thank-you kiss.’
‘Just thank you?’
‘For now.’

Overall I thought it was pretty good, so give it a try.

3 stars overall, and I'd read it again!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for sending me an ARC!

Wow. I loved this book. The Italian Job was right up my alley and I absolutely adored Anna & Jake. It had many of my favorite tropes — enemies to lovers, fake dating, guy falls first.

I felt like I could relate to Anna, our main character who is struggling with the heartbreak of a relationship. Jake’s (Anna’s enemy) backstory was *chefs kiss*. & I will leave it at that! Overall, I enjoyed reading this rom-com & definitely recommend giving this book a read!

📋🖊Loved this put-upon male lead🤗

4.5🌟 stars
I really enjoyed this evolving friends to lovers relationship between ex-fire fighter/ex-con Jake and super organized list making chef Anna. Going from their troubled situations at home in England for their dream of overseas jobs with an idyllic setting on the banks of Lake Como, these two turn their animosity inside out as they build respect and affection for each other. It's very romantic, especially the efforts each makes to support and protect the other.

The romance was heated but not steamy, which is something that really suited my taste. And thanks to the alternating dual perspective, I felt empathy and understanding of the conflicting feelings Anna and especially Jake had to resolve to get to the happy ending.

Jake was in fact my favorite character because he had so many good qualities and, thanks to a jerk, his confidence and job outlook were so dramatically altered. He had to look long and hard for people outside his family who saw past his troubled history to the decent guy he was.

This was the second Kathryn Freeman novel I've read and I really like her writing style; I will doubtless come back for more😊.

Thanks to HarperCollins/One More Chapter and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

Have you ever wanted to put a book down before the conflict so that you didn't have to finish the book and could stay where the characters are happy and in love? Or is it just me?

Well, that was me with The Italian Job. I was so attached to both Jack and Anna that I didn't want to carry on with the book and risk them breaking up. But if I didn't, I wouldn't get to see the beauty of how opposites, while challenging to be around, can help in the areas you may lack. I loved how opposite the characters were. As a reader, I was able to experience the way they used their differences to help each other through their difficulties. I admit I did not feel as connected to Jack initially due to his difficult attitude and lousy self-talk. By the end of this novel, I now miss him. I enjoyed how Kathryn Freeman focused on building the characters and showing their growth while also having a solid plotline. The Italian Job has got me in a summer and vacationing mood!

I want to say a big thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, for allowing me to read this book. A book I will not soon forget and will definitely be recommending.

*I received an ARC from HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and given freely. Quotes used subject to change with publication.

Firstly I’d like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for the e-arc 😍😍

This book is right up my street!! It’s got all the tropes I love!! Kinda frenemies to lovers and fake dating with a splash of total bad boy who’s a big softie mixed in? Totally winning!! 😍😍 It’s absolutely brilliant!! ❤️❤️ When I sat down to read it, I basically read it in one sitting. I only stopped because it was 2.30am and I thought I’d should probably go to sleep for a little while…😂😂

Anna’s horrible boyfriend does the dirty on her and she has to move home to her dads, not really ideal so she goes in search of her dream job. And she finds it!! Managing an Italian castle for a year? Yes please!! Only catch? She needs to find a partner and quickly!! Enter her super sexy, bad boy neighbour Jake (who for some reason I imagined had some sort of Kurt Cobain vibe going on 😂😅 probably a bit extra of me but I certainly enjoyed it 🔥🔥). They get the job but can they keep up they’re pretence?…

It’s such an incredible read, I loved how the MCs were complete opposites, Anna’s a bit extra (she loves a list!!) and Jakes a bit too relaxed some times but they fit so perfectly at the same time and all the supporting characters are lovely too!! It’s honestly such a great read, please pick it up, you won’t regret it at all!! Especially if you fancy Kurt Cobain 😂😂 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to Net Galley, Harper Collins UK, and One More Chapter for providing me with a free copy of the Italian Job by Kathryn Freeman in exchange for an honest review. All of the following opinions are all my own.

2.75 out of 5 stars

I was very excited when I got approved for this. Fake "dating" and Italy?! Yes, please! This is a supreme idea - although I don't completely agree with the character choice and age this is targeted at. If I'm super honest, I feel like it might have been better if the target audience was 45-year-old moms who were into the Tuscan style decor craze in the early to mid 2000s.

The cover is very enticing and I'm not really one for the romance cartoon covers.

When I started this book, I was immediately bothered by the formatting and grammar of the novel. I always like to note that formatting should never be noticed by a reader. I'm not sure if this is because it is an ARC or something, but why is everything the characters say only preceded by a single quotation mark?

'That's weird and very distracting.'

I wanted to like the characters and I think I might have if the dialogue was different. The writing style was not for me. I think if someone else wrote it or the formatting was cleaned it I would have loved the plot.

The idea is super cute though!

This was such a cute, funny, adorable rom-com with all the best tropes: enemies-to-lovers, fake dating/relationship, and forced proximity!

Anna is recently out of a job and a boyfriend due to her lying, cheating ex also being her boss. When looking for a new “dream” job, she finds a position in Lake Como to manage an entire castle from cooking, cleaning, etc! The only catch is the posting wants a couple for the position… In comes her bad boy neighbor who she’s never had a conversation with without it turning into an argument of insults. What better person to pretend to be in a relationship with since Jake is also looking for a job and to get away from their small town too?!

As you can imagine we go on a wild adventure with these two trying to get along and maintain their fake relationship while living in the same small apartment within the castle. Not to mention Anna is completely Type A and Jake is completely the opposite! It definitely makes for MANY laughs!

I’m now wishing for my own Italian countryside adventure complete with staying in a gorgeous castle!

Did their reference of the movies The Italian Job also make me love it more — yes, yes it did because that was the first thing I thought of when I saw the title of this book!

If all of this sounds like something you’d love to read it comes out May 6th!

I adored this book! I adored Anna and Jake!

I initially wanted to read this because I have a honeymoon to Lake Como planned for June of this year. I was excited to read something that got me even MORE excited for the trip. While I do wish there was more aspects of Lake Como in the story (more scenery, local places ,etc), I still very much enjoyed Anna and Jake's story. And the setting of the castle on Lake Como was great for an escapist reader like me.

I felt Jake's story in particular was important, as he has spent time in prison and is dealing with how society treats him afterward. It's a huge problem for many people who try to seek employment after prison. Anna had some baggage too and I felt like it was a perfect mix personal issues, romance, setting, and some great secondary characters (evil and good).

I loved this book. The main characters were flawed, relatable, and fun with complex backstories that really guided their (often not great) choices. And best of all, they had that classic enemies to lovers banter that is just perfection.

Add in desperation for a job, close quarters inside an Italian castle, and the local residents of the town and you have a recipe for some great times! Every major character had such a unique personality and I really felt like I was right there with them in the small Italian town.

I could not put this book down. Once they decided to go along with the fake dating ploy, every second of this book kept me hooked. I had such a great time following them as they learned more about each other, were forced into some couples situations, and eventually learned how to love each other.

A solid enemies to lovers, fake dating story with a planner who needs to control everything and a man who's unpredictable and outside her control. Their growth as a couple (both physically and emotionally) progressed so naturally with successes and setbacks along the way that were believable and so very in character, even if I wanted to shout at the characters for making the wrong choices.

I definitely recommend this book!

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was so much fun!! Everything I needed in a light-hearted romance and to get me ready for the warmer months. This genre isn't my usual but I adored this, and I'll definitely be dipping my toe in the romance pool again. This book honestly had me looking up trips to Lake Como!

What I liked:
-The Italian backdrop - ugh, delightful! Who would pass up the opportunity to live in a castle for a year?! Not me! Also, the isolation Jake feels at not being able to speak Italian like Anna does is so accurate!
-The history between Anna and Jake was believable and I loved their misconceptions of the other.
-The sheer CHEMISTRY whilst the fake dating trope was in full swing - iconic!
-This wasn't just romance, this was a learning to love yourself in order to be loved, kind of book and I have a lot of time for that!
-The side character romances; would love to see a little novella or book detailing those!! They were so cute.
-A little bit of spice can be nice...

Read if you like
- Enemies to lovers
- Fake dating / forced proximity
- Guy falls first!
- A smidgen of steam...

I had one thought while reading this book: This would make a very good movie. I think the action was perfect for a rom-com that I would definitely watch and enjoy. The action was fast-paced and the setting was beautiful. My only problem was that I couldn't fully connect with the characters, but a reason for that could be that I am personally not a fan of 3rd person narrative.
All in all, it was an entertaining journey and the action was great.

how does one get sentenced to 6 months in PRISON for punching a guy?? that's all i could think about the entire time i was reading this

Anna Roberts’ gets her dream job - management of a castle on the shores of Lake Como in Italy. The only catch is she can’t do it alone…and with the last man she would have chosen, Jake Tucker. Anna and Jake never have seen eye to eye and learn quickly that pretending to be a couple is difficult.

I enjoyed this book. It was very entertaining. I love the enemies to lovers trope. I love the characters. I would recommend this book!

Special thanks to NetGalley, and Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter for this eARC.

This book is a fantastic combination of the enemies to lovers + fake dating tropes. I loved every second of it. I really felt like I could connect immediately to Anna, our main character, as she struggles with the heartbreak of a broken relationship that leaves her high and dry. I loved the different dimensions that this story took on as Anna returns to her childhood home with her father and rebuilds her life while sparking chemistry with Jake, her childhood nemesis. I will say there were times during their adventure where they made assumptions about each other that frustrated me endlessly, but I loved watching their story unfold. I would absolutely recommend this to friends and fans of Emily Henry and Sally Thorne!

Thank you HarperCollins UK and One More Chapter for the ARC!

I discovered the Kathryn Freeman books for the first time last year when I read The New Guy and I immediately loved her writing style. However every one I’ve read since has always fallen a little short of that one… until now. The Italian Job was an utter easy read, with the perfect bit of holiday escapism thrown in. The storyline was enjoyable without being ridiculously over the top and I really enjoyed spending a few hours in Lake Como. Would recommend as a holiday read.

Overall I enjoyed this book. Anna and jake were easy characters to like and the plot was one readers can easily get into. I do feel like it was missing something though, the storyline just felt a bit anti-climatic. It will make a great read for the summer and can easily see the book become a favorite on social media

This was my first book by the author and needless to say I will eagerly be seeking out everything she's previously written!

I loved the storyline, like a summer holiday without having to leave the sofa. The characters were both frustrating and loveable at the right times and I found myself really rooting for them through the story.

A great read, every time I put it down I was eagerly awaiting my next chance to read a bit more. Highly recommending to all!

Anna and Jake were a classic case of enemies to lovers, however, there was less banter and more full on arguments. While I appreciated the full character development of them both, I still had a few problems with the book that made me not love it. I enjoyed the plot although it was a bit *too* predictable, even for me. Within a couple pages, it was pretty obvious how the characters would end up, and what the plot twists would be. My main problem was I didn’t care for the writing style. This book had a lot of potential, but often the way things were written or they way the dialogue sounded had me disconnecting from the story.

To make sure this review is not all negative, here are a few things I enjoyed. The tension between them was sizzling, even if it was mostly one-sided on Jake’s part. I liked the ending a lot and how everything wrapped up well. I enjoyed how the development of Jake and Anna’s relationship allowed them to learn more about each and develop a greater understanding of how they each viewed the world and preferred to live their lives. They were, on many counts, opposites, but they still made it work in the way that counted.

Anna Roberts lived and worked with her boyfriend, Miles Rutherford, until the day she caught him in their bed with one of his employees. Since then, she’s been living with her dad in her childhood home.

Jake Tucker was her neighbor while growing up and they never got along. His life is as complicated as hers, with bad jobs and no friends since he got out of prison.

One day, Anna sees her dream job while searching online: living and cooking in a castle at Lake Como, Italy – the only problem is that they are looking for a couple to take care of the castle. She finds herself with two options: forget the job of her dreams or find a fake boyfriend. She thinks she might as well try the second possibility and convinces Jake to play along. This is how Anna and Jake find themselves in paradise, away from everyone that knows them.

It’s a book essentially about love but it makes us think about the ways people see themselves. Anna thinks she’s not worthy of love and that she’s not a chef that good. Will sees himself only as an ex-con, not worthy of a good job, friends, love, and respect. With time they help each other understand that what happened to us in the past doesn’t have to define who we are.

It was an amazing reading! Very funny, evocative, and charming. I felt like I was in the castle in Lake Como watching the story unfold. I liked the narrative and characters, their ways of thinking, and sympathized with them. Also, I enjoyed it so much that bought the book while having read only 77%. So, believe me when I say that I liked this book and give it a try!

To the writer: a book about Sara and Will would be interesting to read!

An emotional, engaging, and lovely book set in an Italian lakeside castle. This book has polar-opposite enemies to lovers, and all the best components of a beach read. Jake and Anna's romance is well earned, written, and perfectly steamy. The prose is accessible, and accurately explores the issues of prison sentencing and privilege, trauma, and the ways in which criminal records serve as an unending punishment even for those who completed their time.