Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  When We Were Out of the Ordinary

SERIES:  Italian Romance #3

AUTHOR:  Elen Chase

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  272 pages

RELEASE DATE: June 30, 2022

BLURB:

South Korean Kim and Italian Alessandro have been working in the same building for years and fighting an endless prank war.

Alessandro is messy, oversleeps, drinks too much and enjoys making the downstairs tenant miserable. Kim, the downstairs tenant, runs an Italian language school and a tight ship. He suffers no fools, especially the fool in the science lab upstairs.

When they agree to meet to celebrate their “rivalniversary,” they begin to see a side of one another they weren’t expecting, and on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, their rivalry turns into friendship… or perhaps it’s the start of something just right.

REVIEW:

“I gave him pain, and he gave back healing. I gave him shame, and he turned it into strength. I gave him my heart, and he cradled it with kindness. And there I knew, deep inside my soul, that I would dedicate the rest of my life to loving this man.”

Two men – enemies – who don’t fit into society’s acceptable boxes. One has been ostracized by his family, the other feels like the odd man out. They were lost, weird kids, and as adults they don’t feel ordinary. But perhaps they’re extraordinary to each other. Elen Chase’s wonderful Italian Romance series continues with Kim and Alec’s love story in the compelling When We Were Out of the Ordinary.

We first met Kim in When We Were Fire on Fire as Eric and Francesco’s good friend. Alec is new to the series as a man who is chaos personified, with a mind that runs amuck with his ADHD.  He’s having a tough time adulting. He and Kim both feel like they’re living on borrowed time – Alec because he’s scared he’ll die young as a depressed and lonely man who doesn’t matter in the world. For his part, Kim is afraid it’s only a matter of time before his friends discover his secrets and leave him, and furthermore, he thinks he deserves that fate.

For eight years these men have worked in the same building where they communicate with snark and sarcasm and their workday pranks have become legendary. Eventually, these men move from enemies to friends then maybe something more. They decide to go on a date on the anniversary of the beginning of their rivalry when they started hating each other. They realize after all this time they know very little about each other. Of course, their relationship morphs into something beyond friendship. Kim finds himself longing for closeness and physical contact, things he didn’t know he needed to feel complete.

As I read, I looked forward to the world building I’ve come to know Ms. Chase for. This time the author takes us on a road trip from Milan to Alec’s hometown on the same island where Rob and Marco grew up. The island is off the coast of Rome so we’re treated to the beauty of Rome and the island through Ms. Chase’s highly descriptive imagery. Once again, it’s like reading an Italian travelogue. Alec’s tight knit family is awesome. Three generations live life so fully and soon Kim realizes he has a place in this exceptional family, too. The world building even extends to the yummy food Alec’s family indulges in. This book made me hungry.

This is a scrumptious tale of innocent, sweet love. I’ll forever be grateful that I discovered Ms. Chase’s fantastic books and look forward to more of her creative writing. There’s something enticing about her work that I can’t quite describe, something deep and worldly, always engaging, and filled with multi-layered, lovable characters. All of her characters from the previous two books are here, including Rob and James, Eric and Francesco, and Betta, Pablo, Marco, and Jenn. Those of you (like me) who enjoy enemies to lovers and only-one-bed tropes won’t be disappointed. Readers of the series will adore this five heart/star novel as will those new to the author, though I recommend beginning with the first book, When We Were Sea and Stars. Highly recommended.

RATING: 

BUY LINK:

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