60 pages • 2-hour read
Problematic Summer Romance
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Symbols & Motifs
Taormina
Taormina is the Sicilian town in which Problematic Summer Romance’s main storyline is set, and as a symbol, it includes the town itself, the villa, and Mount Etna. Hazelwood admits to taking poetic license with the villa, which she constructed from her favorite things about Taormina, and with the eruption of Mount Etna, which typically does not disrupt travel to the extent it does for dramatic tension in the novel. Hazelwood also includes real places from Taormina in the novel, such as the theater Maya attends with Conor and Avery. The island Maya and Conor chase Eli’s dog through in Chapter 29 is Isola Bella (Beautiful Island), a popular tourist site Hazelwood intentionally made deserted to further Maya and Conor’s romantic arc. Hazelwood’s creative leeway represents the power of storytellers to alter real-life events and locations for dramatic emphasis. It also shows how real life is typically not as outrageous or extraordinary as fiction, thus necessitating alterations such as those Hazelwood used.
By setting the main arc of the storyline exclusively in Taormina for a planned event that is interrupted by a natural event that stops travel, Hazelwood makes use of the forced proximity romance trope in which the romantic leads are forced to be together with no easy escape, either by geographical restriction or other designs. Maya and Conor’s forced proximity means the two spend more time physically together than they ever have. Without the distance Conor has formerly kept between them by only talking to Maya over the phone, the sexual tension between them grows until both are unable to stay away from the other, making Taormina the driving factor behind both their physical relationship and their eventual declarations of love. This is also helped along by Sicily (and Italy at large) having a reputation as a country of romance. Taormina’s beautiful views and abundance of tourist attractions that are perfect for dates helps draw Maya and Conor together because they are surrounded by romantic influences.
The Wedding
Eli and Rue’s wedding is the main event around which Problematic Summer Romance rotates, and it is a symbol of What It Means to Love. Eli and Rue chose the villa in Taormina as their wedding destination because Tamryn owns it and offered them its use. While Sicily wasn’t necessarily their primary choice, they chose to have a destination wedding at a beautiful location where they could share the event with their loved ones and friends. From the first night where most of the wedding party gets food poisoning, the guests refer to the wedding as cursed, which causes anxiety and skepticism in equal measure. Rue and Eli start to question their choice of venue, which comes to a head with the eruption of Mount Etna. Since travel into Sicily is closed down due to the volcano, Eli and Rue decide to cancel the wedding and elope. They realize that committing to one another is more important than the event itself, which shows what their love means to them. Further, their choice to elope brings Maya and Conor together, showing them that the most important element of a relationship is trusting one another to make it work.
Scotland
The flashback chapters of the novel take place in Scotland, which represents the critical background of Maya and Conor’s relationship. After a rocky few years living with Eli, Maya chose to attend college in Scotland to get away from the memories of her trauma in Texas. For her, Scotland is a fresh start and a way to heal, which she thinks is successful when she makes new friends and finds a boyfriend. However, when her boyfriend cheats on her, Maya realizes that the people she left behind have been her support system all along, which makes Scotland a symbol of the importance of family. Maya’s experiences in Scotland are the catalyst for her friendship with Conor. If not for her turbulent adolescence and choice to study abroad, Maya would not have been redirected to Conor during a moment of desperate emotional need, and the two would not have grown as close as they do. Scotland also highlights Conor’s capacity to be supportive before he even realizes he has this ability. His choice to fly to Scotland to help Maya shows that he sympathizes with her situation and understands the pain and betrayal she feels. Scotland serves as a way to mark Maya’s progress from before she left home to the main timeline of the story.
The Dogs
Dogs in Problematic Summer Romance symbolize both responsibility and emotional trust. From the beginning, Maya is tasked with looking after Tamryn’s dogs—a role that reinforces her reliability and growth. Her care for the dogs, which includes feeding, walking, and cleaning up after them, provides an early glimpse into her capacity to nurture others, a theme that resonates throughout the novel. The dogs become an avenue for Maya and Conor to spend time together, as well as a proxy for the domesticity they are slowly building toward.
A pivotal moment involving the dogs occurs in Chapter 29, when one runs off and Maya and Conor chase it through the island of Isola Bella. This comedic moment gives way to romantic tension, showing how caregiving tasks—like chasing a runaway pet—can turn into moments of connection. In contrast to the rigidity of weddings or the formal expectations of adulthood, the dogs provide low-stakes chaos that invites play, compromise, and teamwork.
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