Love, Lucy by April Lindner

Summary from Goodreads:

While backpacking through Florence, Italy, during the summer before she heads off to college, Lucy Sommersworth finds herself falling in love with the culture, the architecture, the food...and Jesse Palladino, a handsome street musician. After a whirlwind romance, Lucy returns home, determined to move on from her "vacation flirtation." But just because summer is over doesn't mean Lucy and Jesse have to be, does it?

In this stunning novel, April Lindner perfectly captures the highs and lows of a summer love that might just be meant to last beyond the season.

Review:

I really enjoyed this one. It’s the kind of summer romance turned real life fairytale that most girls dream about, growing up. Add the beautiful Italy setting and the little bit of family drama to prevent Lucy from doing what makes her happy, and well, this story was kind of just what I wanted. I also love this author. I love that she retells the classics with a modern YA flare.

This one is based off of: A Room With a View by E.M. Forster. And I have to admit that I have never read this one. I have seen the movie a long time ago. This book makes me want to read the original. It makes me want to re-watch the movie. And it makes me want to watch Roman Holiday, a movie that keeps popping up throughout the story. I actually already requested the movie from my library. I’ll have to have a nice glass of Italian wine and watch it one night.

I liked the forced friendship between Lucy and Charlene. It was clear they weren’t meant to be friends, and I feel like we have all had “friends” like that before. I also found Lucy a tad bit naïve, and while this usually marks a red flag in a character for me, I still end up liking her. I liked that she had a lot of learning to do. And she seemed quite capable of at least making friends that weren’t as naïve and could help lead her in the right direction.

Her interest in theater was great. Though, I kind of wished she worked harder at it. Yes, she has a stage fright thing going for her. She can’t be completely perfect. But, I never saw her really practicing a part. And I while I know some people just have charisma or whatever, I feel like she’d need to practice/work a little harder too.

The love triangle was very believable. It’s understandable that Lucy would think her summer romance in Florence would stay a summer romance in Florence. And I kind of understand her need to find someone more a-typical and normal in her college life. But, it was also clear to me and everyone around Lucy, that she just wasn’t over her summer thing yet.

All in all, this Italian romance was a light, fluffy YA contemporary. I enjoyed it more than I was expecting to. And it was a great book to settle down with on a windy fall evening. I give it a 9/10.