Poppy
January 27, 2015
304 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depo/or Amazon
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 are over, too.
In this coming-of-age romance, April Lindner perfectly captures the highs and lows of a summer love that might just be meant to last beyond the season.
Did you love Gayle Forman's Just One Day or the part of Stephanie Perkins' Isla and the Happily Ever After set in Barcelona? Have you been waiting for the next book that could not only transport you to a beautiful locale, but accompany that with two great character with undeniable chemistry? If you have, then Love, Lucy is your next read.
(And if you haven't, I don't know what to tell you.)
Even if Florence hasn't been on your list of places to see, the beginning of Love, Lucy is likely to make you wish you were there. As Lucy works with (and maybe around) her tour mate Charlene to have the trip she's imagined, readers will want to go right along with her.
Then when Jesse enters the picture . . . Well, who doesn't want to explore a beautiful, historic European city like that?
Lucy and Jesse's adventures provide a romantic backdrop for their relationship's beginning as well as opportunities to learn about each other.
As much as I loved Lucy (and Jesse's) time in Italy, though, my favorite parts of the novel came once the trip was over and Lucy returned to real, everyday life. We already had glimpses into her character - why she was on the trip, what her future likely held - during the time in Italy, but now we see 'normal' Lucy. How she is when not falling in love in Italy.
The more real her character becomes, the more she has to deal with the everyday, the more Love, Lucy becomes more than just a cute romance book. Lucy and Jesse face struggles in their relationship, Lucy has her own difficulties and decisions. We get a fuller, deeper view of the characters, of their relationship and it makes them - and it - something to really root for. Not because those first days were so sweet and out of a dream but because you care about the characters and want something good for them.
With Lucy's attempts to find out who she wants to be - and how to mesh that with what her family expects of her, her starting college, and Lucy and Jesse's romance, Love, Lucy is almost a New Adult novel. It is still Young Adult but should appeal to older readers as well.
This modern update on A Room with A View is cute, fun and romantic but also has more depth that I was expecting, and Lucy's a very well done character. Vespas, cute boys, gelato, discovering your dreams, living your dreams, it's all in Love, Lucy.
received for review through NOVL newsletter
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