Review: Lost In Italy by Stacey Joy Netzel

It's late to be posting my weekly review, but I just finished reading Lost In Italy by Stacey Joy Netzel. The book took longer to finish than usual since the novel turned out to be rather long, but it was worth it.

If you've ever been in a foreign country and had the slightest moment of unease about your location or an awareness of a stranger who makes you uneasy, you'll understand the premise of this book.

If you have an imagination, you'll understand that kind of "OMG moment" even if you've never found yourself alone on a side street in Firenze, followed by a couple of men who look like what the locals call gypsies. Makes me shudder just remembering that little incident.

(As is my custom when I review ebooks, I give the Kindle Buy Links because I read most books on my Kindle. However, I'm certain every book I review is available at most ebook sellers so look for them on the platforms that match your ebook reading device. Click here to shop for your very own Kindle.)

Blurbing The Book

Control freak doesn't begin to describe Halli Sanders, a young woman with deep-seated trust issues. She and her brother Ben and her sister Rachel are in Italy intent on having a vacation of a lifetime. When Halli gets stranded and unwittingly films a crime, she finds herself rescued by American action film star Trent Tomlin who is out to prove that his brother's death was a murder, not a suicide.

Halli's carefully planned itinerary hadn't included car chases, abductions, unending danger, and falling in love, but nothing seems to work out as she'd planned. What's more, she has no control over the unfolding events, and neither does Trent who probably wishes some director would yell, "Cut."

My 2 Cents

Engaging characters, a wildly implausible plot that the author skillfully makes the reader believe is plausible, and tension that ratchets up with every chapter, Lost In Italy is a compelling read that makes you root for Halli and Trent. Sometimes, you'd like to slap Halli and tell her to stow the emotional baggage and have a modicum of trust, but that just means that the author did a good job in showing her with all of her conflicting emotions.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and found myself grinning at the ending and thinking that these two people had a shot at "happily ever after."

Takeaway Truth

Reading is the least expensive form of entertainment, and ebooks are the biggest bargain around.