From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Where Sea Meets Sky comes a new adult novel about a young woman who becomes a nanny in Capri and falls for her charges’ bad-boy brother. It’s time for twenty-four-year-old Amber MacLean to face the music. After a frivolous six months of backpacking through New Zealand, Australia, and Southeast Asia, she finds herself broke on the Mediterranean without … the Mediterranean without enough money for a plane ticket home to California. There are worse places to be stuck than the gorgeous coastline of southern Italy, but the only job she manages to secure involves teaching English to two of the brattiest children she’s ever met.
It doesn’t help that the children are under the care of their brooding older brother, Italian ex-motorcycle racer Desiderio Larosa. Darkly handsome and oh-so-mysterious, Derio tests Amber’s patience and will at every turn–not to mention her hormones.
But when her position as teacher turns into one as full-time nanny at the crumbling old villa, Amber finds herself growing closer to the enigmatic recluse and soon has to choose between the safety of her life back in the States and the uncertainty of Derio’s closely guarded heart.more
Great story,I loved the ending.It just felt right.
When you find yourself in a foreign country without enough money for a plane ticket home, your options become quite difficult. This is the problem facing Amber. After months of backpacking across Europe, Amber finds herself lacking the cash to continue on her journey. With her prospects dwindling, Amber applies for a position teaching English to a pair of Italian children.
How hard could it be to teach English to two young children?? Amber quickly learns that this task is much harder than she could imagine. Nothing prepared her for the rude, obnoxious, and defiant behavior she would encounter from her students. Even more unexpected is the fact that these two children are being raised by their brother – Derio.
Who would have ever guessed an ex-motorcycle racer would alter his life to raise his siblings?? With a past sprinkled with tragedy, Derio drowns himself in alcohol and ignores many responsibilities that lurk around the estate. Then Amber came barreling through his life. Bit by bit, the wall Derio has used to surround his heart begins to crumble. Can Amber’s desire to bring Derio closer to his family be the connection they both need?
My, my, my…..Racing The Sun is a wonderful romance that melted my heart. What’s not to love??? A hot Italian, a beautiful island, a romance born from attraction….yes – this book is definitely a must read for everyone!! The pages overflow with sexual energy, a budding romance, and a zest for life. I seriously loved everything about Racing The Sun. The words tumbled from each chapter…pulling me deeper and deeper into the lives of two people who desperately need one another to reach fulfillment in their lives. A memorable adventure that leaves me wanting to visit The House of Sad Lemons.
“The room is off limits if Signor Larosa is not home. You are never to go in there.” My eyes widen. This is starting to sound like Beauty and the Beast. Oh my God, am I Belle? Is he an Italian Beast? Did I just stumble into the best scenario ever? My inner nerd is having heart palpitations.”
Author: Karina Halle recently mentioned this book in her facebook group and it reminded me that this is one of the few titles of hers I haven’t gotten around to yet. Well, the timing couldn’t be more perfect with all the Beauty and the Beast fandom going on right now. To be clear, this isn’t a retelling of Beauty and the Beast and it’s not even a parallel storyline, but certain themes/parts do prompt you to notice similarities and my face lit up everytime!
Racing the Sun was sad, lonely, funny, sexy, adventurous, cultural, unfair, suspenseful…it was good. I noticed it falls in the new-adult genre (which is a genre I generally no longer read), but it didn’t feel new-adult in terms of heavy angst and dysfunctional relationship drama. The emotions were there but they weren’t over-the-top. It all felt realistic in my opinion which is something I appreciated. No eyerolls! Yay!!! Racing the Sun may have been sadly neglected back in the far corner of my TBR shelf but now I can confidently recommend it to fans of new-adult and adult romance alike. If you enjoy audiobook experiences, I highly recommend this one. The Italian accents are a lot of fun. Check it out!
My favorite quote:
“Fear is the most powerful force of destruction. Fear is the devil’s greatest illusion.”