Release Day Review: Racing The Sun by Karina Halle
From the New York Times 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 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.
Giselle’s Review:
If there is one thing Karina Halle knows how to do, it’s transport her readers to a gorgeous new country, while simultaneously giving them a serious case of wanderlust. One of my favorite things about Karina Halle’s novels, is that every single one of them is a new adventure; a new city to explore, a new country to add to my list. I’ve always wanted to go to Italy and fall in love (who wouldn’t???), and after reading Racing The Sun, I feel like I already did.
Racing The Sun is, most definitely, one of my favorite books of the year. Not only did I fall in love with Derio, but Amber is possibly one of my favorite heroines- ever! Amber is strong, she says what’s on her mind, she is witty and hilarious, and is just a little bit
Derio Larosa is, in my opinion, the definition of the phrase “Italian Stallion.” He’s gorgeous, brooding, moody, but also sweet and compassionate. Readers will definitely swoon over him, so be warned: This Italian man will ruin you for all others. Even with his extreme personality, Derio complements Amber’s personality pretty well and together they just work.
The romance in this novel builds at the perfect pace and that is just one of the many reasons I fell in love with it. One really gets to know Amber before jumping head-first into the romantic aspect of the novel and that is something I greatly appreciated.
Karina Halle has, without a doubt, taken me on another incredible journey. She made me fall so hard for Amber and Derio, and my crush on Amber might be even bigger than my crush on Derio. After finishing Racing The Sun, the only thing on my mind was buying a plane ticket to Italy, hoping on a ferry to Capri, and finding that house of sad lemons, and that’s the only thing that will be on your mind too. 😉