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.
Racing the Sun follows Amber, who we first met in Where Sea Meets Sky. Amber is traveling the world, and realizes she is broke. As in, can't afford a plane ticket home broke. So she decides to take the first job she comes across - teaching a couple of Italian kids English. Never mind the fact that she has never taught kids anything. She is desperate to get home! Or so she thinks ...
Until she meets Derio. Well, until she gets to know Derio. He isn't the happiest person on earth, and having gone through what he has, who would be? I don't blame him, much, for his grumpus attitude. And neither will you.
While the overall story arc is pretty easy to guess, you won't know exactly how it will get there. I wondered a few times exactly how things would play out, and while I was able to guess a few, I was still surprised by others. This is a fantastic summer read, especially as we wind down into the last few weeks. It does not disappoint in the entertainment, the swoon, or the feelings.
As always, Halle takes us on an adventure with her words. Her writing is so spectacular and vivid I feel like I have been to the island of Capri, the Blue Grotto, and the several other places mentioned in Sun. I expect nothing less when I pick up a Halle book, as she is an extremely talented author and has a permanent place on my auto-buy list.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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27 July, 2015:
Finished reading
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27 July, 2015:
Reviewed