Margo Sorenson

The beauty of Italy comes to life, while a young woman struggles to find her place but ends up facing a danger she never would have expected to find.

Alessandra (Alex) returns to Italy for the summer after moving to the US. She's not thrilled, especially when she's put in charge of a twelve-year-old girl, who is anything but simple and keeps her on her toes. But while trying to deal with the difficult pre-teen, she meets a very interesting guy. Just when the vacation appears it might be show more looking up, a dead body turns up on the beach and the organized crime running the place hits with harsh reality. Suddenly, Alex is facing an entirely new level of problems, and the stakes couldn't be higher since it involves the lives of not only her family but even her own.

There's so much to enjoy in this novel, and it makes sure to twist everything in the right way at the right time to keep the reader in the pages the entire way through. While the beginning takes on a more teen-drama start with Alex having to deal with an unwanted baby-sitting task and ruining her hopes, it melds into more than the usual romance like some novels for this age group tend to do. Instead, mystery and thrilling moments come in. The tension doesn't start right away as the reader is first drawn into the setting. Italy, the culture, and the life show their beauty and enjoyable sides. It will have the reader wishing they could be there, too. But just as these aspects begin to work their magic, little drips of tension begin to filter in. It grows little by little until the action and mystery take control. It's well-paced, carries heart, and makes even my 'action-fan' side smile.

As for the romance, this wasn't as sugar-sweet as I feared it might be. Instead, it holds the dreamy beginnings but adds just enough twist to make it interesting and slide right in with the quicker pacing as the read continues. It's hard to guess what will happen even on this front.

This is an enjoyable read, which offers Italian goodness while giving so much more and promises readers anything but a boring read. show less

Logophile Calvin carries his dictionary everywhere he goes — even to a baseball game! Calvin’s older brother keeps playing pranks on him, and Calvin wants to get even. I dare not say anything else because the ending packs quite a surprise. I love this book, and my students will, too!

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, Myrick Marketing & Media, LLC, and Tillbury House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

I did like this book. I liked the organization of the book. The book was divided into chapters that were based off of specific information. For example, chapter 1 gives an introduction of what a town goes through during the intense hours describing how waves can reach up to 80 feet in height. After the introduction of tsunamis in the first chapter, there is a smooth transition into the second and third chapters that discuss what and tsunamis are.
The division of the chapters creates a smooth show more transition for readers while reading. I also liked how they provided scientific research within the book stating what scientists do to help when they know of an oncoming tsunami. This makes the text more believable and reliable to the reader with factual information present.The main idea in this book is tsunamis, how they are formed, what they are and the amount of damage they can cause. show less