Review: Flirting in Italian by Lauren Henderson

Publication Date: June 12, 2012Publisher: Random House Children's BooksSeries: Flirting in Italian #1Young AdultPages: 336Genre: Contemporary, RomanceFour girls. One magical, and possibly dangerous Italian summer. Family mysteries, ancient castles, long hot nights of dancing under the stars . . . and, of course, plenty of gorgeous Italian boys!*Galley provided by publisher for an honest review*I've said before that I love all things Italian, especially since I am Italian myself, so I thought that I'd enjoy this contemporary taking place in Italy with some delicious Italian studs to go along.This book did not live up to the expectations that I wished. A DNF in my case. Yes the Italian boys are hot. Yes the villa sounds beautiful beyond compare. But when I go over a hundred pages wondering when the mystery of the whole painting comes back into play, the whole main reason why Violet takes her trip to Italy in the first place, set me off kilter and failed to bring my hopes back for the book. That wasn't the only problem that I had. The whole comparison between the British girls and the American girls made me mad. I'm not British, but the whole fashion darwinism that was going back and forth in Violet's view point towards the American teenagers made me set the book aside and come back to it at a later date. As well as the Italian daughter of their host mother, her snobby attitude and horrid demeanor towards the girls felt unnecessary.This just wasn't my cup of tea. Anyone wanting to give it a try can do so as they wish. For the love of Italy and Italian boys, the choice is yours.First Line: The picture in front of me is like a magnet, drawing me closer and closer, till my shoulder is nearly brishing against its antique gold carved frame.Story: CCover: B