All Roads Lead to Rome

April 15, 2024
A U.S. embassy lawyer's daughter fake-dates a Scottish celebrity for a summer. Bookish loner Astoria "Story" Herriot is about to graduate from a private American school in Rome, where she was bullied by the popular clique of diplomatic corps kids. Story's plans to spend her last summer before Princeton volunteering at a farm sanctuary and hanging out with her single mom are interrupted when she visits a gelateria at the same time as gorgeous Scottish influencer Luca Kinnaird and international queen of pop Jasmine as they evade the paparazzi. After Jasmine escapes through a back exit, Luca pretends Story is his tour guide so the press won't discover that he's Jasmine's new fling when she's supposedly dating a fellow musician who's actually in rehab. Wealthy, charming Luca offers Story a fauxmance in exchange for funding a memorial scholarship in her late father's name, but as the two grow closer, attending countless society events together, it becomes clear that their class differences can't curb their opposites-attract chemistry. Some of the dialogue is rough (for example, the overuse of jerk and inconsistencies in Luca's speech), and some of the characters' behaviors stretch believability (such as Story's decision not to Google Luca). The author lightly weaves in mature themes of substance abuse, parental death, and class inequity, but the narrative remains an appealing, younger teen-friendly homage to Roman Holiday. Main characters are cued white. A frothy romance. (Romance. 12-17)

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August 1, 2024
Grades 9-12 This perfect summer romance features Astoria, or Story for short, the American daughter of a diplomat finishing out her summer in Rome, and one Scottish heartthrob, Luca. Luca is always gracing the tabloids, but he's trying to get them off his tail while he starts a relationship with a world-famous pop star. In an effort to run from the cameras, he runs into Story, a shy young lady who astoundingly agrees to pretend to date him for the summer. Of course, it isn't long before the fake dating becomes all too real. The movie Roman Holiday is mentioned a few times throughout the book, and indeed it shares some of its themes and locations, though the happily ever after comes with a modern twist. And just like the reporter shows the princess around town and widens her horizons, Story happily plays tour guide to her "boyfriend" and shows him the magic of Rome. The book will have any reader raring for a visit to the Eternal City and running to the nearest gelato shop.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.