ARC Review: Racing the Sun by Karina Halle

From the USA TODAY 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.

Purchasing Racing the Sun by Karina Halle on Amazon!

4 Stars

Throw in a moody and hot Italian motorcycle racer with a big heart that just needs a little push, then you've got a hit book (at least for me!). 

Desiderio Larosa is a handsome, mysterious and a former racer, whose life changed in an instant. He's left to raise his two little twin siblings after losing their parents. The Larosa family is known around the Capri as being full of life, but after the accident, this family goes in seclusion and becomes more mysterious when the older brother, Derio has guardinship to raise his two little twin siblings.  He's a ex-professional racer that has his own fears to overcome.

Derio needs help and seeks out a English speaking tutor for the little ones. In comes Amber MacLean. Amber is an American who has been traveling abroad for months trying to figure out who she is. But backpacking overseas has left her little funds and she needs to find cash quick. That's when she sees the ad for the tutor. 

Amber accepts the tutor position knowing it's going to be a challenge--these kids are still angry and confused over the loss of their parents. And not only does Amber need to deal with the twins, she also needs to deal with the moody older brother, Derio. Amber struggles to teach, but is determined to break through to this family. There is something special she sees in them. 

As her time in Capri and with the family goes on, she eventually breaks down their walls. And her position as a tutor takes a big turn and adjustment for all. The children warm up to her and the mysterious Derio slowly opens up to her. There's an obvious attraction between these two. 

Racing the Sun is another fantastic book by Ms. Halle. I loved Amber's journey to her find place in life and the how the chemistry between these two characters blossomed in this story. Derio was lost and having Amber walk into his life and into the twin's life was something that made me smile to the very end. It's a heartwarming story about discovering love and life on a journey.