Lost in Love

March 1, 2016
The second novel in Colasanti's series about the continuing adventures of three girls spending the summer before college in the Big Apple is aptly named, since there is a clear difference in tone from the first book. Readers follow the stories of poor, thrifty Rosanna; upbeat, native New Yorker Sadie; and wealthy, spoiled Darcy through experiences, mostly boy-related, that challenge their emotional well-being and cause them to behave in ways that contradict their stereotypes. Rosanna continues to be treated to all the perks of an affluent lifestyle by rich boy D, but her past life intrudes in the form of a blackmail attempt from someone in the children's day camp where she is working. Through her concern for an at-risk child in the camp, Rosanna discovers how to exorcise her own sad history. Rich girl Darcy's past also intrudes when ex-boyfriend Logan shows up and tests her resilience in many ways. Sadie's happy-go-lucky disposition is tested when her soul mate Austin turns out to have deceived her. The good cheer that she lovingly distributes isn't enough to placate her grown-up dilemma. Sadie's love for the city of her birth holds the girls (all presumably white) together through multiple dramas. While the girls' back stories are complicated enough to lend texture, the relentless breeziness of the alternating first-person present-tense narrations (even Sadie's) keeps the book from feeling anything other than superficial. Readers who enjoyed City Love (2015) will appreciate the contemporary urban vibe and the promise of more teen adventures to come. (Fiction. 14-18)

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July 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-This series follows the final summer together of Sadie, Darcy, and Rosanna, three teens sharing an apartment in New York City before beginning their freshman year of college. Sadie, the romantic of the group, always sees the best side of things and is searching for her soul mate. Darcy is the rich-girl rebel looking for a summer full of adventures with boys. Rosanna is trying to reinvent herself and quickly is introduced by a boy to the wealthy side of New York, but she barely has a dollar to her name. The latest volume finds Sadie wondering if she ever really knew Austin, the boy she thought was her soul mate but who revealed a relationship-changing secret. Darcy has been having fun with no-strings-attached romantic hookups until Logan, an ex-boyfriend, shows up, determined to win her heart. Meanwhile, things are heating up between Rosanna and D, but she fears opening up to him about her past. Colasanti is a reigning romance champion in the YA world, so this new series is a no-brainer purchase where her books are hard to keep on the shelf.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2016
Just a few weeks into their first summer together in NYC, roommates Sadie, Darcy, and Rosanna are all beset by romantic strife. Chapters alternate among the three protagonists' interwoven stories, which can sometimes halt the narrative flow. Each story in this sequel to City Love stands on its own, but the strongest scenes involve all three characters.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)