4.5/5 stars 
 I am so surprised by Love, Lucy. Several days later and I'm still thinking about it. I loved everything about this book. It is set in Italy (at least over half of it), and the main protagonist is so likable. I truly loved the whole contemporary and wanderlust feel of it. By the end of the book I had the traveling itch so bad. Love, Lucy is the story of Lucy, who gave up her dream of acting for enrolling in business school at her father's alma mater. It isn't that simple, trust me. However as an appeasing gift, her parents send her on a month or two long european trip. The book doesn't cover the whole trip, but only once she arrives to her last destination, Italy. 
 Italy holds a special place for me relative to all the other european countries. That is mainly because of all the stories I heard about it from both my parents when they visited it often as kids. Being only two hours away and living on the Mediterranean made it quite easy to go to Italy from time to time. Unfortunately I never went there so I experienced everything Lucy described for the first time.. from the streets, the people, the food, to the culture. One thing I could relate to Lucy is the need to get lost in a foreign country. I love just going where the path takes you, especially when traveling to foreign countries. It really is as serene and beautiful as Lucy described it. I truly felt how realistic the experience was for Lucy, it was like April Lindner actually walked the steps that Lucy walked, went through the same emotions as she did, and I love this authenticity in writing. 
 This is a love story, but it is also a story about Lucy finding herself. It isn't about Lucy ditching everything and everyone and going after what she wants, but it is about making the best out of her situation and trying to turn hit into something she recognizes as her own. This realistic aspect of the book resonated with me. So many of us end up doing things to please the parents or to complete an obligation.. but not all of us get to have that movie happy ending where everything gets resolved and you get exactly what you wanted from the beginning. It's all about compromising and again, Lindner really wrote it superbly. 
 I've been burnt quite often with abroad romance novels but I actually thought the romance in Love, Lucy was super cute, natural, and really fit well with the whole book. The guy didn't become Lucy's everything, and everything transitioned so well. The conflict was well played out and I really liked the love interest. This is not something I say often when it comes to this type of romance. I am so glad I gave Love, Lucy a chance because I ended up loving it so much. Bravo Lindner!