The Year of Luminous Love

April 29, 2013
McDaniel's (Red Heart Tattoo) latest drama centers on the tumultuous lives of three best friends during the summer after their high school graduation. Ciana is contending with an alcoholic mother and trying to take care of her family farm. Arie has been fighting cancer (and a smothering family) for years. And Eden is weighed down by her possessive drug-dealer boyfriend, her impulses to harm herself, and a mother with bipolar disorder. When Ciana's grandmother leaves her a large college fund, Ciana invites her friends to leave their small Tennessee town to vacation at a villa in Tuscany. There, they discover that some relationships and realities will follow them anywhere, including a romantic conflict between two of the girls. In Tuscany and Rome, the girls encounter worldly men, explore historical sights, and reassess their priorities. The emotional chemistry between the friends can be slight at times, but the story's themes of escape, freedom, horse riding, and finding love should have a strong pull for romance fans. Ages 12âup. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency.

May 1, 2013

Gr 8 Up-While this novel lacks substance and the characters are stereotypical, readers who clamor for pure escapist chick lit might like it. The plot centers on the friendship and growing pains of three friends in Tennessee trying to figure out what to do with their lives after high school. Ciana's once-prominent family now has little money since her father and grandfather died in a plane crash. Her grandmother is near death and her mother is an alcoholic, so Ciana runs the family's massive property. Arie has a huge family and no money, and has been battling cancer off and on since she was five years old. Eden's mother is bipolar and left Eden to raise herself through much of her formative years. Eden is attached to Tony, who is a drug lord and very controlling. Arie is infatuated with Jon Mercer, a horse trainer, but Ciana met him and the two became attached before Ciana knew about Arie's crush. Instead of starting college in the fall, Ciana decides to take her friends to Italy for three months to help Eden escape Tony and give Arie her dream of travel and art. This slight, accessible story will tempt teens seeking a dramatic summer read.-Elizabeth Kahn, Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy, Jefferson, LA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2013
Grades 9-12 In the hills of Tennessee, three best friends navigate unique post-high-school challenges. Ciana is determined to keep Bellmeade, the family estate up and running following matriarch Olivia's death; Arie has battled cancer since childhood and is hoping this time she is in remission for good; Eden's older boyfriend, drug dealer Tony, is controlling, sending bodyguards to follow her every move. There's also a handsome Texan cowboy in town for the summer, and he has attracted the attention of both Arie and Ciana. What are three best girlfriends to do? Using her inheritance from Olivia, Ciana whisks them off to Tuscany for three months of spaghetti, great works of art, and new adventures. But, alas, even a villa in Cortona can't shield the girls from real-life problems. McDaniel's breathless saga takes readers from picturesque Tennessee horse country to sun-washed Tuscan vineyards, all the while establishing characters worth caring about. McDaniel fans won't want to miss this age-appropriate Eat, Pray, Lovewell, it has the eating and the love at leastand they'll eagerly await the follow-up, The Year of Chasing Dreams.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2013
The summer after high school graduation, three best friends face an array of romantic and family challenges while one suffers from a relapse of childhood cancer. Clichis and stilted language abound, and the heroines act, speak, and date more like adults than teens. The dual settings--rural Tennessee and lush Tuscany--provide a pleasantly rich backdrop for an otherwise cookie-cutter romance.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)