Throwback Thursday: Lucia in Love by Heather Graham

 

Author: Heather Graham
First published in 1988 by Silhouette Intimate Moments

If Lucia Lorenzo hadn't been so exhausted, she would have realized that the person already occupying the bed wasn't her cousin Dina but someone decidedly masculine: Ryan Dandridge, the man she had been trying - unsuccessfully - to forget.

Little did she realize when she woke up next to Ryan that her troubles were just beginning. For one thing, her entire wacky family was on hand, and nothing was ever easy when they were around. For another, someone seemed to be stalking her - with dangerous intentions. In fact, the more she thought about it, having Ryan re-enter her life might very well be the best thing that could have happened!

Lucia in Love is part romance and part mystery. Lucia and Ryan had a whirlwind affair that ended badly.  They meet up again and the spark is still there.  I liked their story, but it was frustrating at the same time.  Their lack of honesty and communication was unbelievable.  They both made assumptions about the other person and that is what made the relationship fail the first time.  When they get together again, they still wouldn't talk things through.  I felt like that part got dragged out longer than it needed to be.

Despite all of that, the mystery part was fun.  Lucia keeps seeing the same dead body in different places, but no one else ever does.  People start questioning her sanity. The peripheral characters were also fun.  Lucia has a large Italian family.  They added a lot of comic relief.

I do recommend this one. It didn't feel outdated.  My only complaint about the audiobook was the narrator's attempt at a Boston accent. It came across as a bad Brooklyn accent.  That began to grate on my nerves after a while.  If you can't make is sound authentic, just don't bother, please!