Release Date - May 3, 2016
Publisher Social Media - Twitter/Facebook/SavvyReader/Frenzy
Pages - 352 pages
My Rating - 3/5
**received from publisher for an honest review**
**SPOILERS FOR CITY LOVE**
In this second book of the City Love trilogy by bestselling author Susane Colasanti, three girls share a Manhattan apartment the summer before college begins. Lost in Love captures the essence of summer love, self-discovery, and sisterhood, a perfect fit for fans of Sarah Dessen, Jenny Han, and Jennifer E. Smith.After City Love I had high expectations for this second instalment. There was a lot of potential for this series to be a perfect read for those lazy summer days. A series that follows a group of girls on the cusp of college through a life changing summer, it certainly had everything I wanted from a summer read. There is plenty of romance, friendship and delicious drama. This second instalment, however, did not quite live up to the first one for me.
Sadie was convinced that Austin was her soul mate, but after discovering his secret she wonders if she even knows him at all. Darcy was all about fun boy adventures with no strings attached . . . until her ex moves to New York City to win her back. Things are getting serious with Rosanna and her boyfriend, but will she be able to break free of her past and let him in? With no parents, no rules, and an entire city to explore, this is the summer that will change their lives forever.
Told from alternating points of view, Lost in Love weaves a story of first love, first heartbreak, and everything in between.
The girls are all still reeling from the reveals at the end of the first book. Darcy is dealing with an ex-boyfriend who returns just as she is about to move on with another boy. Sadie is dealing with the fact that her perfect guy was already married, and Rosanne is left on the cusp of something great if she can open her heart. There were so many questions I wanted answers to, and each girl was left with a juicy story to follow. This sequel does dive into the stories, but ultimately ends with more questions and very little answers.
This feels like middle book in a series. It reads like a bridge between the first and last book that really only propels the story forward enough to move into the finale, while not being vital all on it's own. I did appreciate that some of the storylines were given time to breathe and we got to experience the characters emotions and reactions to the events from the first novel, but some of the others barely moved forward at all. It's not until the very end that we see any real progression in order to set the third book in motion. The set up, however, is dishy, and filled with the kind of drama that ensures I'll be clamouring for book three.
The storyline that I feel suffered the most was Rosanna's. I felt myself not connecting with her, and her actions and reactions did not feel as believable to me as they did in the first book. She started to regain her footing in the later part of the story because she ends this novel finally taking the steps she needs to take in order to move forward from her past.
I didn't feel that New York presence the same way I did in the first novel. The city felt like another character in the first book. That aspect of the story, the city in City Love, didn't feel as vital or prominent here. The first book was a love letter to New York, very much the way it was in Sex and the City. New York is the first love of these characters (just as it was for Carrie). That connection was part of the magic of the first book, and what lent it some of it's charm. What saved the story is that I was already invested in these characters from the first book. I already was willing to follow them on their journey. I just missed some of that New York City magic that enhanced the first book.
