Vendetta

Gr 9 Up—Since her father's murder trial, Sophie Gracewell has become a social pariah. Instead of attending parties and spending time with friends, she works at her father's diner with her only remaining friend, Millie. Currently managed by her mysterious uncle, the diner will pass to Sophie when she turns 18. Reluctantly resigned to her fate, Sophie's world suddenly gets shaken up by the mysterious arrival of a jar of honey left at the diner by gangster known as "The Sting." Also, an immediate attraction develops between Sophie and Nicoli Falcone, one of the five brothers in a new family that moved in to a long abandoned neighborhood mansion. However, their relationship is initially complicated by his overbearing brothers and then later prohibited once the link between the Falcones and Gracewells is discovered. The protagonist must reconcile her affection for Nic with the violent role he plays in his family's business, while also accepting the truth of her father's incarceration and the reasons for her uncle's sudden disappearance. The attraction between the teens is not as compelling as the action-filled mystery surrounding the Falcone family. Readers will be drawn in by the star-crossed romance and the compelling plot. For collections that can't keep enough teen romances on the shelf.—Lynn Rashid, Marriotts Ridge High School, Marriottsville, MD