Customer Reviews

Stick Shift (Harlequin Flipside)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In San Jose, Lucy Mastronardo holds a good job and has a nice fiancé Seth, whom she will marry in a few days. When a promotion she developed begins to unravel, Lucy flies from San Francisco to Naples to fix the problem promising everyone she will be back in time to attend her wedding.

On the plane, Lucy gets into a hassle with someone she dubs Mr. Garlic over window seating and the food served by the airlines. Internationally renowned chef Vittorio Bandini insists the food is so bad that his shoe leather would taste better. Under Lucy's disbelieving eye, he swallows a piece of leather.

At the Naples subsidiary where she is working, Lucy finds a radically different lifestyle than the hectic California pace as she meets Italian mellow with three hour lunch breaks and specialty coffee next door. The owner of the neighboring bistro is. Mr. Garlic. As he tries to get her to down shift from the frantic American businesswoman, they fall in love. However, Lucy will have to shift gears manually to Lucia at times if she and her hunk Vittorio are going to make it.

Fans will enjoy this entertaining contemporary romance that uses humor to not only compare lifestyles, but to provide a message that it is okay to shift gears at times. The story line is fun to follow as Lucy feels like Alice inside the looking glass until her "toes" start to itch when her heart falls for the Italian stallion. Readers will have a good time with this lighthearted romp that subtly says it is fine to stoop and smell the garlic too.

Harriet Klausner

I've read a few others in the Flipside series and on a whole, they are a great read - a perfect mix of romance and humor. This story fell way short. The heroine and the entire surrounding characters were interesting but the hero was a big bland nothing. There was no real development of the love story and I couldn't have cared less what happened to him. I was fascinated by the female lead, her wacky co-workers and meddling mother - the author just needed a better male lead.

Mary Leo's STICK SHIFT is a high-geared, incredibly insightful and delightful romance -- and I'm no sucker for the usual types on the shelf. From start to finish, this book hooked me and I can definitely see Sandra Bullock as Lucy in a movie version! All the sensual descriptions of Italy, food, wine, clothes, the quirky secondary characters and non-formula ending satisfied this eclectic reader.

This novel introduced me to Flipside and the author. I was hooked and have since read everything she writes. Stick Shift adheres to the traditional romantic comedy structure seen in Hollywood and recommended for all writers for good reason. It works. The "cute meet," and all the zany adventures for the hero and heroine, partially set on the scary cliff roads along the coast of Italy. Toss in the fiancé so wrong for her you'll want to scream, remember Sleepless in Seattle. Beware, you won't stop smiling.

Have you you ever had to make a decision that would determine the rest of your life? In Leo's debut novel, the main character Lucy is thrown into a whirlwind of confusion that sends her into a mad dash to make a choice between stability or passion. What will be her final decision? Read on to find out and don't forget to pick up a copy of her second novel entitled "For Better or Cursed".

Mary Leo is an excellent writer and I look forward to seeing more books in the future. I also recommend her because I am a proud niece!

You'll never think of Italy the same way.

Lucy Mastronardo has her life all planned. The perfect job. The perfect man. Then days before her wedding she's sent to Italy and perfection gives way to insanity! She meets a man who would eat a shoe in a fit of annoyance, a man who can drive a stick shift, a man...who ignites something in her that she'd never known existed. Now if she can just figure out what to do with him...her wedding's getting ever closer.

Mary Leo's first book was a fun ride through the Italian countryside...a ride from perfection to insanity, which in the end is pretty perfect!