Racing the Sun

Finished March 6
Racing the Sun by Karina Halle

This romance novel has Amber MacLean on what she fears is the last leg of her backpacking trip. She's coming into Positano along the Amalfi coast in Italy and not only has little money left, she has dipped into the funds that were to purchase her ticket home. She really doesn't want to go home, as she still feels she hasn't figured out what direction she wants to go in for her future. Her father is pressuring her to return home and get a job rather than looking for her passion.
She decides she is going to have to find a job, even if it is just to get enough money to get back home, and answers an ad she spots in a cafe. The job is to teach English to two Italian children, and she figures that with her English degree, it is something she can manage. When the interview takes her to the nearby island of Capri, she is enchanted by the beauty of the island.
The interview is odd, but goes well, and she settles in to her job, finding ways to gain the attention of the children and find a friend she can connect to. The children's older brother and guardian is a distraction though, and she finds that the rumors she hears about the family don't fit what she sees living with them.
This is a story of a young woman searching for a life that makes a difference. And of a man recovering from a tragedy while dealing with responsibility he wasn't ready for. It is a story of connections and of growing up. And one of love.