KIDNAPPED (Italy Intrigue Series, #1)

Fast-paced, smartly written, and just a damn good read. The hero is yummy, the heroine intriguing. I don't normally read romantic suspense, but this one blew me away. I will definitely look up this author's other titles.

Stacey Joy Netzel weaves such a crafty story of adventure, romance and intrigue pulling the reader into the story with such fluidity it's hard not to keep the pages turning until the very end. A fast-paced, exciting ride from the first page, Lost in Italy is a story that will stay on your bookshelf to enjoy again and again.

Loved all the characters and the twists of events between the story.

Suspenseful. Exciting. Great dialogue between the characters. Fun read.

Loved it. Couldn't put it down. Kind of wanted it to go on (and on). Hoping for a sequel!

A wonderful book.......a delight to read

Wow! This book was fantastic! I have read two books by this author, so far. Both were free from Barnes & Noble for my Nook. I appreciate free, complete, books. I may never have paid attention to this author, otherwise. She has my attention now! The way the author creates her characters to be so real, to have unique and layered personalities and how she fits all the pieces of their lives into one book fascinates me. Then there is the story. This one had a thrilling amount of action and mystery. I kept trying to figure it all out and was satisfied and delighted with the ending. I also appreciate how she leads her characters into a romance, circling around it, backing off, coming together and as the author admits, falls into a happily ever after, or HEA. The romance , and it is romance, not erotica, is great. The angst, the attraction, the getting to know you phase, the sexual attraction, is all there. So, when the love-making comes, it is an act of love and almost reverence, as the couple shows their love and acts on their chemistry with each other. Very tasteful, yet .... a turn-on. I will be buying more books by Ms. Netzel, (forgive me if I misspelled, since I cannot leave this page to check). They are worth paying for!!!

I don't know why I wasn't expecting much from this book - it was great! The writing was good and the characters felt real. I couldn't put it down. Definitely worth the read.

Very good book I loved all the action of the book and the parts that had my heart racing and intertwined with the love story

I loved this book. It gave me just enough mystery and romance. This was the first book I have read from this author, but trust me I will be reading more

After reading More Than a Kiss I knew I just had to get a hold of another of Stacey Joy Netzel's books. I had to see if her other books had that same "something" that made me like More Than a Kiss and its characters. Now maybe it's just because Lost in Italy is a totally different from her other books but... Lost in Italy has earned a spot in my "Must Always Be Within Reach" list because it's one of those books I will re-read over and over again. In short, I loved it! To me it was even better than More Than a Kiss. What's not to love? You have the reluctant, slightly OCD heroine Halli who just wants to get away from her complicated family history and be her own person. She's so busy trying NOT to be like her parents that she really isn't enjoying life. Which is why her siblings, Rachel and Ben have dragged her on a trip to Italy and forced her to abandon her neatly organized activity itinerary. Unfortunately trouble finds her almost as soon as the book starts. Then there's Trent, the charming, super famous but highly vulnerable hero, well, reluctant hero. He's just such a good guy that he won't let an innocent stranger get hurt, even if it means having to become a real life hero and protecting her. It's just his bad luck that he starts to fall in love with her in the middle of investigating his brother's death and running for their lives. There's definitely some tension between Halli and Trent from the moment they meet, she thinks he's kidnapping her, he doesn't know what to think of her and even though she's terrified by the situation she finds herself in, Hallie doesn't take crap from anyone, especially Trent. This makes for some very amusing quips between the two, and of course, some very tense, steamy moments as well. What I found interesting is the little bit of info provided in the beginning, the event in which Halli's siblings forget her and leave her behind was taken from an actual event in author Stacey Joy Netzel's life. Though she didn't end up in a life or death game like Halli, I found it amazing that siblings can actually forget each other on accident rather than on purpose, not that I'm admitting to anything of the sort mind you. For me, the pacing of a story is very important. I don't have a lot of patience with slow stories, I need a moderate pace in the books I read or else I'm going to get bored and the story will become stale and forgettable. I don't want to read 100 pages of scenes that have zero importance to the story or with bland characters. I also don't care for stories that rush through events and bulldoze over character development just to get to the "sexy times." As much as I love "sexy times" in my romance novels, I need more than that. I need solid characters, I need them to have more than just sex between them, I love angst between characters and an actual story that tells how two characters went from strangers to lovers to happy ever after. Lost in Italy gave me that PLUS great action scenes and a tough mystery to solve. There were twists and turns in not only the investigation into a murder but in the budding relationship between Trent and Halli. Not to be outdone though is Halli's brother Ben. Now there's an interesting character. He isn't just there to be a supporting character, he really jumps out of the pages and grabs the attention whenever he's in a scene. There's something just under the surface with him that I can't quite put my finger on. He strikes me as the kind of man a woman would have to be nuts to take on. Which is why I loved Eva. Tough, sassy and smart, she just might be more than Ben can handle. Definitely an example of Romantic Suspense at its best, Lost in Italy is exciting, fun, sexy and extremely difficult to put down. So make sure you don't have anything super important to do or trust me, it won't get done on time, if at all.