One Step to You
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Read the inspiration for the Netflix original series Summertime, a "deep, passionate romance that transcends time and age" (Booklist).
Babi and Step are the Romeo and Juliet of their time, spending the best days of their lives together in the Eternal City, but belonging to opposite worlds may eventually tear them apart.
It begins with a chance meeting at a traffic light, one that draws a young woman’s attention to the stranger on a motorbike. In that one moment, the fates of Babi Gervasi and Step Mancini are altered. Babi, poised on the brink of a predictable future, will risk everything to be with Step. Step, running from his past, will find the one thing missing from his life. Sharing days on the streets of Rome and nights under a blanket of stars, they belong in each other’s arms.
Even as they fear their time together will be brief, they know their hearts will remember forever.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Some of the spark is lost in translation in Moccia's English-language debut, a trilogy-launching tale of star-crossed teen lovers in 1980s Rome. Wealthy, 18-year-old socialite Babi Gervasi is both intrigued and wary when she meets bad boy Stefano "Step" Mancini, a young man from the wrong side of the tracks. She disobeys her parents and ditches her high-society admirers to embark on a tumultuous relationship with the fiery Step. But can their love transcend their very different social circles and the disapproval of their families? Though the narrative is oddly flat, with banal characters and stiff dialogue, Moccia does capture the turbulent passion of teen love. Step and Babi's affection for each other and excitement at rebelling against societal expectations is believable, and Babi's inexperience with sex is realistic and respectfully handled. There's disappointingly little scene setting, save references to Roman streets that will offer insight only to those already familiar with the city. The cultural references to the 1980s will play on readers' nostalgia, but it is unclear why this is being marketed to adults rather than teens. Despite some heartfelt moments, this disappoints.