Mary Leo Stick Shift

Stick Shift

Mary Leo

Harlequin Flipside, Jan 2004, $4.50, 217 pp.

ISBN: 0373441819

In San Jose, Lucy Mastronardo holds a good job and has a nice fianc 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