Arcadia Awakens, Kai Meyer (Arkadien #1)

Synopsis:

To New Yorker Rosa Alcantara, the exotic world of Sicily, with its network of Mafia families and its reputation for murder and intrigue, is just that—exotic, and wholly unknown. But when tragedy strikes, she must travel there, to her family’s ancestral home, where her sister and aunt have built their lives and where centuries of family secrets await her. Once there, Rosa wastes no time falling head over heels for Alessandro Carnevare, the son of a Sicilian Mafia family, whose handsome looks and savage grace both intrigue and unsettle her. But their families are sworn enemies, and her aunt and sister believe Alessandro is only using Rosa to infiltrate the Alcantara clan. And when Rosa encounters a tiger one night—a tiger with very familiar eyes—she can no longer deny that neither the Carnevares nor the Alcantaras are what they seem.

Ancient myths brought to life in the Sicilian countryside, dangerous beasts roaming the hills, and a long history of familial bloodlust prove to Rosa that she can’t trust anyone—not even her own family. Torn between loyalty to her aunt and love for her family’s mortal enemy, Rosa must make the hardest decision of her life: stay in Sicily with her new love . . . or run as far and as fast as she can.

I was recommended this book by a person in Twitter, saying I would totally love it and that it was amazing. The author himself replied to our tweets, and that made me want to read it even more, because he had shown to be a normal person like all of us, accessible to everyone by a social network, which is great. 

Well, anyway, I had decided to read the book when I was told that it was only in German and English, and a few other languages I don't speak, so I had to find the English version, which is not easy here. So in my trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, with my parents, I found it at this small bookshop and bought it without even thinking. I had been waiting quite a long time to find it. 

But it took me a couple of months to have time to start it, even if I had really wanted to earlier. But I did. I started it and loved it since the very first page. I loved the main character, Rosa, because she wasn't obvious like many other main characters in other books are. The shoplifting thing surprised me, and I loved finding out more things about her as the story went through. And Alessandro... omg. I loved him since the very first sentence he said, and it was as clear as water that Rosa, underneath her strong attitude, was going to fall head over heels for him. And I did too. 

The rest of characters were beautifully described, not in a page, but through the whole book. It's great to find a book where you don't get to know the characters in the beginning, not even the main ones. It's nice to get to know them page by page like we would if they were real people. 

When Rosa finds that tiger in the woods I was like ok, I guess what's going to happen. And it does happen. I kind of expected it. But I did not expect the consequences of that situation and everything it happened later. Most of it was unexpected. And I really like that. I was afraid, when I guessed the tiger thing, that the book was going to be plain and expected, but it finally surprised me and erased my doubts. 

So I really loved it and I'm really happy they recommended it to me, and I will recommend it to anyone. Now everything I want to do is find the next two books that complete the trilogy and read them all. Let's see what happens.