Losing Francesca by J.A. Huss
Publication date: July 1st 2013
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

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Francesca Sabatini came to America to take in the sights, celebrate her high school graduation, and have fun wasting time before college starts in the fall.
That’s not what happens.

Fresh off the plane and barely on American soil more than a handful of minutes, Francesca’s face is recognized by TSA scanners to be a match for a child who was kidnapped twelve years ago.

Brody Mason remembers the day Fiona Sullivan went missing during a family vacation in Italy and it’s haunted him his whole life. So when Francesca shows up at the Sullivan farm down the road, he’s compelled to figure out if this girl really is his long lost friend.

But Francesca knows she’s not Fiona Sullivan. She knows exactly who she is. At least she thinks she knows – until Brody Mason relentlessly pursues her and she begins to have feelings for him. Maybe being Fiona isn’t so bad?

Reality becomes blurred, secrets are revealed, and life will never be the same when the final questions are answered: Is she Francesca or Fiona? And where does she really belong?

When I first read the summary for Losing Francesca, I knew that I would be surprised. Losing Francesca not only did that, but thrilled me and made my heart race at almost every turn of the page.

I was a bit wary when I started to read the first chapter because the story didn't open at the start of the whole dilemma, but a whole month after it. J.A. Huss did a good job of feeding me all of the details at a leisurely pace, though. I started to ease in into the story and couldn't stop reading. The author fed me a lot of little hints here and there, but they only made me even more confused. For a story like this, that was definitely a good thing. There was so much mystery surrounding Francesca's real identity and I couldn't wait to know the whole story.

Francesca Sabatini/Fiona Sullivan/whatever her name is was a character that I instantly liked. She behaved how any other girl presented with a situation like hers should behave, but she also had this air of composed regality surrounding her. You'll definitely get the sense that she lived a life full of leisure, but that she's also used to moving and disappearing. Francesca was a bit snotty and hot headed, but she was so headstrong and determined; I loved the choices she made in the end.

When Brody Mason entered the story, I couldn't help but groan and think "aw hell no, not another ~bad boy~". BUT, I breathed a huge sigh of relief when he turned out to be the complete opposite of the NA bad boy cliche. Brody was a complete sweetheart that made me smile time and time again. He's headstrong and determined like Francesca, emphasis on determined, but he's a lot more composed. I enjoyed the chapters in his point of view a whole lot.

Another thing that I liked about Losing Francesca was it's take on the Sullivan and Sabatani families. Both families are unconventional and it was interesting to read about how they all connected with each other. And then there's the humor. The book has a lot of fast-paced action, but J.A. Huss didn't fail to add humor and lighten the mood at the most appropriate times.

I only had two problems with Losing Francesca:

1. The story sounded too much like a story sometimes; Some parts were so unrealistic and too good to be true. 
2. Francesca and Brody's romance. Losing Francesca is an NA book with no sex scenes and I liked how innocent and cute the romance was, but their relationship escalated too fast.

THE NUB AND GIST: 4 STARS

J. A. Huss likes to write new adult books that make you think and keep you guessing. Her favorite genre to read is space opera, but since practically no one reads those books, she writes new adult science fiction, paranormal romance, contemporary romance, urban fantasy, and books about Junco (who refuses to be saddled with a label). 

She has an undergraduate degree in horses, (yes, really–Thank you, Colorado State University) and a master’s degree in forensic toxicology from the University of Florida. She used to have a job driving around Colorado doing pretty much nothing but shooting the breeze with farmers, but now she just writes, runs the New Adult Addiction and Clean Teen Reads Book Blogs, and runs an online science classroom for homeschoolers.