(This review can be found on my blog The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl.


How interesting does this book sound!?! The blurb definitely caught my attention, and I'm glad it did because I loved this book!!

I think the title suits this book. It's about the main character losing who she thought she was, so I think it suits the book just fine.

I'm usually not a big fan of just sticking a girl on the cover of a book, but with Losing Francesca, it works. I think if it had much more than Francesca on the cover, it'd be too cluttered.

I found the world building to written quite well for the most part! It was easy to slip into Francesca's shoes and feel exactly what she was feeling. The only part I didn't like was the insta-love between Francesca and Brody. It just didn't feel that believable. Also, I felt as if Francesca accepted her new life too quickly. She didn't act nervous or scared enough, I felt. However, saying that, I've never been in that situation, so I can't pass judgement too much.

The pacing is absolutely fantastic in this book! I usually only read ebooks at night while I'm laying down, but with Losing Francesca, I was reading this book at all times. I couldn't wait to read about what would happen next. This book definitely held my attention.

I really enjoyed the whole plot. I found it to be original and interesting. I like the idea of a girl that was kidnapped being recognized as the child who went missing years ago. I wanted to see what it'd be like. There aren't really any plot twists in this book, but that doesn't take away from how good it is.

I didn't really like the character of Francesca until towards the end. She came across as being a snobby rich girl. Even when she was with Brody and had stopped with the whole rich girl act, she still seemed like she was bragging about how rich her family is. To me, she was too spoiled and too much of a show-off. However, I did start liking her towards the end. I did like Brody. I loved his determination and his never give up attitude. Although he used to be a bit of a bad boy, he came across as a gentleman.

The thing that annoyed me with the dialogue is that the swearing seemed too over the top. Brody swears a lot, and most of the time, the swearing seems forced and fake. It doesn't come across as natural because Brody does it too much. And it wasn't just Brody. Some of the other teenagers swore as well, and it didn't come across as natural. Other than the unnatural swearing, the dialogue was quite enjoyable. We get point of views from Francesca and Brody which was quite enjoyable to read. I enjoyed reading Francesca's point of view the best.

Overall, Losing Francesca by J.A. Huss was a super good read! There were a few problems, but those were easy to overlook with how great the book was!

I'd recommend this book to those aged 17 who are after an interesting and sweet read. I'm only recommending it from age 17 due to the language (which there is a lot of swearing). Otherwise, this would've been a 14 .

I'd give Losing Francesca by J.A. Huss a 4.5 out of 5.

(I received a free ecopy of this title from the tour host in exchange for a fair and honest review). ( )

I really enjoyed this book. J.A. Huss knows how to make characters believable in extraordinary circumstances.


The characters are great. Francesca comes off as an awful person at the beginning of the book, but once she loosens up, she is actually pretty awesome. Can I just say that I absolutely love Brody! He’s persistent, but not in annoying way. He’s completely swoon-worthy. He actually talks to Francesca, and doesn’t try to tell her who she is, or isn’t. Sean is also a great character. He’s everything a brother-type should be. The Sullivan family is awesome. They deal with Francesca with kindness even when she’s being a major pain in the ass.


Losing Francesca is emotional, and pretty quick paced. Francesca is remembering things and isn’t sure what to do with that info. She just wants to be with her family. I also enjoy getting both her and Brody’s perspectives. We are able to see their issues with the situation. Both have their problems, but those are forgotten as they hang out.


If you are a fan of the New Adult genre, definitely give this book a try. I highly recommend it. ( )

Losing Francesca literally sucked me in... and didn't let me out until I finished the last page. I loved the characters, mystery, romance, and the originality. (And I cannot let that gorgeous cover go unnoticed) I am so glad I got the chance to read this book, and I will definitely look into more of J.A. Huss's writing.

The characters were one of the main things that sucked me into Francesca's world, her new one and old one. She herself was quite a mystery at first, as the readers are not sure who her dad is, and other key factors of her past. This hidden information intrigued me. Also, I absolutely loved her narration and character development. She is stubborn, but is having a little bit of an identity crisis towards the middle of the book. I also loved Brody. At first, he seemed a little, er, dramatic? However, as I learned more about him, I began to crave the chapters with his narration.

There are tons more characters I loved too. Shaun, Francesca's adoptive brother, was a character I loved. He had his faults, but I loved how he tried to include Francesca into the family. Also, I enjoyed learning about the family Francesca spent her life with before she was recognized as a kidnapped child. They were different and unique, yet had a realistic quality. To me both Shaun and Francesca's childhood family were very vivid.

Now I must mention the plot. The whole time, I was pulled into the mystery of who Francesca really was. And there was an amazing twist at the end. I applaud the author for pulling such a sweet yet intriguing and suspenseful contemporary romance! Also, I loved the multiple settings and detailed yet not over-the-top descriptions. (NormallyI mention pacing and length but I do not have much to say as it was perfect here.) I believe I have said this word before in the review, but I found the story very vivid and as I read I lost sense of the reality around me.

Overall, I found Losing Francesca more than worth of my time. The book was, simply put, pretty amazing. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to fans of unique contemporaries! Or, really, any book lover out there. And now head down for an amazing giveaway... And put this book on your to-read-as-soon-as-possible list imaginary hard drive. And don't deny it, all reader's have that list stored in their brains. ( )

IF there's no smut... Why is it MATURE YA? NA? :o Hmmm...

Wow. This book is just wow. It is such a great story I'd recommend it for most folks. On the outside this story is about a girl, Francesca, who is taken by the US government while entering the US from Italy during a solo vacation. They detain her due to facial recognition saying she fits the sketch of a missing US girl, Fiona. For two months the government detains her, all the while she says she is not the missing girl. However she fails polygraph tests and she was also carrying several false passports. The US courts then finalize that she is this missing girl and force her to stay with her US family until 'Fiona' turns 18. As this is only for seven weeks, she complies. Her US family had adopted her so DNA testing is not applicable however she has very unique eyes and features which leave little doubt to her US family that she is their Fiona. The story then goes into the struggle she faces in finding herself and finding out the truth and the struggles of those who love and miss Fiona.

Now this story line in itself is good but what is a surprising and ultimately heart-string pulling is Brody. He is the missing girl's next door neighbor, two years older than herself, but whom felt that Fiona was his soul mate even as a little boy. He's had a lot of traumatic events with the loss of Fiona and the loss of his parents on Christmas Eve. You root for him, you feel for him and can't help but love this character.

Now that's all I'm going to say about the story line since I'm doing my best to not drop any spoilers!

This story pulled a lot of heart strings, had mystery, suspense, love, family and romance. All in all a really great book. ( )