Cross My Heart by Sasha Gould

Old cover

Laura della Scalla is the second daughter of the della Scalla household and as such, has spent the past six years living in a convent. But with the death of her older sister, Beatrice, she is summoned home and finds herself engaged to a horrible man named Vincenzo in place of her sister. But her sister's death was no accident and Laura soon finds herself involved with a secret society known as the Segreta, where secrets are the currency of choice. But can she really trust them?

If you've been following my blog for a while, you probably know that I really love historical fiction and I've been looking forward to reading Cross My Heart for quite some time. Having said that, I definitely feel like it lived up to my expectations. Have I mentioned that there's romance? Because there most definitely is. Better yet, Giacomo (the boy in question) is a painter and well, hot. I definitely liked him quite a bit although I feel that he didn't appear all that often. I think that I--personally--would've preferred a tad more romance as just as I began to really like Giacomo, Cross My Heart ended. Because of that, I'd really love to see a second book--although it's written in such a way that I feel like it could get away with being a standalone.

New cover

If you couldn't tell by now, there's also a very strong focus on secrets. I can't really go into just how important they are, but believe me, they play a huge role and there's also a family vendetta in play as well. Asides from that, there's Carina, Beatrice's old friend who quickly becomes Laura's guide to Venetian society; to put it simply, she's... something else. Don't worry, you'll see what I mean. Then there's Laura, our main character. She definitely makes some mistakes and I wouldn't call her headstrong nor weak willed; to put it simply, she's human.

There were a few times when the plot felt a little slow, but overall it flowed nicely and if anything, I'd love to read more of Laura's tale! I'd recommend it to you if the plot sounds intriguing to you, the idea of a book set in Venice during the late 15th century piques your interest, and you enjoy a bit of a mystery.

Overall Rating: ★★★★

Cross My Heart by Sasha Gould

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House.

Release Date: March 13, 2012

Edition: e-ARC

* Received via publisher and NetGalley.