“I need another break,” I wheezed, doubling over to rest my hands on my bare knees.

In the tradition of the great Master Yoda: a runner I am not. And according to the fitness watch my stepdad, James, gave me for Christmas, we’ve gone only 1.32 miles. The mailboxes and trees are starting to sway in my blurry vision.

He was always getting American idioms wrong like that. His philosophy for navigating the US with zero connections, zero money, and zero friends? “Jump and a net will grow.” Just his passport, a ratty backpack, a few hundred dollars, and a Greek accent so strong he said it took three months before he could successfully order a cup of coffee. He said it was the first thing he bought when he arrived in the Chicago airport from Greece, and the second he popped it into his mouth, he knew he’d made the right decision: any country that made gum like this knew what it was doing.

One foil-wrapped stick after another starting right after his morning cup of coffee. Because as Liv slowly begins to discover, her father may not have invited her to Greece for Atlantis, but for something much more important. But not everything on the Greek island is as perfect as it seems. She also definitely doesn’t want Theo-her father’s charismatic so-called “protégé”-to witness her struggle.Īnd that means diving into all that Santorini has to offer-the beautiful sunsets, the turquoise water, the hidden caves, and the delicious cuisine. And yet Liv doesn’t want their past to get in the way of a possible reconciliation.

There are so many questions, so many emotions that flood to the surface after seeing her father for the first time in years. So when Liv suddenly receives a postcard from her father explaining that National Geographic is funding a documentary about his theories on Atlantis-and will she fly out to Greece and help?-Liv jumps at the opportunity.īut when she arrives to gorgeous Santorini, things are a little…awkward. What Liv does remember, though, is their shared love for Greek myths and the lost city of Atlantis. Liv Varanakis doesn’t have a lot of fond memories of her father, which makes sense-he fled to Greece when she was only eight. From the New York Times bestselling author of Love & Gelato comes a Mamma Mia!–inspired tale about a teen girl finding romance while trying to connect with her absent father in beautiful Santorini, Greece.

Love and olives jenna welch