Juliet & Dead Romeo

When characters are named Paris Nobleman, Tybalt Gatti, Juliet DaVinci, Nicolo Montague and Mariotto Romeo, you know the author has her tongue firmly in her cheek. In Juliet & Dead Romeo by C.J. Love, Juliet is trying to avoid her mother's matchmaking and finally confess her love for Nicolo Montague. (Juliet & Dead Romeo is published by Columbine Publishing Group.)

But family feuds derail her attempt to tell her mother about Nicolo. Juliet tries to break up a fight between her cousin Tybalt and two of the Romeo brothers. For her effort she i arrested and alienates Nicolo, who is a police officer. 

With Paris Nobleman stuck to her side, Juliet tries to make her way home when she stumbles across the body of one of the Romeos on her father's property. She's pretty sure, he is dead and now she is worried about her father. 

She calls him and when her, he tells Juliet to use a branch to

brush away the footprints, not the first thing you do when you find a body. Naturally the police are not fooled by the disturbed site and focus in on Juliet's father Santos. 

Juliet comes up with her own list of suspects including several members of the Romeo family. When she learns about a secret marriage, she adds some of her own relatives to the mix. 

The dynamics of two large Italian families and the feuds that separate them offer a charming look at how families rule our lives and alter our ability to reason.