After the death of her caregiver, her great aunt Rose, Julie Jacobs is given her inheritance, a key to a safety deposit box in Siena, as well as a new name–her birth name, Giulietta Tolomei. After traveling to Siena, Julie meets a cast of characters that will help discover the secrets of her past, as well as the curses of her family name. Julie discovers she is an ancestor of the first Giulietta–the “Juliet” that inspired Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy, and in order to break the family curse, she must find the man that has descended from Romeo, as well as several artifacts that have been lost over the past centuries.

Juliet is a historical adventure, rich in detail. Several chapters alternate to past events, through letters that Julie receives, telling the details behind her family history and the history of Romeo Marescotti’s family. For those that love history, love Italy, or love Shakespeare, this will be an excellent novel. In terms of story-building and plot-building, the vast amount of history and details became cumbersome to a point. Many of the characters surrounding Julie were not extremely well-developed until very far into the novel, with many still not receiving their fair due. However, at the heart of this story is a romance, the romance that will be remembered for ages, as well as Julie’s own romance with the present-day Romeo. The fast-paced, suspenseful scenes will help to keep readers intrigued, and the plot moves smoothly between slow and fast scenes to keep the reader propelled to the end of the story.

For mainly adult readers, this book will appeal to older teens or to those with a special interest in the story of Romeo and Juliet. For myself, it was a nice change to read a book based somewhat on history, rather than the paranormal, and the character of Julie was refreshing. She was neither perfect nor peppy, and sometimes I actually found her a little annoying–but all the more that makes her believable in my eyes.