Teaser Tuesday: The Boy on the Bridge by Natalie Standifor {34}

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Title: The Boy on the Bridge
Author: Natalie Standiford
Release date: July 30, 2013
Pages: 256

A new breathtaking novel from Natalie Standiford about love and trust during the Cold War.

Laura Reid goes to Leningrad for a semester abroad as Cold War paranoia is peaking in 1982. She meets a young Russian artist named Alexei and soon, with Alexei as her guide, Laura immerses herself in the real Russia--a crazy world of wild parties, black-market books and music, and smuggled letters to dissidents. She must keep the relationship secret; associating with Americans is dangerous for Alexei, and if caught, Laura could be sent home and Alexei put under surveillance or worse. At the same time, she's been warned that Soviets often latch onto Americans in hopes of marrying them and thus escaping to the United States. But she knows Alexei loves her. Right?

As June approaches--when Laura must return to the United States--Alexei asks Laura to marry him. She's only nineteen and doesn't think she's ready to settle down. But what if Alexei is the love of her life? How can she leave him behind? If she has a chance to change his life, to rescue him from misery, shouldn't she take it?

My teaser, from 11% in the egalley:

...she felt restless, and she didn't trust herself to heed her own advice. Here she was in a foreign country, sitting in a class with a bunch of other Americans, just like she would be at home. Reading about love.

Pathetic, that's what it was. Timid. Boring. She was wasting her youth--her "fleeting youth," as Pushkin might have said. No time to waste.

She longed for something to happen to her. Something exciting. It was up to her to make it happen, to take chances. Take action.

If she couldn't find an adventure in Russia, she deserved to be bored.

I was so sad not to participate in Teaser Tuesday last week, but I just didn't have the time to get two posts written! But, I'm back this week! :) I'm super excited about The Boy on the Bridge, since I love the synopsis and the cover, but I'm also thrilled to read a book set during the Cold War, which I don't see often.

I'll be visiting around and visiting back, so leave me links to your teasers! Have a lovely Tuesday!