From the author of Hearts Overboard comes a swoony mystery-filled romance in which a girl on a school trip to Venice gets swept off her feet by a mask-wearing stranger...but does she know him already? Lose yourself in the masquerade—because sometimes, the greatest adventure begins when you unmask your heart. People pleaser Evie Whitmore can’t believe her art and architecture class trip has brought her to Venice—home of gondolas and crumbling palazzos, and the inspiration for both her art and her hidden passion, Elven Realms, a series of novels set in the very city she’s about to explore. Rumors about an underground Elven Realms fan club swirl, and Evie, wearing a costume and mask, sneaks out at night to find it. There’s no way she can tell anyone what she’s doing—not her friends, and certainly not Gabriel Martinez, the bad boy loner she’s been partnered with on the trip. But Evie’s not the only one on this clandestine quest. She collides with someone else in disguise—a stranger whose eyes hold secrets. He calls himself Angelo, and he too loves the novels. Venice is a labyrinth, and as they unravel clues together, their connection deepens. Who is Angelo, really? And who does Evie want him to be? " An adorkable love story about being true to yourself." — Kirkus Reviews " Consider Love Unmasked the next stamp in your passport. " —K. L. Walther, New York Times bestselling author of While We're Young " An excellent read for those who love to love or simply love their fandoms." — School Library Journal A lifelong fan of fantasy novels, Becky Dean would happily live inside her favorite books. When she’s not writing, she can be found drinking iced tea, eating chocolate and strawberry gelato, watching science-fiction shows, and planning travel adventures for herself and her characters. Though she lives in Texas with her husband and daughter, she remains a California girl at heart. She is also the author of Love & Other Great Expectations, Picture-Perfect Boyfriend, and Hearts Overboard. Chapter One The mask was going to be my downfall--or possibly land me in airport jail. I should have considered how the pointy wings on the sides, which had looked so elegant in my sketchbook, would appear in real life on an X-ray machine. A TSA agent was tugging my carry-on suitcase off the conveyor belt and toward the table reserved for suspicious characters. Which now included me. The man’s first thought was not likely to be This girl has impressive artistic abilities and a strong understanding of the aesthetics of the Elven Realms universe. I suspected it would trend more toward This girl is packing stabby things clearly intended for wrongdoings. Even scarier was what my classmates would think if they saw the contents of this bag. Most of the group had gone through ahead of me and waited several yards away. A dozen students from my school, plus that many from two other schools in our ar-ea. Bryce Carter caught my gaze and smiled. I waved and returned the smile, try-ing to hide my worry. He started toward me. While I normally appreciated our shared desire to help everyone, I waved him off and mouthed, I’m good, which was a lie, unless good could be defined as “desperate and close to hyperventilating.” Next to Bryce was another of my friends, Dai Tanaka, who would have gladly caused a scene to distract the authorities if he knew I needed help. Except he didn’t know. Neither of them did, and I had to keep it that way if I wanted to hold on to everything I’d built the last four years. Word could not get out that Evie Whitmore, vice president of Central High, year-book art manager, peer mentor, constant winner of the perfect attendance award, shoo-in for the senior-class Most Outstanding Citizen prize, was carrying cosplay outfits. The TSA agent donned blue gloves, like this was a crime scene or he was preparing for surgery or something equally gruesome that involved blood and my imminent demise. My art teacher, Mr. Owens; my best friend, Natasha Gutierrez; and two final classmates were the only ones left behind me. Natasha stuffed her laptop back in-to her leather backpack and grabbed her white Vans. As always, she exuded the air of organized competence befitting the senior class president. She was the sole per-son who knew about my obsession with fantasy books and my secret plans for the upcoming week. I loved my friends, who were considered the popular crowd, but we were hardly the crew in Mask of Souls, sharing every secret and fighting to the death to protect each other. I had found a place, and sure, it didn’t always fit perfectly or feel like home. But it fit well enough, was nice, and made my life easier. Like that outfit that wasn’t exactly what you wanted, but after weeks of searching, you doubted that the idea in your head actually existed, so you settled for something less than perfect, but real and still good. Natasha would save me, but I didn’t want her to suspect I didn’t have this situati