Wish You Were Italian (If Only... Series)

by Kristin Rae

Overview

Enjoy Wish You Were Italian and the other standalone titles in Bloomsbury's contemporary If Only romance line centered around an impossible problem: you always want what you can't have!

The summer before senior year of high school. It's supposed to be one of the biggest summers of her life, but Pippa is headed to an art program she has no interest in. The one saving grace is it's in Italy. And when the opportunity strikes, she decides to ditch the program and travel Italy accomplishing her own list of goals. Things like swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, eating a whole pizza in one sitting…and falling in love with an Italian boy!

As she explores the famous cities of Rome and Pompeii, Pippa finds herself falling for two boys: a local guy she knows is nothing but trouble and a cute American archaeology student who keeps disappearing and reappearing at the strangest moments. Will Pippa find her true love before her parents find out the truth about her summer program?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619632868
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	05/06/2014
Series:	If Only... Series
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Kristin Rae was born and raised in Texas though her accent would suggest otherwise. She's addicted to books, music, movies, crafty things, and chocolate. A former figure skating coach, LEGO merchandiser, and photographer, she's now happy to create stories while pretending to ignore the carton of gelato in the freezer. Kristin lives in Houston with her husband and their two boxers.

www.kristincreative.blogspot.com

Editorial Reviews

03/17/2014
This breezy, envy-inducing romance opens the If Only series, written by multiple authors. For some reason, 17-year-old Pippa Preston is dreading spending the summer in Italy—her parents are forcing her to attend an art history program in Florence. When Pippa’s plane lands in Rome, she discovers that her father has given her an envelope full of euros, and she decides to forgo summer school in favor of sightseeing and meeting boys. A new Italian friend, Chiara, whisks Pippa off to her family’s house on the Cinque Terre, and Pippa’s charmed summer becomes even more so (especially after two boys, one American and one Italian, enter the picture). Debut author Rae’s style is upbeat and cheerful, but like Pippa, who throws caution to the wind, the story lacks direction, with choppy prose and brief chapters tugging readers this way and that. Rae uses advice from one of Pippa’s friends back home to give some structure to Pippa’s zigging and zagging, but it’s not quite enough to anchor the novel. Available simultaneously: Fool Me Twice by Mandy Hubbard. Ages 12–up. Agent: Marietta Zacker, Nancy Gallt Literary Agency. (May)

Publishers Weekly

A charming and addictive read. Devour this delicious treat like a double scoop of gelato.” —Lindsey Leavitt, author of Going Vintage and Sean Griswold's Head

“Enjoyable—an ideal beach read.” —Kirkus Reviews

“This breezy, envy-inducing romance opens the If Only series.” —Publishers Weekly

“Rae's debut novel is a breezy, fluffy summer read full of dreamy romance.” —Booklist

“Readers may enjoy the international setting and details about Italian culture and travel in this innocent romance.” —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

2014-02-26
This debut takes readers to Italy, where 17-year-old Pippa defies her parents' wishes and secretly takes off on her own. Her parents were sending her alone to an art school in Florence to learn about classical art so she could follow in her mother's footsteps and run an art gallery. But she has plenty of euros and no desire to learn about art, wanting instead to see Italy and fall in love with an Italian. In Rome, she meets Darren, an attractive American archaeology student who shows her the Colosseum. Then she meets Chiara, an Italian girl who grew up in America but who lives in the Cinque Terre, where her family has a restaurant and where she invites Pippa to join her. Pippa decides to go—without telling her parents, of course. Complication lurks in the form of Bruno, Chiara's handsome cousin, who begins to court Pippa aggressively. When Darren arrives, Pippa worries which boy she should choose: Bruno is Italian and hot hot hot, but she's still attracted to Darren. Meanwhile, her parents still think she's at school in Florence. While Rae presents an appealing character in Pippa, her evident love of Italy dominates the narrative, making the story feel like an enthusiastic travelogue. Readers will detect early on which boy Pippa will choose, but mild suspense about how that will come about should keep them engaged. Undemanding but enjoyable—an ideal beach read. (Romance. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews