Monday, May 12, 2014

Jana Reviews: Wish You Were Italian by Kristin Rae

Wish You Were Italian (If Only . . . #2)
Title: Wish You Were Italian
Author: Kristin Rae
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: May 6, 2014
Source: ARC from publisher
Rating: 5+ Stars
Pippa has always wanted to go to Italy … but not by herself. And certainly not to sit in art school the entire summer learning about dead guys’ paintings. When she steps off the plane in Rome, she realizes that traveling solo gives her the freedom to do whatever she wants. So it’s arrivederci, boring art program and ciao, hot Italian guys!

Charming, daring, and romantic, Bruno is just the Italian Pippa’s looking for—except she keeps running into cute American archeology student Darren everywhere she goes. Pippa may be determined to fall in love with an Italian guy … but the electricity she feels with Darren says her heart might have other plans. Can Pippa figure out her feelings before her parents discover she left the program and—even worse—she loses her chance at love?
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I recently posted a raving review of this book on my personal book blog, and I participated in the author's release week event by posting my 10 goals for my second trip to Italy. Bottom line: I ADORE this book. I adore it so much that I just HAD to write a second review of it here so I could get the word out to even more people!

I read this book weeks ago, yet I still think about it. That's saying something. So, I guess you could say that this post is less of a review and more of a continuation of my fangirling. As soon as I shut the book, I ran into my mom's room and told her she had to read it. She's not usually a fan of my young adult contemporary romances because she thinks they are usually pretty superficial and silly. I know what she means... kind of. But whatever. She LOVED Wish You Were Italian. I'm not sure if it's because she and I both traveled Italy together two years ago or what, but this book was the closest we could get to gong back. Kristin TAKES you to Italy, drops you there, and leaves you to fall in love with the characters. I really could not have asked for more. Well, if the book could come with a ticket to Italy that would be nice. I'd buy millions of copies.

This book has a lot more going for it than Italy, though. I mentioned the characters, and they are AMAZING. Pippa is a risk taker, a realist (but a dreamer at the same time), and just a real down-to-earth person. She loves her grandmother and her friends, and she has the funniest voice. I just loved reading her adventures. She meets this girl, Chiara, in a coffee shop and travel with her to Cinque Terre to work in the family restaurant. Chiara is the voice of reason, and is really the best friend a girl could ask for. Her brother, Bruno, is a sexy stereotypical Italian boy who fit the stereotype SO well that I could not help but love him. And then you've got Darren, this nerdy archaeology student from the States with big hair. The cast of characters is just so much fun!

There's lots of travel adventures, emotion, romance, and growing. I really just can't love this book enough, and I hope YOU go buy it now! I've recommended it to two different people, and they both LOVED it. I'm 2 for 2 right now!

So, have you read Wish You Were Italian? Did you love it? If you have not read it yet, have I convinced you to get on that? Talk to me!

7 comments:

  1. This sounds so cute! I studied in Italy for a semester and I want to read this so I can feel nostalgic!

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  2. I haven't read this, but now I really want to do so. I feel like this is something I could easily love - set in Europe, dorky love interest, lots of reasons to laugh. And I'm sure there's more to see when I actually get to it. I hope to read this soon!

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  3. Did you read Fool Me Twice, the first one in the series? Wish You Were Italian sounds super amazing, even though dreaming about Italy is the last thing I should be doing during finals week.

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    1. I have not read Fool Me Twice yet, but I did get an ARC of it through the publisher. Have you read it? It sounds super cute to me.

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    2. I have not gotten to read it yet, but it has been on my to-read list.

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    3. I hope you like it! I'm thinking I'll try and get to it soon. There's a third one coming out this fall, which also sounds like a lot of fun.

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  4. After this review, I definitely want to read this book! My TBR list is long, but hopefully I can get to it soon.

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