Review: Wish You Were Italian

Wish You Were Italian

By Kristin Rae

Published: May 6, 2014

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?

My review:

I would love to take a trip to Italy so the setting of this book really appealed to me. While I thought Pippa's decision was irresponsible in a way, I could agree with her desire to actually experience Italy for herself and not just spend her time in a classroom. 

Pippa has a complicated relationship with her parents, particularly her pushy mother. Her parents are opening an art gallery and they expect Pippa to become part of the family business even though her own interests are in photography rather than painting. Pippa doesn't want to go to Florence and study art all summer but her best friend Morgan tries to help her see the positive side with a fun travel journal full of tasks for Pippa to do once she gets to Italy. Things like having a conversation entirely in Italian or falling in love with an Italian boy. Pippa may have a difficult mother and a father who won't take her side but her grandmother and her best friend are both encouraging and positive people in her life.

Once Pippa lands in Rome she makes the decision to stay a few days and actually see the sights instead of traveling on to Florence immediately and she quickly makes new friends in the form of Darren and Nina. She also befriends Chiara a young Italian teen and through her meets Bruno, the requisite hot Italian bad boy. Pippa is not just trying to meet guys however and she has some fun exploring places like Cinque Terre and Pompeii.

I enjoyed "traveling" with Pippa and while I don't care for love triangles that didn't bother me in this book because it was obvious who Pippa was going to end up with. I think Pippa grew up a little through her adventures and she even found a way to reconnect with her mom which was nice. Wish You Were Italian would make a great beach read. Though there are some sad moments it is mostly lighthearted and fun. The book is part of Bloomsbury's new If Only line of "clean" romances for teens. I would suggest this novel to teens who enjoy contemporary romance and fiction set abroad like The Juliet Club by Suzanne Harper or 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson.

Note: I received an e-ARC for review purposes courtesy of Netgalley and the publisher