Review: Wish You Were Italian (Kristin Rae)

Title: Wish You Were Italian
Series: If Only..., Book 2
Author: Kristin Rae (site)
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: May 6, 2014
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Travel Romance
Told: First Person (Pippa), Present Tense
Content Rating: Teen (thematic elements, kissing)
Format Read: ARC (traded)
Find On: Goodreads
Purchase On: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
Summary:

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?

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In a Sentence: A fun and flirty teen travel romance with a common plot but relatable characters and smooth writing.

Series: This is the second book in the If Only series, but each book in the series is a standalone and can be read on its own without reading the others.

In need of a light read during a few sick days I decided to do some traveling and grabbed this highly recommended "If Only" title. Although the story followed the very common travel romance plot of a tourist girl who is drawn to both a hot bad-boy local and a cute good-guy tourist, an easy writing style and playful dialogue made for a smooth read while vivid description utilizing all the senses brought Italy to life via tastes and smells and the stickiness of summer. The two romances led to an inevitable love triangle for a few chapters, but essentially one was little more than a regrettable crush while the other was flirty and sweet and I adored every second Pippa spent with the boy. While I wish she had taken more initiative in the second half of the book, with both the romance and seeing more of Italy, for the most part her adventure was fun to follow and despite a sad surprise twist at the end the story concluded on a sweet note.

Conclusion: A solid travel read with smooth writing and a sweet romance. I will definitely be picking up Kristin Rae's next installment in the "If Only" series, What You Always Wanted!

For Fans Of: light travel romances

Scribble Rating: 

4 of 5 Scribbles