The NerdHerd Reads: Wish You Were Italian {by Kristin Rae}

Title: Wish You Were Italian

Author: Kristin Rae
Series: If Only... #2

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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?

I have mixed feelings on this book, because while I really did enjoy it, it took me a while to actually get through. (The eARC being terribly formatted was mainly to fault, although I can't hold that against the book.) I was expecting this to be a light, fun summery read, but I ended up loving it so much more than that.

The main reason I loved this so much! Rome. I mean, if I never get to travel anywhere else in my life, I absolutely HAVE to go to Rome. I must. I mean, crazy nerdy Latin scholar over here (can I call myself a scholar? Whatever, I'm doing it anyway). Which is what made me want to read this in the first place. And I mean, this will give you a serious case of the wanderlust. I did a bit of author stalking (he he) and the places described in the book were from personal experience. And Kristin Rae was spot on. The descriptions, places, experiences were described to perfectly and vividly, I felt like I was there. (And then started crying because I wasn't actually there. Not really, but I wanted to).

Which leads into her writing, which, if you couldn't tell, was very well done. I've talked enough about the setting (well, you can never have enough Italy), so let's talk characters. I was all prepared to be mad at/dislike Pippa. I mean, get sent to Italy and you want to complain? But I think she handled being sent to Italy by herself for something she hated very well. And choosing to ditch her parents' plans and make her own cemented my approval for her. (I mean, I could only WISH my parents would send me to itself, but I can also only WISH that I would be ballsy enough to do all of that by myself.)

The other characters--Morgan, Chiara, Darren, even "bad-boy" Bruno--were well-written and added a lot of depth and fun to the story. And Darren's contagious excitement over the ruins and history of the city was just super adorable. I mean… *insert heart-eyed emoji here*. His hair was practically its own character.

So you might be wondering--what was it that made me take forever to actually get through it? Well… The Love Triangle. Now, when a book gets too awkward or romantically angst-y (is that a thing?), I will often put it down and have to focus on something else for a minute or do something else before picking it back up. It's not because I'm uncomfortable, but more of an I really don't feel like dealing with this right now. Sooo basically…the entire part with Bruno. This wasn't one of the worst love triangles I've ever read. Just that it was really frustrating because come on, we all knew who Pippa should REALLY be with ;)

This was a fun, cute read. It made me smile and laugh quite a bit. It was a great summery read (but be warned--it will leave you totally jealous).

I received an eARC via NetGalley I'm exchange for my honest review.

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