WISH YOU WERE ITALIAN: A Debut Novel by Kristin Rae hits the shelves

Happy Book Birthday to Kristin Rae's WISH YOU WERE ITALIAN, which debuts today from Bloomsbury!

I've known Kristin for awhile now: We write together, eat cupcakes together, and do all the other 'authors in the wild' things that one would expect. It's been a true pleasure to watch her journey from finishing WISH to querying agents to signing to selling to today, when she officially joins the tribe and her first novel arrives into the world. (In truth, it's been sneaking out there for a few days, as first novels often do, thrilling everyone with sightings at this bookstore and that)

WISH is a wonderful, fun summer (or any season!) read and I can hardly wait to buy my own 'real' copy. Because we all want to go to Italy like main character Pippa and meet cute boys and learn about who we are beyond our parents' vision for us. Plus gelato. Lots of gelato. And a kiss or two because how sweet are kisses in Italy with cute boys?

You will LOVE Kristin's WISH YOU WERE ITALIAN!
Cheers to Kristin Rae! Keep an eye on this up and coming author. She is on fire with ideas and you are going to love them all.

Here's the full Amazon blurb:

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?