Title: Wish You Weren’t Here
Author: Christy Schillig
Publication: May 21, 2024
Publisher: Alcove Press
Genre: Romance
Pages: 352
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SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)
Ava Graham’s ducks are in a row as she heads off to Italy to complete her final law school credits and fulfill a promise she made to her late mother five years ago. Ava expects her long-term boyfriend to propose before her trip, but instead of giving her a ring, he suggests they use her time abroad as a “break” before settling down.
When James Massini arrives–late–to the airport to pick up Ava as a favor to his aunt and uncle, he’s surprised to find that she’s not a young co-ed, but a fascinating woman approaching thirty with a serious superiority complex and a habit of underestimating him. When she’s assigned to his class as a TA, he becomes determined to prove to her that there is more to life than plans and lists, no matter how hard she fights with him–or how annoyingly charming he finds their banter.
Despite the sudden disaster of her life, type A Ava might actually enjoy Italy—if only annoyingly carefree James wasn’t there, too. As Ava reluctantly lets James try to show her a different way of life in Italy, she begins to find beauty in the chaos. Of course, it’s when things begin to make sense again that her past comes storming back.
REVIEW:
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
A love story in the Italian countryside? That was an instant yes for me. Having never read a book by Christy Schillig, I did not know what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised with this cute love story with some life-lesson undertones.
The story followed Ava as she travels to Italy to finish a program for her schooling so she can move on to complete all her life goals with her very type-A plan. Unfortunately for her, Italy doesn’t play by her rules and neither does the loving family that takes her in. Ava reminds me of myself a bit with her wish to plan things out and then be sad and upset when the world doesn’t follow your rules. Everything that could go wrong did and Schillig made me feel her anxiety through every page.
I also really enjoyed James and his entire family. They were the perfect array of supporting characters to make you fall in love with the story. I think the only thing that kept me from giving it a five-star rating was the predictability. I do like a little more surprise in my stories, but I couldn’t help but fall in love with the characters, so knowing they would end up together in the end is okay when the journey to get there is fun. Schillig also incorporated some heavier topics into this story, which I appreciate becuase life is not all happiness and rainbows and sometimes things are hard. Ava had some hard decisions to make and also some hard realizations she had to go through. The character growth was incorporated very well into this romance.
I will pick up a book about people falling in love in Italy any day because… Life goals! Christy Schillig did a great job of developing the characters, building the visuals in this story and keeping me interested throughout. I look forward to reading more from her in the very near future.
