13 Little Blue Envelopes meets Love and Gelato in this YA coming-of-age romance about Emily, who takes a gap year in Europe to learn about life, love, and working through grief—while following in her grandmother’s footsteps.
Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from The Introvert’s Guide to Kissing in Europe by Brenda Janowitz, which releases on August 18th 2026.
Everything in Emily Tannenbaum’s life is going according to plan. Graduate high school as valedictorian? Check. Gain admission to Dartmouth? Check. Decide to pause everything to embark on a gap year adventure abroad? Wait, what?
Ever since her sister died, Emily has done everything in her power to be the good girl, the safe girl, the one her parents don’t have to worry about. She’s worked hard, she’s studied, she’s attended school-approved functions.
But when her grandmother, a former member of the famous Flower Sisters music duo, proposes that Emily take time off to follow the European tour the Flower Sisters took in 1966, Emily impulsively jumps at the chance as a way to embrace the messy and unexpected parts of life.
As she travels from Spain to Sweden with stops in Paris and Rome along the way, Emily begins to experience all that life has to offer. She deals with pickpockets, dances the night away, has her heart broken, and learns more about herself and where she came from than she ever could have imagined.
PREFACE
MADRID, TWO WEEKS LATER
I FELT HIM before I saw him. As I ran down the Metro steps, something in the air shifted. I looked up and I saw him from across the train platform. He and his friends were on the other side, waiting for a train in the opposite direction, but our eyes locked.
He looked familiar, like I’d seen him before. I had an overwhelming feeling of familiarity come over me, like we’d met before. But of course we hadn’t. Because I was not where I was supposed to be at that very moment. I was not even on the same continent where I belonged. I was not at home, and I was not starting my freshman year of college, like all my friends were. Instead, I was in Spain, having impulsively taken a gap year before starting school, and I didn’t know anyone. I barely knew the crew of friends I’d recently met and was traveling with.
He looked like that guy from Emily in Paris, the cute Brit from season two. Even with a straight face, he looked like he was smiling. His face was open and welcoming. Sweet, almost. He had a deep dimple on one of his cheeks, and not on the other. I knew I shouldn’t stare, but he seemed to be staring at me, too.
Behind me, I could hear Mina checking the Metro app on her phone, making sure we were going in the right direction.
“Are you sure this is the right line?” Lina asked.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Mina replied, the slightest bit of annoyance creeping
into her voice.
The guy across the platform raised his eyebrows at me, as if to say hello. Or at least to ask why I was staring. I gave a shy almost smile in return. Not quite a full-on smile, but an acknowledgment. It was my way of saying that I saw him, too. I felt it, too.
Just then, our train rushed into the station with a whoosh. I stood, frozen in place, while my friends all jumped onto it.
“Emily!” Penny called out. “Let’s go!”
I stood frozen, as if in a trance. Was I really going to leave now? Miss my chance to meet this guy? I mean, how often in life do you actually lock eyes with a handsome stranger across a crowded room? Surely the odds of locking eyes from across a crowded Metro station were even lower?
“Emily!” Penny cried out again, her arm against the Metro door to keep it from closing.
I snapped back to reality and ran toward the train. As I tried to jump in, I stumbled, my foot nearly catching on the space between the platform and the train. I struggled to right myself, and Johnny grabbed me and pulled me into the car.
“Mind the gap, sweetheart.”
“What?” I asked. My heart was still racing from my near miss.
“It’s what they say on the London Underground,” he replied in his charming English accent. “Mind the gap. Watch out for the space between the train car and the platform.”
“Oh, in New York, they say ‘Stand clear of the closing doors.’”
“I would never let the doors close on you,” Penny said just as the doors shut.
I looked out the other side of the subway car. Through the window, I saw the cute guy, still waiting on the opposite platform for his train. As he caught my eye again, he raised his hand and gave me a subtle wave. I smiled, but before I could wave back, our train rushed out of the station.
